Cash troubles hit Hull K.R.

Press, 20 December 1986, Page 80

Cash troubles hit Hull K.R.

Hull Kingston Rovers, the British rugby league club which has Mark Broadhurst and Gordon Smith on its playing staff, is threatened by insolvency, according to an overseas report. An NZPA-AFP report from Hull said that the once-powerful first division club faced a financial battle for survival.

The championship winner in two of the last three seasons and a Challenge Cup finalist at Wembley Stadium only seven months ago, Hull K.R. is one of many British clubs in various sports to have their bank balances drained by the Safety of Sports Grounds Act.

The disastrous fire at the Bradford City Soccer Club’s Valley Parade ground led to the much

stricter legislation. Sports administrators soon learned to dread the arrival of stadium safety inspectors. During the early 1980 s the neighbouring Hull and Hull K.R. clubs were not only keen on-field rivals, but also vied for the distinction of having the highest attendances in British rugby league. They also led the way in signing overseas players. Hull still has three Kiwi backs, Gary Kemble, Fred Ah Kuoi and Dane O’Hara, while Hull K.R. has the former Kiwi team-mates, Broadhurst and Smith, and three Australians — Kerry Boustead, John Dorahy and Gavin Miller. Broadhurst, the former Canterbury prop, returned to Hull K.R. this season. With Smith, a West

Coaster in his fourth year in Britain, Broadhurst shared in the championship victories of 1984 and 1985. The two Hull clubs have been overtaken by Wigan, St Helens and others as the glamour and attend-ance-topping teams. Hull is permitted to use only part of its biggest (wooden) grandstand. An auditor, Peter Robins, told shareholders at a meeting yesterday that the club had total liabilities of nearly £500,000 ($1.3 million) and current liabilities of almost £300,000 ($780,000). “The club’s ability to continue depends on them being able to meet these current liabilities in the next year,” he said.

The Hull K.R. chairman, Colin Hutton, said the club had already paid

out £lOB,OOOO ($300,000) for improvements to its Craven Road stadium and had been warned to expect bills of around £145,000 ($403,000) for further work to ensure the ground remains open next year.