Hull KR owner Neil Hudgell reflects on what the incredible 2025 season means for the club and the community
Hull Kingston Rovers owner Neil Hudgell celebrates with the Betfred Super League trophy
Amid the scenes of celebration immediately following Hull KR’s Grand Final success over Wigan Warriors, Rovers owner Neil Hudgell somehow found himself alone and away from the sizeable gathering of players and staff that had gathered on the Old Trafford pitch. It was an unintended, but rather welcome private moment that offered an opportunity for reflection.
A time to think of former players who had become like family, of those not present to watch the most momentous day in the club’s storied history. An opportunity to be thankful for those who brought the club to this moment, for all the personal sacrifices and to embrace the smiles on the faces of his own family, not least his Rovers-mad grandchildren who, much like their granddad, are growing up during heady days for the Robins.
Then came the full circle moment. The anthemic chorus of Queen’s “We are the champions” thundered out of the stadium speakers and in an instant Hudgell was transported back to 1985 and being stood, not in Manchester but Hull pub the Manchester Arms, belting out that same song while surrounded by friends as they toasted Rovers’ league title success. The back-to-back league champions were all-conquering, but what Hudgell and his pals could not have known that night was they were celebrating a last league success for 40 years.
It was Hull KR ’s trophy-laden spell in the late embers of the 1970s and in particular the first half of the 1980s that shaped Hudgell’s youth, created a burning passion for the Robins and forged that community link that seemingly drives forward today his every wish for the club.
“There were so many parallels at Old Trafford for the Grand Final as with the 1980s,” explains Hudgell, as he reflects on an incredible season.
“I was stood on the pitch on my own when “We are the Champions” comes on and everyone is singing it wherever I look. I remember vividly getting back to Hull and going to the Manchester Arms in 1985 after winning the league championship and singing that same song.
“That full circle moment wasn’t lost on me. There are a lot of coincidences that tie you to things, a lot of emotional moments like that, that was certainly one of them and this has certainly been an emotional victory for many people.”
The Challenge Cup success in June was celebrated almost with relief at finally getting over the winning line after a couple of near misses in recent years and the well-known wait.
The League Leaders’ Shield triumph and now the Grand Final victory have been met with a different reaction born not from relief but resounding pride in the achievement, with more than a touch of disbelief that a club that has been run against a backdrop of heartache, heartbreak and near misses, now has all the silverware on offer locked away in the trophy cabinet.
“The difficulty for me was getting out of the mind-set that it was all going to end in disaster,” says Hudgell, highlighting a point no doubt shared by many supporters.
“There’s just this feeling it would end in disappointment because that’s what it’s always been like for so many years. Even winning the Challenge Cup, at the back end of that game you think it could go wrong. And after, with the club in a strong position you hope for more but there’s that feeling.
“The big thing for me in the change in mentality was winning the league leaders. At that point you start to believe. Now, to win the Grand Final, it caps the whole change in culture of the club.”
When Hudgell talks about a change in culture, he doesn’t mean on the field where Willie Peters and his staff have done a remarkable job in building a squad not just capable of winning the treble but ensuring they believed that was possible since pre-season.
No, the culture change is not with the changing room but across East Hull. From Craven Park’s heartbeat, that feeling of belief and confidence, of pride and happiness has flowed. Hedon Road, Holderness Road, Preston Road and the like acting as the arteries carrying this new feeling to supporters. From Garden Village, Bransholme and Ings Road Estate, to Southcoates, Marfleet, Preston and Hedon, there’s a new sense of sporting pride and excitement.
“You see the badge everywhere now, we’re not just isolated to East Hull,” says Hudgell.
“The club is growing. I see a lot of fans with smiles on their faces. You can never underestimate the importance of this rugby club and its pivotal position in the community. When times are tough it is nice for us to provide a bit of daylight. There is a real pride around the club and long may that continue.
“This is historic. It’s legacy. There is a legacy there now for us to leave.
“I always judged success comparative to what it was like when I was a boy and nothing had ever lived up to that. Now it has. We have to reflect and acknowledge now, there’s greatness in this club.”
A perfect summation from the owner of what the 2025 season has delivered – greatness.