Sports ground renamed in honour of Hull rugby legend Johnny Whiteley

  • Report by Jon Hill.


A grassroots rugby league club has paid tribute to one of the game's greatest figures by officially renaming its ground in his honour.

West Hull amateur rugby league club will now play their games at Johnny Whiteley Park in memory of the Hull, Yorkshire and England star who died in February.

Club chairman Terry Everson said: "The first thing that those youngsters are going to do every year now, the new intake, is they're going to be sat down in that club of ours, and they're going to be told the story of Johnny Whiteley, and everything in the club will point to Johnny Whiteley, that's what it's all about."

Raised in the heart of Hull's Hessle Road fishing community, Whiteley went on to become one of Hull's greatest ever players, making more than 400 appearances between 1950 and 1965 and spending nine years as club captain.

He won the championship and played in Challenge Cup finals with Hull and was awarded an MBE in 2005 for his services to rugby league.