Lee Radford’s son signed up by Hull FC

James Gordon

Photo courtesy of Dave Lofthouse

Logan Radford, son of Hull FC coach Lee, is one of 25 youngsters signed up by the club for the return of their academy in 2020.

With the City of Hull Academy disbanding at the season’s end, both the Airlie Birds and Hull KR will start again with their own academies.

The Under 16s all signed their official academy contracts at Hull FC’s training ground on Friday night, where they were greeted by Radford, assistant Andy Last and presented with their own club tie.

Hull FC Hall of Fame member Lee Crooks was also at the Elite Performance Centre yesterday evening, meeting young players and their family members as they prepare to take the step into the club’s fresh academy programme.

All 25 players will be given a special presentation at Hull FC’s next home fixture at the KCOM Stadium against St Helens on Friday evening.

Speaking to hullfc.com, Academy Director Danny Wilson said: “At this stage, we have identified a group of players that we feel will belong at Hull FC and it looks like we have gathered an exciting group for next year.

“At such an early stage, it’s hard to call who will be the next Danny Houghton or Jamie Shaul but we do know that these boys have got a great opportunity to work with us and potentially develop into great players.

“I’m really excited about the group of players we have signed to our scholarship. We have managed to secure a lad called Calvin Sandu from in Featherstone Lions out of town and that’s great for us because there was a lot of interest for him. He showed a real desire to join Hull after seeing the set up we have here.

“The structure will be relatively straightforward. The under 14s, under 15s and under 16s will go to scholarship, the under 18s will go to the academy and potentially the Hull FC Reserves, and then there is a chance to break into the first team eventually.

Discussing the facilities that will be used by the academy, Wilson said: “The facilities at Bishop Burton College are absolutely outstanding. That is certainly something Hull FC would like to move forward with because we have an exceptional relationship with the college.

“The nature of us being at Hull FC allows us to use more facilities on an exclusive basis, such as the Elite Performance Centre in the first-team environment and at the Bonus Youth Performance Centre.”

The 25 players joining the Hull FC Academy are as follows:

Manoa Wakokekoke (Cottingham Tigers)

Josh Owston (Myton Warriors)

Gabriel Romanowski (Myton Warriors)

Jack Nolan (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Finley Yeaman (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Keiron Welburn (West Hull)

Charlie Waites (Talent Transfer)

Mackenzie Harman (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Calvin Sandu (Featherstone Lions)

Brandon Wright (East Hull)

Campbell Turner (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Jenson Matson (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Kye Armstrong (West Hull)

Logan Radford (East Hull)
Micheal Sowden (Holderness Vikings)

Tommy Uscroft (East Hull)

Callum Shaw (West Hull)

Logan Moy (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Tommy Cochran (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Tommy Pendergast (West Hull)

Charlie Stipetic (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Ellis Welburn (Hull Wyke)

Aiden Sugden (Skirlaugh Bulls)

Josh Hanson (Talent Transfer)

Lennon Bursell (East Hull)