Radford commits to Hull FC
Head coach Lee Radford has signed a contract extension at Hull FC, tieing him to the club until the end of the 2019 season.
Radford, who has been in charge of the Black and Whites since 2014, was in the final year of his original contract but has signed on the dotted line again to secure his long-term future with the club.
Having enjoyed two spells playing for the Black and Whites during an illustrious playing career, which included three years as captain, Radford joined the backroom staff at Hull FC in 2011.
He appeared as a player again in 2012 in notable style as he came out of retirement to score against arch-rivals Hull KR following a number of first-team injuries, before continuing his role as assistant coach.
He took over the top job at Hull in 2014 and has been integral in the overhaul and redevelopment of key aspects of the club’s performance department, as well as promoting a number of exciting young players and recruiting high-profile signings like Frank Pritchard, Scott Taylor and Sika Manu.
Hull-born talent such as Jamie Shaul, Jack Logan, Chris Green, Dean Hadley and Josh Bowden have all progressed during Radford’s time as head coach and have since agreed long-term deals of their own with the club.
As a Hull lad himself and a passionate Black and Whites supporter, Radford said he is delighted to have signed a new deal and is driven to take the club forward.
“The timing of the announcement alongside the players who have signed up obviously shows the stability and the foundation of the club,” he said.
“It was an unbelievably easy decision for me. The support he [Adam Pearson] has shown since day one has made my job so much easier.
“He has strengthened my drive to be successful with this club for the fans and for him personally as I know it means an awful lot to him.
“The squad needed remoulding when I took over. Back then, I didn’t think we was getting value for money from our squad.
“It has been a long process but I knew with the fantastic work done by Andy Last and Danny Wilson that we had some good young players coming through.
“My mantra has always been to bring through home grown kids for the first-team and surround them with international class players.
“That’s starting to come to fruition and now we want to really push for some silverware.”
Hull FC owner Adam Pearson paid tribute to his head coach.
“I’ve worked with a lot of managers and head coaches in my twenty years in professional sport and never met an individual more committed to a club as Lee, who puts the club first before any personal interests.
“He was handed the complicated challenge three years ago to lead a complete root and branch overhaul of the club in difficult circumstances, which was always going to take some time and bring significant pressures on him.
“He has taken that challenge head on and handled it with great professionalism and the maturity of an experienced coach, whilst at no point safeguarding his own future or making public complaint on the scale of the task at hand.
“He has overhauled the squad, facilities, structures and the culture within the team and club and so therefore gets my loyalty and long-term support in return.
“I’m delighted he has agreed to a new contract so readily and look forward to him building on the great work he has done so far, which can now hopefully become his legacy at the club and a reward for his efforts to date.
“No club succeeds without trust and a positive working relationship between the chairman, the coach, staff, players and the fans and we’re now in a position where we can achieve things in the near future.”