York City Knights

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York City Knights
Full name York City Knights Rugby League Club
Founded 1868: York Football Club
2003: York City Knights
Location York, England
Ground(s) Huntington Stadium
Capacity 3,428
CEO Flag of England John Guildford
Coach Flag of England Paul March
League National League Two
2007 6th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
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Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
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Away colours
Official website
www.yorkcityknights.co.uk
Flag of England

York City Knights Rugby League Club are a British rugby league team hailing from York. They play at the Huntington Stadium, situated to the north of York city centre.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

York Football Club was formed in 1868, for the first few seasons they had portable goal posts as they did not have their own ground and would play wherever they could find a pitch. Eventually a permanent pitch was secured on Knavesmire.

It took three years for the club to record their first victory - and that was in an association football match against York Training College. Results picked up in the mid 1870s as the club attracted a higher standard of player. In 1877, York were among several leading Yorkshire clubs who inaugurated the Yorkshire Challenge Cup. In the first season 16 teams battled it out for the T'owd Tin Pot, with York eventually losing out to Halifax in the final.

Financial problems in the early 1880s forced the club out of the Yorkshire Gentlemen's Ground in Wigginton Road and in 1883 the club amalgamated with York Melbourne Club.

After playing on Poad's Fields for a short time, the York Lunatic Asylum leased the club a plot of land at the end of the Clarence Street in 1885. The first game at the new site was between a York XV and 20 players from the city.

The club made great strides with the team of 1895, which won virtually all their home matches. Off the field the club paid £85 for the Waterman's Mission Hut in Fishergate and converted it into their first grandstand, incorporating dressing rooms.

[edit] Northern Union

There were also changes on a wider scale as northern teams broke away from the Rugby Football Union to form their own Northern Union. York initially stayed with the Rugby Football Union but as the better clubs began to join the new order, it became a financial necessity to follow suit. The decision to join the Northern Union was taken at a meeting at the Bar Hotel, Micklegate, on Monday, April 25, 1898 and five days later they played their first Northern Union match against Hull KR losing 29-2.

York Wasps were first admitted to the Rugby Football League in 1901. In 1902/3 The Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues were combined to form a second division. York was one of the new teams to join the second division. After World War I, they became known as the Dreadnoughts.

York's best moment came in 1931 when they reached the Challenge Cup Final for the first time, only to be beaten 22-8 by Halifax.

10 Feb 1934, the York's record attendance was set when 14,689 turned up to watch a Challenge Cup match against Swinton, which ended in a 0-0 draw. In 1933/34 York beat Hull Kingston Rovers 10-4 in the Yorkshire Cup final.

Financial problems forced the club to sell their training pitch for £200,000 in 1986. Three years later faced with a large bill for safety work, the rest of the stadium was sold to a housing developer for £705,000, less than half what the ground was worth. York's last match at Clarence Street produced a 26-17 victory over Hunslet in front of a crowd of 2,904 spectators. When plans to ground share with York City F.C. broke down, York relocated to the Huntington Stadium (originally Ryedale Stadium) two miles to the north of the city at Monk's Cross. As the stadium was financed by Ryedale District Council the club became known as Ryedale-York.

Huntington / Ryedale Stadium's record attendance for a rugby league match was set on 5 Jan 1990 when 4,977 turned up to watch a division two match against Halifax (Division 2).

In 1991, York and Fulham (now Harlequins Rugby League) toured Russia. An act that caused many Russian rugby union clubs to switch to rugby league.

Following the move to summer rugby in 1996, the club was renamed York Wasps.

On 19 March 2002, after completing 11 games York Wasps announced that they had folded. After a last-ditch take-over deal to save the Wasps collapses, the RFL accept the club’s resignation on 26 March.

A supporters’ trust working party was formed on 27 March and applied to the RFL to continue the 2002 Northern Ford Premiership fixtures. After hearing it would be impossible to meet requirements to return that season, on 5 May fans backed new proposals for a new club to apply for admittance to the league for 2003.

The RFL accepted York's bid to play in the newly-formed National League Two on condition that they had £75,000 in the bank by August 31. York RL decided that the best way to raise cash was through a fans’ membership scheme. Former Great Britain star Paul Broadbent was revealed as prospective player-coach. With the total standing at £70,000, John Smith’s brewery came in with £5,000 as the club hit the target just hours before the deadline.

[edit] York City Knights

The full name of the new club was revealed to be York City Knights RLFC, following a competition in the Evening Press. John Guildford, majority shareholder of York building firm Guildford Construction, was revealed to be the majority shareholder. The Knights played their first game at home against Hull KR in the National League Cup on January 19.

In their first year, the Knights made the National League Two play-offs. The following year they were narrowly beaten in the play-off final by Halifax. In 2005, they were champions and promoted automatically.

As well as gaining promotion to National League One, 2005 saw the club reach the fifth round of the Powergen Challenge Cup, as well as having the highest crowd average for National League Two teams, of 1,986. Yorks's game against Hunslet on the 25th of May 2005 drew a crowd of 3,224 which was a record for National League two.

Despite a good late run of form, York were relegated back to League Two in 2006. However, it is to be hoped that their squad can be retained and a challenge for promotion back to League One can be produced. They did however, win the Fairfax Cup, after beating Batley Bulldogs 14-10 in their first appearance in the York International 9s.

Paul March was appointed player-coach on a one-year rolling contract in September 2007.[1]

[edit] 2008 Squad

No Nat Player Position Former Club
1 Flag of England Danny Ratcliffe Full Back Dewsbury Rams
2 Flag of England Lee Mapals Wing York City Knights
3 Flag of England John Oakes Centre Dewsbury Rams
4 Flag of England Steve Lewis Centre Wakefield Wildcats
5 Flag of England David Leeke Wing Leeds Rhinos
6 Flag of England Scott Rhodes {C} Stand Off Dewsbury Rams
7 Flag of England Danny Grimshaw Half Back York City Knights
8 Flag of England Scott Woodcock Prop Doncaster RLFC
9 Flag of England Paul Hughes Hooker Featherstone Rovers
10 Flag of Australia Dave Buckley Prop Newtown Jets
11 Flag of England Mark Applegarth Second Row Wakefield Wildcats
12 Flag of England Ross Divorty Second Row Hull FC
13 Flag of England Rob Kelly Loose Forward Dewsbury Rams
14 Flag of England Gareth Greenwood Hooker York City Knights
15 Flag of England Stephen Grundy Loose Forward York City Knights
16 Flag of England Andy Bailey Centre Rochdale Hornets
17 Flag of England Adam Endersby Prop York Acorn
18 Flag of England Jack Stearman Prop York City Knights
19 Flag of England Danny Ekis Second Row Keghley Cougars
20 Flag of England Matt Danville Centre Skirlaugh
21 Flag of England Rob Spicer Loose Forward Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
22 Flag of England Johnny Waldron Wing York Acorn
23 Flag of England Ryan Esders Loose forward Hull Dockers
24 Flag of England David March Half Back Wakefield Wildcats
25 Flag of England Paul March Hooker Wakefield Wildcats
26 Flag of England Kyle Palmer Prop York City Knights
27 Flag of England Luke Watling Wing York City Knights
28 Flag of England Andy Gargan Prop Batley Bulldogs
29 Flag of England Sam Blaney Centre York City Knights
30 Flag of England Oliver Wilcox-Harrison Second Row York City Knights
31 Flag of England Tom Hodgson Hooker York City Knights
32 Flag of England Tom Wilcox-Harrison Centre York City Knights
33 Flag of England Dale Ferris Wing York City Knights
34 Flag of England Danny Walton Back Row York City Knights

[edit] Honours

[edit] Records

  • Match records

Goals: 11 by Danny Brough at London Skolars, 20 July 2003 (Goals: all time York RL record: 13 by Jamie Benn v Oldham 29 Aug 1999). Tries: 5 by Mark Cain at home to Workington Town, 3 October 2004 (Tries: all time York RL record: 7 by Brad Davis v Highfield 17 Sep 1995) Points: 28 by Danny Brough at home to Dewsbury Rams, 22 August 2004 - 3 tries and 8 goals (Points: all time York RL record: 30 by Jamie Benn v Oldham 29 Aug 1999 - 1 try and 13 goals)

  • Season records

Goals: 178 (174 goals and 4 drop goals) by Danny Brough, 2004 Tries: 25 by Peter Fox, 2005 (Tries: all time York RL record: 35 by John Crossley, 1980-81) Points:412 by Danny Brough, 2004

  • Highest score for

74-12 at home to Dewsbury Rams, 24 April 2005 (all time York RL record: 84-0 at Nottingham C., 4 Oct 1992)

  • Biggest win

74-12 at home to Dewsbury Rams, 24 April 2005 (all time York RL record: 84-0 at Nottingham C., 4 Oct 1992)

  • Highest score against

62-0 at St Helens, Powergen Challenge Cup, 6 May 2005 (all time York RL record: 98-0 at Rochdale Hornets, 8 April 2001)

  • Biggest defeat

62-0 at St Helens, Powergen Challenge Cup, 6 May 2005 (all time York RL record: 98-0 at Rochdale Hornets, 8 April 2001)

  • Highest home attendances

3,509 v Leeds Rhinos, Friendly, 3 January 2005 (at Bootham Crescent) 3,224 v Hunslet Hawks, NL2, 22 May 2005 3,105 v Hull KR, ATC, 19 January 2003 (all time York RL record - Clarence Street: 14,689 v Swinton (Challenge Cup), 10 Feb 1934. (all time York RL record - Huntington Stadium: 4,977 v Halifax (Division 2), 5 Jan 1990 - Then Ryedale Stadium.

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Rugby League National Leagues - National League Two
See also: Rugby League Championship Third Division