RICHIE Myler claimed Hull FC were on the verge of bankruptcy before being taken over two years ago.
Andrew Thirkhill and David Hood bought the Black and Whites from Adam Pearson in December 2024, on the back of the club suffering a dismal 11th-place finish in Super League.
Yet Myler, who was appointed director of rugby in April 2024 prior to becoming chief executive following the takeover, told the Sin Bin Sessions podcast the problems were off the field at the MKM Stadium as well as on it.
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“It was close to going bankrupt,” Myler said.
“If it hadn’t had Andrew and David step in, there may not have been Hull FC.”
He added: “There’s lots of elements of our organisation that we are trying to repair because, quite frankly, the club was a mess.”
The accounts for Hull Super League Limited up to the end of November 2024, filed in April last year, showed a pre-tax loss of £939,714 – down from over £1million the previous year – and net liabilities of over £5.2million.
Hull FC are far from the only Super League club facing parlous finances though, and Myler is optimistic a deal with the NRL would help shore up the competition.
The appointments of former RFL chief executive Tony Sutton as chief operating officer and ex-Leeds Rhinos head of customer experience Sian Jones as director of operations are aimed at putting Hull FC in a position where it is less reliant its owners.
“We’ve got to remember where we’ve come from,” Myler said.
“So for us it’s about building. It doesn’t happen overnight.
“There’s a the game is itself is in a precarious position that it’s shareholder money constantly propping the game up.
“Hopefully that changes in the next bit, which should be exciting for the game.”
