The Boulevard (stadium)

Former stadium in Kingston upon Hull, England

The Boulevard was a multi purpose stadium in Hull, England, from 1895 to 2010. The venue primarily hosted rugby league matches, speedway and greyhound racing.

In the past the ground was used mostly for rugby league matches and was the home stadium of Hull F. C. before the opening of KC Stadium. The main entrance was on Airlie Street, giving rise to Hull FC's nickname as 'the Airlie Birds'. When it closed, the stadium's capacity was 10,500 people. The Boulevard also hosted four matches in various Rugby League World Cups, as well as tour matches between Hull and visiting nations such as Australia and New Zealand. The ground had a strong connection with the city's former fishing industry being not far from Hessle Road.

List of rugby league Test and World Cup matches played at the Boulevard. Test No. Date Result Attendance Notes1 5 November 1921 def 16–2 21,504 1921–22 Ashes series2 13 November 1927 England def 21–11 7,000 1926–27 England vs New Zealand series3 25 October 1970 def 16–15 3,824 1970 Rugby League World Cup Group Stage4 7 March 1992 def 36–0 5,250 1989 1992 Rugby League World Cup Group Stage5 10 October 1995 drew with 28–28 5,121 1995 Rugby League World Cup Group B6 23 October 1999 def 50–20 3,068 1999 Anglo French Challenge7 4 November 2000 def. 110–4 3,044 2000 Rugby League World Cup Group 1

Other than Hull F. C. club games, The Boulevard also saw Hull and the county team Yorkshire and a combined Hull F. C. and Hull Kingston Rovers XIII play host to international touring teams from Australia (sometimes playing as Australasia) and New Zealand from 1907 to 2002. New Zealand did play Hull F. C. as part of their 1980 tour of Great Britain and France, though that game was played at Boothferry Park. Game Date Result Attendance Notes1 16 November 1907 New Zealand def. Hull F. C. 18–13 1907–08 All Golds tour2 5 November 1908 Australia def. Yorkshire 24–11 3,500 1908–09 Kangaroo Tour3 30 January 1909 Hull F. C. def. Australia 9–8 10,0004 4 November 1911 Australasia def. Hull F. C. 26–7 6,000 1911–12 Kangaroo Tour5 24 December 1921 Australasia def. Hull F. C. 26–10 12,000 1921–22 Kangaroo Tour6 4 November 1929 Australasia def. Hull F. C. 35–2 10,000 1929–30 Kangaroo Tour7 25 December 1933 Australia def. Hull F. C. 19–5 16,341 1933–34 Kangaroo Tour8 23 October 1937 Australia def. Hull F. C. 22–12 15,000 1937–38 Kangaroo Tour9 23 September 1948 Australia def. Hull F. C. 13–3 16,616 1948–49 Kangaroo Tour10 8 September 1952 Australia def. Hull F. C. 28–0 15,364 1952–53 Kangaroo Tour11 15 October 1956 Australia def. Hull F. C. / Hull KR XIII 37–14 17,172 1956–57 Kangaroo Tour12 26 October 1959 Australia def. Hull F. C. / Hull KR XIII 29–9 15,944 1959–60 Kangaroo Tour13 12 October 1963 Australia def. Hull F. C. / Hull KR XIII 23–10 10,481 1963–64 Kangaroo Tour14 29 October 1978 Australia def. Hull F. C. 34–2 10,723 1978 Kangaroo Tour15 16 November 1982 Australia def. Hull F. C. 13–7 16,049 1982 Kangaroo Tour16 16 November 1986 Australia def. Hull F. C. 48–0 8,213 1986 Kangaroo Tour17 14 November 1990 Australia def. Hull F. C. 34–4 13,081 1990 Kangaroo Tour18 22 October 2002 New Zealand def. Hull F. C. 28–11 12,092 2002 New Zealand Kiwis tour

In 1971, promoter Ian Thomas brought back speedway to Hull for the first time since 1949. The Hull Vikings raced in the British League Division Two and it proved to be exceedingly popular with large crowds cheering on the team each Wednesday. Hull had the dubious distinction of being the last league speedway team ever to appear at the famous West Ham Stadium, on 23 May 1972, when they beat the closing Hammers 40–38. Subsequent years saw their promotion to the first division and the inclusion of world champions Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger and Egon Müller to ride for the team. Promotional changes, falling crowds and financial problems eventually saw the Vikings demise until their resurrection some years later at Hull's other rugby league and speedway stadium, Craven Park. The Boulevard was also the host of the annual Yorkshire Television Trophy meeting during the 1970s, and early 1980s. With the British leagues home to not only the best British riders such as 1976 World Champion Peter Collins, 1980 World Champion Michael Lee, Dave Jessup and Malcolm Simmons, but also to many top class riders from around the world including World Champions Briggs, Mauger, Müller, Ole Olsen and Bruce Penhall, plus Billy Sanders, Dennis Sigalos, Shawn and Kelly Moran, and Phil Crump (the inaugural Yorkshire TV Trophy winner in 1974), the meetings often attracted fields which were as good in quality as many World Finals. The long speedway track surrounded the rugby league field without intersecting it at the corners. This saw the Boulevard have fast, almost 100 metre long straights and tight bends. The run off the corners onto the straights was narrow due to the fence not following the curve of the track but being straight from back in the turns. The ground consisted of three stands, the most popular being the Threepenny stand, where the majority of singing and chanting occurred. It was given its name when the stadium opened as it was 3 old pence for entry. In July 1985, Hull's threepenny stand closed for safety reasons. A plaque was unveiled on the 'new' threepenny stand some years ago by STAND and Hull FC.

The stadium first hosted greyhound racing in 1927 when the Associated Greyhound Racecourses Ltd promoted a meeting on 2 July. The track was soon to be one of three greyhound stadiums operating in Hull after two more followed suit, within one year Craven Park stadium had opened and in 1934 the Craven Street track opened but the latter was short lived. The football team moved out after finding a new home at Boothferry Park in August 1947 and the greyhound racing soon followed after coming to an end on 11 December 1948. Despite the Boulevard being considerably bigger than Craven Park the difference in popularity and tote turnover was significant. In 1947 the tote turnover of Craven Park was £578,628 compared to the Boulevard's £23,263.

In 2003 Hull F. C. found a new ground at the KC Stadium joining up with the football team and putting the stadium under imminent threat of closure. The greyhound operation had just finished at the New Craven Park and transferred to the Boulevard saving the stadium from closure. The track was constructed with a circumference of 387 metres and distances of 270, 460, 655 and 845 metres. Racing started in December 2003 with Friday and Saturday night racing under the supervision of Racing Manager, David Gray. After the council refused to extend the greyhound racing lease the stadium remained unused until 25 October 2007 when it reopened again for the first time in 28 months. Racing changed to Thursday and Saturday nights and Mick Smith was brought in as Racing Manager.