Biography
Tall and powerful centre half Rob Dewhurst joined City in November 1993 and slotted straight into Terry Dolan’s first XI as City attempted to engineer a return to the second tier of league football on a shoestring budget. Dewhurst, quickly nicknamed The Master Butcher, scored his first goal for City in March 1994 during a 2-0 win over Huddersfield as City briefly looked as though they might challenge for an unlikely promotion before eventually finishing ninth. City went into 1994/95 season with some hope and Dewhurst missed only five games all season as City’s topsy turvy form continued. A run of six wins and a draw in seven games during October and November 1994 saw Dewhurst score four times as his powerful free kicks and towering presence at attacking set pieces bore fruit. A poor run of form at Christmas halted City’s march to promotion and come May the club finished eighth, but not before Rob scored in three consecutive games in late April. In 1995/96 things started badly and City languished at the foot of the table from an early stage. In December 1995 two events sealed City’s fate – Dean Windass was sold to Aberdeen and Rob Dewhurst suffered a compound leg fracture in a match against Bournemouth – the sickening crack that echoed around Dean Court as Rob’s leg broke will live long in the memory for the 3,500 fans in attendance that day.
Dewhurst returned to fitness ten months later in October 1996, by which time City were in the fourth tier, Terry Dolan was selling everything that moved for personal profit and Rob was in and out of the first team as he struggled to recapture his previous fitness levels. When Mark Hateley took over from Dolan for the 1997/98 season Dewhurst was back to something resembling his previous form but the squad assembled by Hateley was much-changed and City struggled to keep away from the foot of the table. Dewhurst dropped out of the first team in March 1998 and when he returned eight months later City were stranded at the foot of the table, Warren Joyce was in charge and Rob’s no-nonsense approach matched Joyce’s clenched-fist approach to survival. Dewhurst was soon replaced by new signing Justin Whittle and he left the club in the 1999 close season after Joyce oversaw a recovery of form that delivered City’s Great Escape.
Robert Matthew Dewhurst was born in Keighley in West Yorkshire and came through the youth team ranks at Blackburn Rovers. He made his Rovers debut in an August 1990 League game against Hull City and ended the season with 16 starts as the club finshed 19th in the Second Division. However his subsequent first team opportunities were blocked as the club’s chairman Jack Walker plunged his millions into a squad rebuilding programme that delivered promotion to the top flight in 1992 and culminated in taking the 1995 Premier League title. Dewhurst left the club in 1993 having not made a first team for over two years.
Rob joined Exeter City in the 1999 close season and made 29 appearances in his only season with the Grecians. He returned north in the summer of 2000 but a trial at Scunthorpe United ended rapidly when he was sent off on his debut in the League Cup. After a couple of weeks at Gainsborough Trinity Dewhurst joined North Ferriby United and he quickly became the Villagers’ club captain, spending six years at Church Lane before retiring in 2006. Dewhurst had by then taken a job with the Royal Mail, delivering post in the Hull area.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 10 September 1971, Keighley
Hull City First Game: 6 November 1993, Rotherham United H (League Division 2), 22 years, 57 days old
Hull City Final Game: 12 February 1999, Rochdale A (League Division 3), 27 years, 155 days old
Clubs
Blackburn Rovers (1990-1993), Darlington (1991-1992, loan), Huddersfield Town (1992, loan), Hull City (1993-1999), Exeter City (1999-2000), Scunthorpe United (2000), Gainsborough Trinity (2000), North Ferriby United (2000-2006)
Hull City Record
Career: 161 apps, 14 goals
Rob Dewhurst| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993/94 | 27 (0) | 2 | 2 (0) | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 (0) | 0 |
| 1994/95 | 41 (0) | 8 | 1 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | - | - | 2 (0) | 0 |
| 1995/96 | 16 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | - | - | 1 (0) | 0 |
| 1996/97 | 20 (2) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 (0) | 0 |
| 1997/98 | 24 (0) | 3 | - | - | 3 (0) | 0 | - | - | 2 (0) | 0 |
| 1998/99 | 4 (4) | 0 | 1 (0) | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |