Adam Pearson leaves Hull FC how he found them needing resuscitation but with one promise delivered

Sitting in the less than glamorous confines of a porta cabin at Hull FC’s training ground, Adam Pearson laid out his mission statement. Turning around the fortunes of a club which for too long had failed to meet the hope and expectation of their support was the objective, and Pearson planned to do that and then some by making the Black and Whites perennial trophy contenders.

Twelve years on from that first day in charge, Pearson unfortunately leaves Hull exactly how he found them - a lower-half Super League club with a frustrated fan base and a big job ahead to correct the mistakes of the past.

Once again it has been a period which offered so much, but ultimately failed to deliver on many promises. To say the past decade and more has been littered with disappointment and failure would be wrong on many levels, not least given the Holy Grail of a Wembley victory in the Challenge Cup final was achieved not once, but twice with back-to-back victories.

READ MORE: Plan revealed for seismic Super League promotion and relegation return as proposal made

READ MORE: Who is David Hood? Hull FC new owner's net worth just behind Mick Jagger

But what should have been the start of a new era of success proved to be a positive blip in an otherwise period of disappointment. In the Super League Hull have seen the likes of Castleford Tigers, Salford Red Devils, Catalans Dragons and now Hull KR all reach the big show of the Grand Final, yet FC’s sole appearance came under the previous ownership 18 years ago.

Twice they came close in the Challenge Cup-winning years of 2016 and 2017 under Lee Radford, finishing third in the league and going to the play-off semi-final before bowing out. Both years were missed opportunities, but what will almost certainly sting as much for supporters is the fact they were the only real opportunities the club have had in the last 12 years to do anything of note in the league.

Those two third-place finishes are the only time in Pearson’s reign that Hull have finished in the top five in Super League. Of the 12 full seasons played since the owner’s arrival, Hull have finished eighth or lower on seven occasions with the last four seasons seeing a progressively worse finish of eighth, ninth, 10th and then 11th . Quite simply, that’s not good enough!

Five full-time coaches and two interim bosses have led the team throughout that period but none, save for Radford’s golden two seasons, have managed to crack the problem. To lay that all at the owner’s door would be foolish and wrong, but he along with many others at the club are culpable for the consistent failures in the league to be anything like the top half team and more which was continually promised. Pearson’s been around long enough to know and accept that.

For the past four years Pearson has been beating the same drum with an SOS message. Badly hit like so many others by the Covid-19 pandemic with a struggle to bounce back to pre-2020 levels, Hull FC’s financial report has not painted a picture of health for some time. The owner made many public statements calling for local backers to come on board, his frustration clearly growing by the fact so many did just that at Hull KR where owner Neil Hudgell opened his doors.

Finding it difficult to bring in partial investment, Pearson has now gone ahead with a full sale, something he has also made clear he was open to if the correct investor could be found. It means 12 years at the helm of Hull FC will end, but so will an association with the city of Hull which goes back to the start of this century and his time taking Hull City from basement dwellers to setting them on their way to a destination which would ultimately end in the Premier League.

For that, for his crucial role in delivering the then Kingston Communications Stadium and now MKM Stadium, for those Challenge Cup final victories with Hull FC, for taking on a club in 2011 that nobody else wanted and making the sweeping changes needed to bring the club in line with many others, Pearson deserves not just tremendous credit but a massive thank you for supporters.

He may not be handing over ownership with the club in the position he wanted, but seldom is there a transition of power on a hugely successful note. He’ll still depart buoyed by the knowledge of all the good that was done, and confident he’s leaving at the right time with new owners given a chance to once again breathe life into a club needing resuscitation.

Hull FC record in the Adam Pearson era

2011 (took over with three months of season remaining) – Super League 8th / Challenge Cup quarter-final

2012 – Super League 6th / CC 4th round

2013 – Super League 6th / CC Final

2014 – Super League 11th / CC 4th round

2015 – Super League 8th / CC 1/4s

2016 – Super League 3rd / CC winners

2017 – Super League 3rd / CC winners

2018 – Super League 8th / CC 1/4s

2019 – Super League 6th / CC semi-final

2020 – Super League 6th / CC 1/4s

2021 – Super League 8th / CC semi-final

2022 – Super League 9th / CC 1/4s

2023 – Super League 10th / CC 1/4s

2024 – Super League 11th / CC 6th round