From twelve boys in the snow to a clubhouse of our own.
Scroll through the moments that built the club.
Hessle Rangers started when Peter and Janet Bilsdon's son Mike found himself without a team. Janet put the word out and organised a trial on a field in Hessle in six inches of snow. Twelve boys turned up, and Peter realised he had no choice but to match their commitment.
That September the team joined the Hull Boys Sunday Football League at Under 12 level. The first game was a 1-4 defeat to Cavendish Maybury. Brian Lee scored the club's very first goal.
After Argentina won the 1978 World Cup, their sky blue and white stripes turned up in the local sports shop. The players held a vote, the colours won, and we have worn them ever since.
From the 1985/86 season we expanded into men's football on Saturdays and Sundays. The club climbed the Hull Sunday Football League from Division 17, won it as champions three times, and lifted the HSFL Premier League title in 1999/2000.
Club secretary Pete Bilsdon received the Division 11 winners' trophy for the 1987/88 season from Hull City legend Raich Carter, then president of the Hull Sunday Mens League.
Hessle Rangers entered a girls' team into the Hull Boys Sunday Football League's first girls section, alongside clubs like AFC Preston, Westfield and Hull City in the Community.
Our girls were founder members of the East Riding Girls Football League, a commitment to the women's and girls' game we have kept up ever since.
In December 2002 the club earned the FA Charter Standard Community Club award, one of the first in the country. The ERVAS Gold award followed, and East Riding County FA named us Charter Standard Community Club of the Year for 2008 and 2009.
Hider Foods, the club's senior side, became Hessle Rangers for the 2005/06 season and joined the Humber Premier League, where the senior team has played ever since.
At the league AGM, Janet Bilsdon was presented with the John Martin Award for Services to Football by Adam Lowthorpe of the East Riding County FA. A nod to nearly four decades of work for the club.
The club took over the former Hessle High Lower School site. After a committee vote it was christened Bilsdon Park, in honour of the family who started it all.
Peter and Janet Bilsdon received the FA Respect Award from then Hull City manager Nigel Adkins at the East Riding County FA grassroots awards night.
Hessle Rangers were named East Riding County FA Grassroots Club of the Year, in large part for the success of the FA Wildcats programme for girls aged five to eleven.
The club became a Her Game Too partner, a public commitment to a positive and welcoming environment for women and girls in football.
A Hessle Rangers team entered the Hull Veterans League for the first time, adding another door into the club for older players who still want a game.
Work started on a clubhouse of our own at Bilsdon Park, the biggest project in the club's history and the focus of years of fundraising.
Fifty years on from a trial in the snow, the Bilsdon Park clubhouse opens. A permanent home for around 30 teams and the community that has grown around them.
Janet ran that first trial in the snow. Peter picked up the whistle because someone had to. Half a century later they are still here. Peter is the club's President and Janet is its Treasurer, and the ground carries their name because of it.
When the club took on the former Hessle High Lower School in 2016, the committee held a vote on what to call it. Bilsdon Park won. In 2013 Janet received the John Martin Award for Services to Football from the East Riding County FA. In 2018 Peter and Janet together received the FA Respect Award from the then Hull City manager Nigel Adkins at the East Riding grassroots awards night. Two people, one family, fifty years of Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Recognition earned over five decades of grassroots football.
We gained the FA Charter Standard Community Club Award in December 2002, one of the first clubs in the country to do so. The East Riding County FA later named us Charter Standard Community Club of the Year for 2008 and 2009, the latter presented at the KC Stadium before Hull City played Osasuna.
We hold the ERVAS Gold Award, which recognises the standards of good practice expected in a voluntary sport environment.
The East Riding County FA named us Grassroots Club of the Year in 2019, in large part for the way we ran the FA's Wildcats programme for girls aged 5 to 11.
In 2023 we became a Her Game Too partner, a public commitment to a positive environment for women and girls in football.
Every year the club hands out awards to recognise the people who give the most to it. Each trophy has its own story.
The original Ted Rilatt Trophy was donated by Ken Williams. His grandfather skippered the Leeds United, a Hull trawler the government used as a minesweeper, based at Milford Haven at the end of the Second World War. The minesweepers ran a football competition between them, and HMT Leeds United won it. The original trophy was handed back to Ken's family in 2022, and a replica is used today.
The Tom Wilson Trophy, given to an exceptional senior player, was donated by the Hessle butcher through Stu McIntyre. The original was "lost" by its 2006/07 recipient Eddie Rafton, or so Pete Bilsdon alleges.
The Junior Endeavour and Senior Endeavour trophies were bought with cash from an anonymous donor. In 2023 the Senior Endeavour trophy was renamed the Mally Thompson Trophy, in memory of a great club servant and the very first winner of the Ted Rilatt Trophy. Also in 2023 the club introduced the Janet Bilsdon Award for an exceptional female senior player, a sister award to the Tom Wilson Trophy.
The full winners' lists for each of the club's annual awards. Tap an award to see every name.
1983 Mally Thompson. 1984 Dave Burr. 1985 Richard McWilliam. 1986 Stu McIntyre. 1987 Geoff Fisk. 1988 Pete Murphy. 1989 Pete Allinson. 1990 Derek and Mary Wraith. 1991 Doug Pepper. 1992 Elaine and Steve Smith. 1993 Barbara Tanser. 1994 John Walker. 1995 John and Karen Wilson. 1996 Phil Cawthra. 1997 Charlie Lazenby. 1998 Janet Bilsdon. 1999 Steve Cockin. 2000 Ian Parkin. 2001 Ken Harvey. 2002 Stu McIntyre. 2003 Pete Youngs. 2004 Mark Owen. 2005 Chris Hoff. 2006 Keith Picken. 2007 Andy McWilliam. 2009 Brian Lee. 2010 Karen Evans. 2011 Richard Smith. 2012 Gavin Smith. 2013 Andy Newton. 2014 Rick Skelton. 2015 Mark Kelsey. 2016 Brian Edmondson. 2017 Gary Thompson. 2018 Phil Ward. 2019 Gary Neve. 2020 Vicky Thompson. 2023 Mark Baker. 2024 Carl Ramsey and Bev McKie.
2003 Pete Bilsdon. 2004 Paul Fisher. 2005 Janet Bilsdon. 2006 Joanne Youngs. 2007 Andy Newton. 2008 George Allon. 2009 Jan Purdy. 2010 Rick Skelton. 2011 Mark Kelsey and Stuart Carey. 2012 Jennie Lee. 2013 Matt Barker. 2014 Rachael Smith. 2015 Gary Murphy. 2016 Danny Thompson. 2017 Bobby Richardson. 2018 Steve Powell. 2019 John Dykes. 2020 Craig Kirk. 2023 Jon Towle. 2024 Rob Brown.
2007/08 Craig Holmes. 2008/09 Mark Lucid. 2009/10 Gareth Wilson. 2010/11 Matt Barker. 2011/12 Mark Dale. 2012/13 Luke Picken. 2013/14 Danny Wilkin. 2014/15 Chris Jennings. 2016 Tom Briggs. 2017 Mick Jennings. 2018 Lee Gardner. 2019 Bailey Smith. 2020 Ash McWilliam.
2003 J Colville. 2004 Emily Butler. 2005 Rob Youngs. 2006 Lucy Evans. 2007 Paris Milner. 2008 Adam Newton. 2009 Emily Sheriff. 2010 Lewis Rennison. 2011 Joe Addrison. 2012 Jack Dean. 2014 Danny Mulvana. 2015 Harry Ward. 2016 Sam Dean. 2017 Jack Lawson. 2018 Hannah Jude. 2019 Tyler Thompson. 2020 Emily Skelton. 2023 Josh Kelsey. 2024 Tilly Morton.
2023 Sarah Lazenby. 2024 Nellie Rawson.
A few of the players who started here and made it in the professional game.
A prolific young striker for Rangers, Keane joined the Hull City academy and broke into the first team in 2019, scoring 30 goals for City before a move to Brentford for around £20m. Called up by the England U21s in 2022.
A tall striker who played for Rangers as a youngster alongside his dad Mike. Turned pro at Scunthorpe United, won the Conference title with Chester City in 2004, and made a substitute appearance in a Wembley play-off final win.
A former Rangers youngster who came through the Nottingham Forest academy, won 25 England U21 caps and made a £2.5m move to Southampton. Now fronts Sky Sports' EFL coverage.
We have built our own home at Bilsdon Park in our 50th year. Help us finish it and fit it out.
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