Ern Shaw's Rugby League Cartoons

Ern Shaw was inspired by the cartoonist, Tom Webster (1886 -1962), a British cartoonist and caricaturist who specialised in sporting cartoons. Ern Shaw was later to be considered Humberside’s “Tom Webster,” particularly on the soccer and rugby league scenes. He delighted the people of Hull by drawing cartoons of matches played by Hull KR and Hull FC and many of the great players felt they had not ‘arrived' until Ern Shaw had drawn a cartoon of them which was then published in the local paper.

Hull KR
Hull Kingston Rovers were formed in 1882 by a group of boilermakers and started life as Kingston Amateurs playing in Albert Street to the west of the city in the autumn of 1883.
They played on several grounds on the west of the river including a spell at the Boulevard, which later became the home of their rivals Hull FC. Rovers then moved to the East of Hull, Craven Park, which is there ground today.

A postcard drawn by Ern Shaw of the clubs new home, Craven Park, 1922

For a brief period they were known as Kingston Rovers before becoming Hull Kingston Rovers by 1885. The traditional colours of the club are white shirts with a red band. Hull KR's nickname is 'The Robins' which comes from their playing colours.

Hull Kingston Rovers Rugby League Team were delighted when Ern Shaw produced a cartoon, showing each member of the team entitled “Hull KR’s Record Season,” acknowledging their record season in 1966/67.

Hull FC
Hull FC is one of the oldest clubs in the League and was formed by a group of ex-public schoolboys from York in 1865. They joined the breakaway from the English Rugby Union in 1896, which led to the new game of Rugby League. The club's first ground was at Woodgates Hall, North Ferriby. In 1895, the club moved to the Hull Athletic Club's ground at the Boulevard, Airlie Street, which gave rise to their nickname "The Airlie Birds". The club now plays at the new Kingston Communications Stadium, (KC Stadium) on the site of the former cricket club which it shares with Hull City Football Club (Tigers). The traditional colours of the club shirts are black and white and they are often called the ‘Black and Whites’

A Hull FC cartoon, 1964 by Ern Shaw