YEARS GONE BY

The club was formally known as Beverley Athletic in 1920 and then changed the name to Beverley White Star AFC in 1921. The team went on to win the County League Cup in 1927. At present we are not sure when it dispanded.  (News Paper Article)

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HULL has produced many famous footballers but no one has left their mark so indelibly on our national sport as Hull-born Alan Hardaker.

From 1951 he spent 30 years as an official with the Football League at Lytham St Annes, 23 of them as League secretary.

It was Hardaker who introduced the Football League Cup which began in 1961 when First Division Aston Villa beat Second Division Rotherham 3-2 on aggregate.

Hardaker was notorious for his dictatorial manner and gradually established virtual one-man control over football in England.

And it all stemmed from his early days in Hull when he was a feared half-back for Beverley White Star, one of the top amateur clubs in the area and a feeder for Hull City.

His style of play can be compared to Nobby Stiles, England's World Cup hero and a man you just did not mess with. The same went for Alan Hardaker.

He spent six years with White Star, winning a succession of trophies and showing the aggression which was to win him so many battles off the field in the corridors of power.

He captained the East Riding County FA representative team to win the Northern Counties Amateur Championship in 1935, one of the few times they won this prestigious trophy.

Hardaker spent a couple of years with Hull City Reserves in the Midland League and manager Jack Hill asked him to turn professional, but he already had a well-paid job as secretary to the Lord Mayor of Hull (1936-39) and declined to sign for the Tigers.

At the outbreak of war he joined the Navy, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander and in 1956 he moved to Portsmouth where he also became secretary to their Lord Mayor.

In 1951, Hardaker began his momentous career with the Football League, appointed as assistant secretary before six years later taking over as secretary and becoming the League's Mr Football.

Article copied from 'Mally's Archive'.  http://www.sporthull.co.uk/mally_s_memories/mallys_archive/displayarticle.php?ID=1172

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