Hull FC’s fitness freak, head coach snub and the hometown heroes who dethroned the Cup Kings
Hull’s 1991 Premiership squad will be at Sunday’s game – almost 35 years on from their Old Trafford triumph.
Hull FC skipper, the late Greg Mackey, lifts the Premiership trophy alongside Lee Jackson and Richard Gay.(Image: Hull Daily Mail)
Close your eyes, and you can hear the three words belted out by the late, great Greg Mackey when lifting the 1991 Premiership trophy as captain of Hull FC.
If your memory is playing tricks on you, it was ‘You ——- beauty!’ And what a day it was for Hull, written off by most and defying the odds to defeat the cup kings themselves in Widnes – who had all the stars in Martin Offiah, Jonathan Davies, etc., etc., but who came up short when it mattered most.
It was Hull’s Airlie Birds who were singing long into the night, with Mackey leading the way. Hull, 14-4 winners at Old Trafford, scored through Russ Walker, Richard Gay, and Gary Nolan – the semi-final hero against Leeds the week before.
There were also sterling performances by the front row of Andy Dannatt, Lee Jackson, and Karl Harrison, while the side, coached by Noel Cleal, featured the likes of Paul Eastwood, Jon Sharp, and many more names that roll of the tongue.
That day on May 12, 1991, was the only time Hull won the Premiership trophy, with final victories eluding them in 1989, 1983, 1982, and 1981. But this was their time, and come Sunday afternoon, the club will honour their achievement almost 35 years on.
It’s a team current interim head coach Andy Last, a self-confessed Hull FC tragic, remembers well. At the grand old age of 10, Last was present in Greater Manchester and, as a childhood Black and White, very much in his element.
“I was 10 years old, devastated a couple of years earlier because Widnes beat us, but this time, we were able to turn them over,” Last, speaking to Hull Live, said. “We had Lee Jackson, my boyhood hero and the hooker I aspired to be like.
“I had the headband like him and all that sort of stuff. And then I got the opportunity to train with Jacko. He returned to Hull at the back end of his career after leaving Leeds and I was just on my way up. He is a great man; he was fit, really, really fit. And that was one thing that I really took from him.
“We’d be doing the hill sessions and I was in the prime of my fitness then, like a 19- or 20-year-old, running. And he had another gear. He was just like running with me at the front, and I always felt like, is he going as hard as he can? I always felt he had another gear in him. He was like unbelievably fit.
“The other guys in that team, Jon Sharp. He came back to Hull and I’ve got huge respect for Jon. I spent a little bit of time on the coaching staff with him and he was really, really good for me in my coaching career.
“And then we had the likes of Ian Marlow and the Russ Walkers of this world, the Nolan brothers, Rob and Gary – just great times, great memories, and then, the one which obviously sticks out because he’s no longer here, the legendary Greg Mackey.
“What a player he was. Unfortunately, we lost him to Warrington, and then alongside him was a little Frenchman, Patrick Entat. We’ve had some decent French lads, the likes of Danny Devit and Patrick Entat, and now, we can speak about the Arthur Romanos in the same breath. They were great, great memories. It was a superb team and they beat a great team in Widnes.”
Noel Cleal with the 1991 Premiership trophy. Hull FC beat Widnes 14-4 at Old Trafford.
Set to be paraded around the MKM Stadium as Hull take on Toulouse, the majority of the ’91 team will be in attendance – including incoming Hull coach Steve McNamara, part of the squad that season and set to take the head coach role from 2027 on a four-year deal.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how those old boys look now,” Last continued. “When you look back at ’91, which is a long, long time ago, it makes me feel a little bit old, but yeah, they are great memories.
“I loved the kit. It’s a symbolic kit, brilliant, the black and white irregular hoops, and I’ve seen the picture a few times: Greg Mackey, absolutely over the moon, holding the Premiership trophy at Old Trafford.
“I think it had black shorts as well, if memory serves me well. But yeah, they were great times. I loved it. That was like just as I was probably starting to become obsessed with rugby. I’d been playing for two or three years then, but also I was becoming obsessed with Hull FC. And for that team to win against the odds against a very, very strong Widnes team was certainly something which I can remember and remember well.”
Last continued: “It’s part of our history. There are going to be good times in the future and there are going to be bad times. And I think the strength of this club is that support base and that history; it’s a club which is steeped in history and I’d happily sit and talk about past players until I’m old.
“The club has been really good on that score, the marketing department, and I think it’s a great opportunity for the fans to recognise what they did back in ’91 and give them a group of players a great ovation.”
And on McNamara, who Last is expected to be the right-hand man to next season, the interim added: “Steve will probably not like me saying this, but I think he got dropped for that game in ’91. I think if I remember right, Steve played a lot of the games and then for whatever reason, he didn’t play in the final.
“I might have just talked myself out of a job there to support him next year. But he did alright, Steve; he did alright. It was a great day.”
