Lee Radford

Lee Radford (born 26 March 1979) is an English professional rugby union coach.[6] He previously worked in rugby league as the head coach of Hull F.C., in the Super League, from 2013–2020. He is also a former professional rugby league footballer.[5]

Lee Radford
Personal information
Born (1979-03-26) 26 March 1979
Kingston upon Hull, Humberside, England
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight16 st 1 lb (102 kg)[1]
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Loose forward, Prop
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1997–98 Hull F.C. 8 2 0 0 8
1998–05 Bradford Bulls 145 18 12 0 96
2006–12 Hull F.C. 170 28 0 0 112
Total 323 48 12 0 216
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
Yorkshire
2001–06 England 5 1 0 0 4
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2014–2020 Hull F.C. 190 95 3 92 50
As of 27 November 2019
Source: [2][3][4][5]

As a player, he was an England international second-row forward who played for Yorkshire, and for Hull F.C. and the Bradford Bulls in the Super League.[2][3]

Background

Radford was born in Kingston upon Hull, Humberside, England.

Playing career

Radford made his professional début for hometown club Hull Sharks before moving to Bradford in 1998. Radford played for the Bradford Bulls from the interchange bench in their 2003 Super League Grand Final victory against the Wigan Warriors. Having won Super League VIII, Bradford played against 2003 NRL Premiers, the Penrith Panthers in the 2004 World Club Challenge. Radford played at second-row in the Bulls' 22–4 victory. He also played for Bradford at loose forward in their 2004 Super League Grand Final loss against the Leeds Rhinos. Radford played for the Bradford Bulls at loose forward in their 2005 Super League Grand Final victory against the Leeds Rhinos.

Radford later returned to his hometown club of Hull FC, who he joined for the start of 2006's Super League XI. Hull reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against St. Helens, playing at second-row in his side's 4–26 loss.[7] Radford would also play in Hull's 28-16 2008 Challenge Cup final loss to St Helens.

Lee Radford took part in a boxing match, the Rumble in the Humber, against fellow rugby league player, Stuart Fielden which raised £50,000 for Steve Prescott. He won the fight, stopping Fielden in the second round.[8] He was appointed Hull's captain for 2007.

Radford playing for Hull F.C. in 2007

On 6 October 2011 Lee Radford announced his retirement from the game, to take up a 3-year deal as an assistant coach at Hull F.C.[9]

Statistics

The table below shows a cumulative points and scoring records for Radford at the end of the 2012 Super League season.[3]

Club Years Active Appearances Tries Goals FG Points
Hull Sharks 1998 9 2 8
Bradford Bulls 1999-05 154 22 12 112
Hull F.C. 2006–12 175 21 1 86

International career

Radford won a cap for England against Wales while at Bradford Bulls in 2001. He played for England again in 2005 against, France and New Zealand. Radford again played for England while at Hull in 2006 against France, Tonga, and Samoa.[4]

Coaching career

Hull FC

On 18 September 2013, Radford was unveiled as the new head coach at Hull FC, where he had been the assistant coach under Peter Gentle. His first game in charge was a pre-season friendly against Doncaster, and his first competitive game was against the Catalans Dragons in Super League XIX.

After a shaky start to his coaching career he found success in 2016 becoming the first Hull F.C. coach to lead the team to a challenge cup victory at Wembley Stadium, the victory coming in the 2016 Challenge Cup final. The win came against Warrington Wolves with a score of 12-10. Hull F.C. had previously lost 8 finals at the national stadium (despite having won the cup on 3 previous occasions at other venues).[10][11]

That year he would also lead his team to the Super League play-off semi-finals but would fail to reach the final after being defeated by the Wigan Warriors 28-18.

Radford's coaching success would continue the following year when he once against led Hull F.C. to victory in the 2017 Challenge Cup final with an 18-14 win over the Wigan Warriors, having now led Hull F.C. to two Challenge Cup victories in a row.[12]

Immediately after their loss to the Warrington Wolves on 12 March 2020, Hull FC chief executive Adam Pearson told a live TV interview that Radford had been sacked, minutes after the 38-4 loss.

Dallas Jackals

In June 2020, it was announced that Radford had joined Major League Rugby side Dallas Jackals as defensive coach.[6]

Honours

Playing career

Bradford Bulls

Hull FC

Coaching career

Hull FC
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References
  1. "Hull F.C." web page. Hull F.C. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  2. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. "Former Hull player and coach Lee Radford joins American rugby union side Dallas Jackals". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  7. "St Helens 26–4 Hull FC". BBC News. 14 October 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  8. "Radford wins £50,000 charity bout". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 February 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  9. "Lee Radford retires for Hull FC assistant job". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  10. "Hull FC's Jamie Shaul's late try takes Challenge Cup away from Warrington". Guardian. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  11. "Challenge Cup final: Hull FC 12-10 Warrington Wolves". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  12. "Hull FC 18-14 Wigan recap as the Black and Whites claim back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs". Mirror. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
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