York City Knights
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| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | York City Knights Rugby League Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | Minstermen Knights City |
| Colours |  |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) | |
| Chairman | John Flatman |
| Coach | James Ford |
| Competition | League 1 |
York City Knights R.L.F.C. is an English professional rugby league club based in York. They play their home games at Bootham Crescent where they ground share with York City F.C.. In the 2016 season they played in the League 1.
On 19 March 2002, after completing 11 games, the York Wasps announced that they had folded. After a last-ditch take-over deal to save the Wasps collapsed, the RFL accepted 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 a proposal 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 31 August. The new club decided that the best way to raise cash was through a fans' membership scheme. Former Great Britain star Paul Broadbent was revealed as 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.
The full name of the new club was revealed to be York City Knights RLFC, following a competition in the Evening Press. Club bosses, in the following month of October, also let the public design a club logo which was based on the New South Wales Rugby League Team's logo, while they picked new colours of blue and white – a move away from York RL's traditional amber and black. John Guildford, majority shareholder of York building firm Guildford Construction, was revealed to be the majority shareholder. They played at Huntington Stadium, where the previous incarnation of York RL played.
The Knights played their first game at home against Hull Kingston Rovers in the National League Cup on 19 January with a bumper crowd of 3,105. In their first year, the Knights finished fourth with 11 wins, a draw and 6 losses. They made the National League Two play-offs but lost 50–30 to the Barrow Raiders. Paul Broadbent resigned as coach at the end of the season.
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