Sixteen men founded Hull City one night in June 1904. Who were they and what united them? And what were the circumstances and background to this significant event?

Many early football clubs were formed by wealthy public school boys who preferred 'the dribbling code', but as the game rapidly gained popularity with the wider public, other social classes started to play the game en masse.

In Hull, the association code had had to struggle against already established sports, often having to compete for playing space and the affections of the public in a densely-populated city.

This formative period in Hull City's history has remained largely unexplored - perhaps because of a dearth of factual or anecdotal information - but an examination of the unique circumstances of the club's birth sheds some light on what type of club it was, and how these events shaped the club's early identity and standing in the local community.

The background of the founders, their previous sporting endeavours and how their paths might have crossed, combine to give a detailed tableau (sporting as well as social) of early twentieth century Hull.

Other key figures and events in the club's early history also feed into this narrative, providing a local and national context for the club's emergence .