Hull FC announce their first signing through the club’s new Centre of Excellence

Hull FC announced this morning that promising fullback Davy Litten had signed a first team contract.

The 18-year-old fullback has signed a three-year-deal and is the first player to come through the club’s new Centre of Excellence development squad to secure a full-time contract.

He shows the value of this new programme having been overlooked by the more traditional pathways including scholarship and academy.

A former Hull Wyke, Myton Warriors and Cottingham Tigers player, he joined the club’s development squad and college programme three years ago and has since made incredible progress proving his worth both at fullback but also as a utility player across the backline.

On signing his first full-time contract, Litten said: “I’m proud of what I’ve achieved in such a short space of time, and I feel very privileged to be in the position that I’m in now and I am very grateful for the support everyone at the club has shown me.

“It is time to get down to it now and focus on my development, I am focused on earning my debut at some point and I want to work hard to become a regular first-team player.

“I’ve shown some of my potential, but I’m not really interested in potential, I know I need to work even harder now to become a consistently good rugby league player.”

Meanwhile, Head Coach Brett Hodgson emphasised just how deserved this contract is: “Davy is deserving of the opportunity to earn his first professional contract with us and he is a great advert for the different opportunities within our system and that the door is never closed for young players.

“He came into our Rising Stars group pretty late last year and he has worked really hard to get where he is now.

“He is comfortable in a number of positions and very athletic, but he is doing a great job learning the full-back role and we’re really excited to see what the future can bring for Davy.”