Will the RL teams be able to take advantage of this to develop their profile amongst big business etc

Thought I would never see the words 'Hull' and 'Culture' in the same sentence.

Culture: the cultivation of bacteria, sounds right.

Hull is a hell hole, the only culture they have is an inbreeding one!

Why slag off a great rugby league city? Hull has plenty to offer, and at the heart of its culture is the famous Hull Truck Theatre Company, creators of fine modern drama like Bouncers and Up 'n' Under, to name just a couple. Not to mention Mick Ronson, David Bowie's long-term go-to man for guitar. I have no personal connection to Hull but stupid insults like this one just make Warrington fans look ignorant.

I have been to Hull many times and went to Uni there so am well placed to say whether it is a hell hole or not, one theatre company does not make it a nice place as it isn't.

I am cringing at a few of the comments on here.

Hull was a vitally important port in times gone by and has some superb architecture (see Wilberforce House) which survived the bombing of WWII.

It is Kingston Upon Hull as it was purchased by King Edward I in the late 1200s. Was a supporter of Republicanism in the Civil War. Birthplace of William Wilberforce who lead the anti-slavery movement and Phil Larkin worked as librarian at the Uni. Its has a historic old town, Museum quarter, marina and new theatre.

I appreciate some areas of Hull are not too nice on the eye currently. I can easily say the same about Warrington. However that should not make us forget the past.

Warrington is a hell hole too but I still love it, and I fully expect people from Hull to feel the same about their town.

Getting away from sporting rivalry ,the city survived one of thee worst blitzes of WW2 & as such deserves the respect of everyone & in recent years its fishing industry has been done to death by various EEC/EU directives which turned a thriving port into a backwater. Thankfully it is now recovering & i am sure its citizens are just like us ,with the same hopes & fears.

Well done Hull !

There's a blue plaque house 5 mins drive from me in which Wilberforce lived near the rising sun pub Mill Hill.

Hull is my least favourite place in England, still has someway to go for the UK though---Glasgow...what a toilet that place is.

I have lived in Hull for the past three years and completely disagree.

In the city centre you have a great array of museums, an art gallery and the home of William Wilberforce, all open to the public for free. The maritime museum in particular is superb. Moving on you have the old town, complete with a wide choice of vibrant bars (something Warrington seriously lacks) and the White Harte, where the civil war was essentially triggered.

From there you can walk over the new bridge and onto the waterfront, where you have the Deep and the marina as well as the recently redeveloped Fruit Market which hosts live music, comedy, street markets, niche cinema and much more. Every year there is the Freedom Festival, which this year was attended by over 80,000 people. Also you have the Larkin and Fish trails, for if you want to take a walk and lean more about the city and its culture.

So that is the city centre. Wander a little further afield you have the university and the recently refurbished library of Larkin fame and Newland/Princes Avenue littered with independent bars, shops and restaurants which completely blow Stockton Heath out of the water. Then there are countless other gems such as the Adelphi Club which is famous in the music industry.

All of the above is just off the top of my head. If you ask me, that is pretty incredible when you consider that 95% of houses in the city were destroyed or damaged during WW2 (something which only recently was officially recognised) and the decline of the fishing industry which the city heavily relied upon.

Once again I am utterly embarrassed by the puerile and ill informed trash which is spouted on this forum.

Oh, add to that the Truck Theatre, City Hall and Guild Hall. But what do I know eh!

I would never go as far as the inbreeding (everyone accuses everyone of that) comments but personal experience of some quarters of Hull have tarnished my opinion of the place and unfortunately that will stick longer in the memory than a few museums, a bridge and some out of work fishermen.

I'll stick to London as my preferred 2nd home

Great news for Hull. If it has half the impact that being European Capital of Culture had on Liverpool, then it will transform the city.

This really drives me mad with people who go off to London. Why constantly compare? One is a capital city and global destination, the other is a northern city which for decades was neglected and left to rot.

Of course, it is far from perfect and rough around the edges, but so what? Venture outside the centre of London and large parts of it are a dump. On our way to Twickenham last year we stopped off in Hounslow for a drink, say no more!

To be fair all towns and cities have areas that are dumps, this will be a good thing for Hull as said above it did a lot of good things for Liverpool and they seem to be carrying that on.

One thing we do all have in common is that they are rugby league mad in Hull. I went on a pub tour prior to a Warrington match with my mate who lives in Hull. He has been associated with rugby league coaching in the town for years. I'll remember the friendly banter for ever. I am sure rugby league will play a part in any celebration of culture.

Widnes is well worth visiting also.

When the sun sets over the town, the light reflects off the distillation towers in the chemical factory throwing, an un-worldly orange hue across the whole place. It inspired Dante to write that famous poem. And Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel fame wrote 'Homeward Bound' in Widnes railway station at the end of one of their tours.

Everyday's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines
And each town looks the same to me
The movies and the factories
And every stranger's face I see
Reminds me that I long to be .......

All large towns/cities have rough areas as well as classy ones. You might review your opinion on Glasgow if you spent any time in the Merchant City area. Similarly, students don't generally get the most attractive areas of towns to stay in. Leeds city centre is pretty impressive but friends of mine have sons staying in right dumps while at Uni there.

Anyway, why not Hull as city of culture over Leicester, Dundee or Swansea?

I went to a conference in Glasgow a while back and was pleasantly surprised. Sadly, mud sticks.

Tom Courtenay (Billy Liar, Doctor Zhivago, Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner etc.) is from Hull so it's AOK for me, even if if have spent many an evening escaping the Boulevard and KC (and the HJ where thar in town come to think of it) under a hail of cans.

The "culture" monicker has enabled lots of fine, but run-down, cities to re-invent and re-vitalise themselves - Dublin & Glasgow for two, both beautiful cities. I hope Hull does too, and RL benefits - nice to see somewhere north of Watford get some attention and monies.

I agree with the positive comments from @Ganson's Optician but must point out that it is wrong to compare Hull with Warrington & Stockton Heath as Warrington in not a City & Stockton Heath is a Village.

Glasgow is a fantastic city with some of the most wonderful architecture in the UK, Macintosh and Greek Thompson are world class for example and knock the spots off the gates and Palmyra Square I know it's hard to believe ha ha

Whenever I've visted it's people are really hospiatble, proud of their town, but, welcoming particularly when they latch on to the fact that you are from the North and from a 'working town' rather than 'that there London'.

Good luck to Hull I hope that their City of Culture tenure does them good, raises their profile attracts investment and sorts out some of the ridiculous statements being made on here by the residents from the Shangri La that is Warrington.

The avenues area which I refer to is a high street type area very similar to SH, which is why I draw the comparison.

You cannot compare any part of Hull with any part of Warrington. I congratulate Hull just as I congratulated Liverpool & hope that their year is as successful as Liverpool's was.