The digital version of our game day programme for our second home game of the 2025/26 season with Preston Grasshoppers will appear here.
Today’s Visitors : Preston Grasshoppers RFC
Good afternoon and welcome to the Ferens Ground for today’s league game against our visitors from Lancashire, Preston Grasshoppers RFC.
The club is one of the oldest and well known rugby union clubs in the country having been founded in 1869 and they have a long and illustrious history. Many notable players have played for the club but the most famous is lock Wade Dooley who many people will remember from his playing days in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Nicknamed “The Blackpool Tower” Dooley gained 55 England caps and 3 British & Irish Lions caps.
We first played Preston Grasshoppers in 2004/05 in our first season in North One and in the two games played Hoppers won both of them, 18-13 at Lightfoot Green and 34-32 at our former ground Haworth Park when we missed a last minute penalty kick in an epic match. The three way battle for promotion between Hull, Hull Ionians and Preston Grasshoppers went right to the last game of the season with ourselves never outside of the top 3 all season but eventually finishing 3rd.
We enjoyed another promotion battle with Preston Grasshoppers in season 2017/18 when we played out a 10-10 draw at the Ferens Ground in September 2017. In the return fixture in January 2018 we lost 24-18 at Lightfoot Green and Hoppers went on to win the Northern Premier Division to gain promotion to National Two North. We finished runners up but lost the play-off game at home to Peterborough Lions.
When we next met in season 2019/20 in National Two North we triumphed 13-18 in the away game at Lightfoot Green but the Covid 19 pandemic curtailed the season in March 2020 before our scheduled return match and when the RFU published the final details for the season Preston Grasshoppers were relegated along with Otley and Scunthorpe.
By season 2023/24 and with both clubs back in National Two North, we visited Lightfoot Green in early October 2023 when we somehow failed to win the game despite leading by 12 points going into added time as the hosts scored two late tries with one converted to snatch a late, late 30-30 draw. A high scoring game in February 2024 saw us win 40-33 thanks to a hat trick of tries from Bureta Faraimo.
Last season we lost 45-29 in another high scoring game at Preston in October before winning the return fixture at the Ferens Ground in February by a margin of 41-24.
So far this season Grasshoppers have played 2, won 1 and lost 1 so let’s hope we see an entertaining game this afternoon.
Stephen Hodgson
Club Historian
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 