Former player, coach and Hull KR club president Colin Hutton dies
Hull Kingston Rovers president Colin Hutton has passed away at the age of 90.
A club legend with a 60-year association with Hull KR, Hutton served the Robins as a coach, chairman and president and was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2000.
After spending six years with Widnes that included his national service as a lance corporal in the Royal Engineers, Hutton made the move to East Yorkshire and joined Hull FC where he would go on to make over 250 appearances before retiring as a player in 1957.
He then made the switch to Hull Kingston Rovers to take up a position as head coach, his first game in charge coming against Bradford Northern at Craven Park on 7th December 1957, starting a six-decade connection with the club.
By the time of his last game in charge away at Leeds on May 2nd 1970, Colin had overseen a total of 534 matches in charge, leading the club to the Eastern Division Championship and two Yorkshire Cup Finals, as well as a Challenge Cup Final defeat.
Further afield, he led Great Britain to Ashes success against Australia as coach and served as president of the Rugby Football League in the early 1990s, also being made a Life Member of the sport’s governing body. Combined with his later roles at Hull KR, Hutton is the only man to have appeared at a Challenge Cup final as a player, coach, club director, club chairman, club president and chairman of the RFL.
He was also only the second sportsman to receive the Freedom of Hull after his good friend and former Hull FC teammate Johnny Whiteley.
Hull Kingston Rovers chairman Neil Hudgell said: "Words cannot describe how much of a loss Colin is. He was an icon of Hull Kingston Rovers and he dedicated a huge proportion of his life not only to the club but also the sport as a whole.
A tribute to Colin will be held before Sunday’s game against Bradford Bulls at KCOM Craven Park when supporters will have the opportunity to lay their tributes in front of the Colin Hutton Stand.