Martin Thacker believes a friendship with Hull United could help his club’s player pool. Picture: Lee Myers
From outside looking in, you would have thought Hall Road Rangers and Hull United are sworn enemies.
United own Dene Park and that has forced Rangers to move to Haworth Park for next season, but the two clubs want to work together and help each other.
With local players in Hull having little choice on where to play on the non-league circuit, many players are travelling to Bridlington and Scarborough.
A newly emerging side Hull United seem to be the ambitious club that young footballers need, while fellow Hull side Hall Road Rangers can benefit majorly from their presence.
Hull United chairman and former Hall Road striker Jamie Waltham insists: “We’ve set up a club for the future and for years that should have happened at Hall Road.
“We’ve done things they should’ve done a long time ago, and I think Hall Road will benefit from us, I think it will be really good for them.”
With a new team on the scene some might immediately believe the two are ‘rivals’, but in non-league football often sides in close proximity work together, and the relationship between the two will be majorly beneficial to the state of non-league football in Hull.
And Hall Road manager Martin Thacker mirrored this, saying: “I’ve known Jamie for a long, long time, I played against him for 20 years, but the chairman needs to build a relationship with him.
“If the two chairman can build a relationship then the two clubs can work together. He’s working hard to make his club successful and that is we need to do at Hall Road.
“It benefits us, players will leave them for us and vice versa. It makes our pool of players bigger. That way when our players move to bigger sides like has happened in recent seasons, we have more local players to choose from.”
Thacker’s side are set to move away from their current home of Dene Park next season, moving to Haworth Park.
And the 35 year-old admitted: “It’s a major disappointment that Dene Park won’t be Hall Roads ground anymore.
“It’s disappointing as it’s been in our history for years, but it just doesn’t work. We couldn’t organise training very well and it is best if we both go our separate ways.”
Although the current ground-share may not be best suited for both clubs, Waltham said: “I let them play at the ground rent free and I used to play for the club, so early doors I got on quite well with (Hall Road chairman) Darren (Sunley).”
But as Waltham began to develop the ambitious project of Hull United, his involvement with Hall Road naturally decreased and he said: “They thought I was getting involved with them but it was always about Hull United.
“The ambition for this season is definitely promotion, but our major ambition is to have a top non-league team and then a Football League club.
“There’s going to be nothing like it, for me there’s a lot to be gained for Hall Road and people will follow suit.”
And as Hull United currently sit 4th in the Humber Premier League, their promotion to the NCEL seems imminent.
The two sides look set to meet in the league next year so Hull could have a rivalry one day just as big as the one in Rugby League, but there’s probably little chance of Hall Road changing their kit to red and white.