Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were known as Hull Sharks from 1996–99. Hull F.C. were one of the founding members of the Northern Rugby Football Union which was formed in 1895 in Huddersfield, making them one of the world's first twenty-two rugby league clubs. Later that year they moved to the Hull Athletic Club's ground at the Boulevard, Airlie Street, which gave rise to their nickname the "Airlie Birds" (Early Birds). Traditionally people from the west side of Hull support Hull F.C. while Hull Kingston Rovers are supported by the east half, the border being the River Hull. Old Faithful is a traditional Hull F.C. terrace song. The team shares the MKM Stadium with association football side Hull City. Their mascot is the "Airlie Bird". History Early years The club was formed in 1865 by a group of ex-schoolboys from York, most notably Anthony Bradley, who had been at Rugby School. The founders used to meet at the Young Men's Fellowship, at St Mary's Church, Lowgate. The vicar at that time was the Reverend Scott and his five sons made up the nucleus of the team. The club immediately took on members who were plumbers and glaziers. Soon another team, Hull White Star, was formed and the two clubs merged. Hull Football Club was one of the first clubs in the north of England to join the Rugby Football Union. Hull F.C., then nicknamed the All Blacks, were one of the initial 22 clubs to form the Northern Union after the acrimonious split from the Rugby Football Union in 1895. The club moved from East Hull to the Hull Athletic Club at the Boulevard in 1895, and subsequently played their first ever match there in September of that year. 8,000 people turned out to witness the first club's match in which Hull F.C. beat Liversedge RFC. The Oxford-educated Cyril Lemprière (1870–1939), who also played for Yorkshire, was captain of Hull during the 1895–96 and 1897–98 season. The early years of the Northern Union saw Hull F.C. prosper, and their black and white irregular hooped jerseys, which they adopted in 1909, became one of the most famous and feared strips in the league. Between 1908–10, Hull