Hull FC were handed an unexpected boost on Friday night.
12:54, 27 Sep 2025Updated 13:33, 27 Sep 2025
(Image: SW Pix)
Hull FC saw a big boost to both their overall IMG score and expected Grade A club status on Friday night, with Leigh Leopards’ play-off victory over Wakefield Trinity ensuring that the Black and Whites’ Performance score remains above the West Yorkshire club.
One of five IMG scoring pillars – the other four being Fandom, Finance, Stadium, and Community – the Performance scores are given over a three-year period and are calculated based on the average on-field performance of all clubs.
The performance table is made up of all 35 Super League, Championship, and League 1 clubs. However, the final position of the play-off teams is determined by where they finish in the play-off series and not by league position – hence confirmation of Hull’s performance score following Wakefield’s defeat.
And after working out the performance averages, Hull Live understands that Hull’s total performance score – after 10th, 11th, and 7th-place finishes in 2023, 2024, and 2025 – is set to be 3.0857 points as the 9th-best-performing club. Wakefield, after 12th, 13th, and 6th place finishes, is set to be 2.8571 points – the 11th best-performing club.
However, the performance scores are so tight that if Wakefield defeated Leigh and then went on to make the Grand Final, their score would have increased to be the first or second best for 2025 pending the outcome of the game and the 9th best over three years, and therefore they would have gone past both Huddersfield Giants and Hull FC.
This would have had a consequent effect on the Black and Whites, whose performance score would have dropped to 2.9714 points as the 10th best-performing club, lowering Hull’s overall IMG score and, as Hull Live understands it, putting them in danger of remaining a Grade B club.
But Wakefield’s defeat ensures that Hull’s performance score is now finalised, with the rest of the Super League play-off sides – Hull KR, Wigan Warriors, Leigh Leopards, Leeds Rhinos, and St Helens – already above them in the performance table and unable to drop below.
The Black and Whites were one of nine clubs to submit an application this month to play in the Super League for 2026. They were a Grade B club last year, having scored 14.51 points. However, they are expected to have made up the shortfall across the five IMG pillars to become a Grade A club once again – and an increase to their performance score is one reason why.
Hull will receive final confirmation of their score on October 15, with full results announced on October 16. Meanwhile the full performance scores for all Super League clubs will be finalised after the Grand Final.