York aim to show Super League credentials on Wembley stage as growth revealed

Saturday afternoon provides York Knights owner Clint Goodchild with a full circle moment in his rugby league journey.

Four years ago, he headed to the UK looking to potentially invest in a rugby league club. His first port of call? Wembley Stadium to watch the Knights play Featherstone Rovers in the 1895 Cup Final. They fell short that day, losing 41-34: but Goodchild’s mind was made up.

This weekend, York return to Wembley to face the same opposition but with a very different feel about them. As Goodchild admits, he did exactly not purchase a club in crisis: “We had a stable foundation and a good base to build from.” But crucially, he knew there was growth in a variety of areas.

And York now represent one of rugby league’s most exciting clubs and are unquestionably a future Super League side. The story of their geographical location, their stadium and their thriving women’s programme has already been told. But almost 3,000 fans will make the trip south this weekend to cheer on Mark Applegarth’s men’s side.

For a club who have not been in rugby league’s top division for nearly 40 years, that implies serious potential. “It’s an occasion to be enjoyed by the whole of York, by North Yorkshire and for the whole county,” Goodchild tells Love Rugby League.

“The ticket sales are beyond our expectations, and I think that shows there’s something worth believing in here if even we’re being surprised. The city has a buzz about it because a York team are going to Wembley, and it’s up to us to capitalise on that. I’m so excited for the day, but hopefully to see people in and around York be captivated by it.”

Goodchild, with Applegarth as head coach and the club now regularly among the Championship’s best, senses this could be the club’s opportunity to strike locally. “If you look at the trends in York and the surrounding areas of where people went to watch rugby league, there were an awful lot who would go and watch Leeds,” he says.

“There’s now a similar amount going to Hull KR. Until we’re on the same stage, those fans aren’t automatically attainable for us because it’s understandable want to go watch the premiere competition. But we’re making huge strides in all areas.”

York’s off-field staff are growing, their foundation are now delivering rugby league to more schools in North Yorkshire than ever before and perhaps crucially, York as a catchment area is bucking the trend at grass roots level.

Go to many places in the heartlands and amateur teams are dwindling. In York, a new one – York Barbarians – were founded in 2022 and are establishing themselves alongside the likes of New Earswick, York Acorn and Heworth.

This is a fresh area for rugby league’s player pool to seriously tap into – right in time for York to launch their own fully-fledged academy next year: alongside their women’s under-19s, too. The people of North Yorkshire appear to be waking up to York’s story and growth.

Victory this Saturday for the Knights would also bring success to a region that does not traditionally have too much to shout about at the highest level in professional sport. York Knights can suddenly market themselves in a whole different way.

“From the standpoint of the club, that momentum we could get from being on the national stage is huge,” Goodchild says. “The women’s side have proven what they can do by winning trophies in the last three years and if the men’s side do that too, that puts us in a pretty unique bracket of having two thriving teams.”

Of course, there is one other thing at stake this weekend: bonus IMG points. It may only be 0.1 but given how York were 15th last year and an expansion to 14 teams cannot be ruled out, every point may matter. York, for what it’s worth, also expect an uptick in their IMG score too to put themselves in a position to make Super League.

And Goodchild believes they are ready.

“The statement of saying we’re a different club to four years ago is probably true but I’d rather just say we’re a club that’s growing upwards. Our aspirations have changed and what we consider success now is probably a little bit higher than where we did back then. The squad we’ve built over the last three to four years is starting to mature, too.

“We really do believe this could be just the start. We’re a unique club in a unique location that is ready to add some real value to this game. Hopefully people will see the beginnings of that this weekend.”