How Whiteley’s FC were crowned kings of Europe
“No one can take that away from us, we are the one and only European Cup winners” Johnny Whiteley is well within his rights to make such a claim, too.
In fact, for 64 years, Hull FC have been able to call themselves champions of Europe after seeing off the very best the Northern Hemisphere had to offer across the 1956-57 season.
It’s an achievement that is regularly overlooked when it comes to Hull FC’S rich history, with Challenge Cups, Premierships and league titles taking precedence.
But, at the bottom of the club’s honours list, buried under a Floodlit Trophy and four Yorkshire League titles, you’ll see European Club Champions 1956-57.
To know how Hull found themselves in such a competition it is necessary to look back to the previous season, in which Hull, skippered by Whiteley and coached by Roy Francis, were becoming a force to be reckoned with.
With legends such as the Drake brothers, Tommy Harris and Ivor Watts in their side, FC were growing in stature and in 1956 they picked up their first league crown in 20 years by seeing off Halifax at Maine Road in Manchester.
By reaching the final Hull were given the opportunity to compete in the inaugural European Championship, with runners-up Halifax, French champions Albi and runners-up Carcassonne.
“As players we thought it was something special,” Whiteley, who recently turned 90, remembers.
“It was an incentive, we knew what the format was going to be and the top two in the English league would play the top two in France and when you’re a young player, going to any different country is an incentive. I was captain and leading the team into a different country was something special.”
Before Hull got to chance to run out on French soil, though, they had to travel to Thrum Hall for a clash that would double up as a league fixture and European clash.
The Black and Whites picked up the win before boarding the bus bound for France, accompanied by family, friends and club officials.
The French were not to be taken lightly. Just two years earlier the national team had pushed Great Britain close in the World Cup final and memories of successful tours of the southern hemisphere in 1951 and 1955 were still fresh.
“At that time France were pretty strong,” Whiteley added. “They had a successful tour of Australia previously and they had some strong players. They were good opposition, they weren’t minnows trying to build their game up.”
But Hull edged their way past Carcassonne, winning 13-5, before securing a more comprehensive victory over Albi three days later, 23-7 the score in that one.
It was a job well done for Hull, however, the trip wasn’t completely without incident.
“They said ‘if you win, on our way back we’ll give you a two-day holiday in Paris,’” said Whiteley. “That was the bonus for winning.
“We set off from Albi flat out because we all wanted to go to Paris, we were in the mountains on the bus and the brakes failed!
“Down in the valley we could see lights so all the players got out with blankets because it was freezing and we had to walk down the mountain and Ted Danby (the driver) had to come down in the bus with his handbrake on.
“We were supposed to be in Paris but instead we were walking down a mountain path into a village to find out if someone could fix the brakes. They thought we were refugees.”
Back at the Boulevard, Hull
completed the task. The Black and Whites saw off Carcassonne in style on Good Friday, winning 28-5, before drawing 19-19 against a fired up Albi outfit. A 35-12 win over Halifax a week later rounded off the adventure as Hull were crowned champions of Europe at the Boulevard and Whiteley insists the achievement should not be underestimated.
“To win that against three good sides, it wasn’t a fluke,” he said.
“We were playing in-form, top of the league teams and beating good sides. To get there you had to be top of the league.
“We never got anything for it.
There was no monetary gain, we just got paid expenses for being away from home when we were France. We didn’t get a medal, to this day we haven’t got anything, just the memory of a good trip.”
Unfortunately, the competition was never played again and the championship was consigned to the history books.
For Whiteley, though, the memories live on: “To this day I remember it vividly, we travelled right through France on the bus, it was an experience for everybody.
“It bonded us for a long while that tour, fond memories. It’s a pity it didn’t catch on, I don’t know why I didn’t.”