The Boulevard (stadium)

Looking north towards the backs of houses on Carrington Street

In the past the ground was used mostly for rugby league matches and was the home stadium of Hull F.C. before the opening of KC Stadium. The main entrance was on Airlie Street, giving rise to Hull FC's nickname as 'the Airlie Birds'. When it closed, the stadium's capacity was 10,500 people. The Boulevard also hosted four matches in various Rugby League World Cups, as well as tour matches between Hull and visiting nations such as Australia and New Zealand. The ground had a strong connection with the city's former fishing industry being not far from Hessle Road.

The stadium has also been used for football with Hull City A.F.C. using the ground at times for their home matches.

In 1970, British League Division Two speedway returned to Hull for the first time since 1949 and proved to be exceedingly popular with large crowds cheering on the Hull Vikings each Wednesday. Hull had the dubious distinction of being the last league speedway team ever to appear at the famous West Ham Stadium, on 23 May 1972, when they beat the closing Hammers 40–38. Subsequent years saw their promotion to the first division and the inclusion of world champions Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger and Egon Müller to ride for the team. Promotional changes, falling crowds and financial problems eventually saw the Vikings demise until their resurrection some years later at Hull's other rugby league and speedway stadium, Craven Park.

The Boulevard was also the host of the annual Yorkshire Television Trophy meeting during the 1970s, and early 1980s. With the British leagues home to not only the best British riders such as 1976 World Champion Peter Collins, 1980 World Champion Michael Lee, Dave Jessup and Malcolm Simmons, but also to many top class riders from around the world including World Champions Briggs, Mauger, Müller, Ole Olsen and Bruce Penhall, plus Billy Sanders, Dennis Sigalos, Shawn and Kelly Moran, and Phil Crump (the inaugural Yorkshire TV Trophy winner in 1974), the meetings often attracted fields which were as good in quality as many World Finals.

The 380 metres (420 yards) long speedway track surrounded the rugby league field without intersecting it at the corners. This saw the Boulevard have fast, almost 100 metre long straights and tight bends. The run off the corners onto the straights was narrow due to the fence not following the curve of the track but being straight from back in the turns.

The ground consisted of three stands, the most popular being the Threepenny stand, where the majority of singing and chanting occurred. It was given its name when the stadium opened as it was 3 old pence for entry. In July 1985, Hull's threepenny stand closed for safety reasons. A plaque was unveiled on the 'new' threepenny stand some years ago by STAND and Hull FC.

On 17 June 2009 it was announced that the Boulevard would close to greyhound racing once again after less than 2 years. After going to once a week racing, promoter Dave Marshall pulled the plug on funding for the stadium.[5] On 22 August 2010, BBC Humberside reported that the stadium was in the process of being demolished after a council inspection due to safety concerns.[6]

List of rugby league Test and World Cup matches played at the Boulevard.[7]

Test No.	Date	Result	Attendance	Notes
1	5 November 1921	Australia def  Great Britain 16–2	21,504	1921–22 Ashes series
2	13 November 1927	England def  New Zealand 21–11	7,000	1926–27 England vs New Zealand series
3	25 October 1970	New Zealand def  France 16–15	3,824	1970 Rugby League World Cup Group Stage
4	7 March 1992	Great Britain def  France 36–0	5,250	1989-1992 Rugby League World Cup Group Stage
5	10 October 1995	Papua New Guinea drew with  Tonga 28–28	5,121	1995 Rugby League World Cup Group B
6	23 October 1999	England def  France 50–20	3,068	1999 Anglo-French Challenge
7	4 November 2000	Australia def.  Russia 110–4	3,044	2000 Rugby League World Cup Group 1

Other than Hull F.C. club games, The Boulevard also saw Hull and the county team Yorkshire and a combined Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers XIII play host to international touring teams from Australia (sometimes playing as Australasia) and New Zealand from 1907–2002. New Zealand did play Hull F.C. as part of their 1980 tour of Great Britain and France, though that game was played at Boothferry Park.

game	Date	Result	Attendance	Notes
1	16 November 1907	New Zealand def. Hull F.C. 18–13		1907–08 All Golds tour
2	5 November 1908	Australia def. Yorkshire 24–11	3,500	1908–09 Kangaroo Tour
3	30 January 1909	Hull F.C. def. Australia 9–8	10,000
4	4 November 1911	Australasia def. Hull F.C. 26–7	6,000	1911–12 Kangaroo Tour
5	24 December 1921	Australasia def. Hull F.C. 26–10	12,000	1921–22 Kangaroo Tour
6	4 November 1929	Australasia def. Hull F.C. 35–2	10,000	1929–30 Kangaroo Tour
7	25 December 1933	Australia def. Hull F.C. 19–5	16,341	1933–34 Kangaroo Tour
8	23 October 1937	Australia def. Hull F.C. 22–12	15,000	1937–38 Kangaroo Tour
9	23 September 1948	Australia def. Hull F.C. 13–3	16,616	1948–49 Kangaroo Tour
10	8 September 1952	Australia def. Hull F.C. 28–0	15,364	1952–53 Kangaroo Tour
11	15 October 1956	Australia def. Hull F.C. / Hull KR XIII 37–14	17,172	1956–57 Kangaroo Tour
12	26 October 1959	Australia def. Hull F.C. / Hull KR XIII 29–9	15,944	1959–60 Kangaroo Tour
13	12 October 1963	Australia def. Hull F.C. / Hull KR XIII 23–10	10,481	1963–64 Kangaroo Tour
14	29 October 1978	Australia def. Hull F.C. 34–2	10,723	1978 Kangaroo Tour
15	16 November 1982	Australia def. Hull F.C. 13–7	16,049	1982 Kangaroo Tour
16	16 November 1986	Australia def. Hull F.C. 48–0	8,213	1986 Kangaroo Tour
17	14 November 1990	Australia def. Hull F.C. 34–4	13,081	1990 Kangaroo Tour
18	22 October 2002	New Zealand def. Hull F.C. 28–11	12,092	2002 New Zealand Kiwis tour