BY JOHN DAVIDSON
York owner Clint Goodchild insists his club is ready to make the jump to Super League and that the Knights will go full-time next year regardless of what division they are in.
York are one of seven Championship sides to have submitted applications to join an expanded-14 team Super League in 2026.
The Knights have enjoyed an impressive year on the field, winning the League Leader’s Shield and finishing on top of the Championship. They face Halifax at home in the semi-finals this Saturday.
Australian businessman Goodchild, who took over at York in January 2022, is confident his club is ready to make the transition.
“What I faith in is the track record,” he told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“Since we’ve come in we’ve seen incremental gains in every aspect of the club. Commercially, we’re a front-runner for what we do in our competition.
“And we’ve shown with what we’ve spent on our player budget for what we get in return, we’re quite clever in getting value out of our players and going for not necessarily a lot of big games – we have a couple – but we tend to try and find some hidden gems and invest in the long term strategy.
“I just think there is a track record there that says we’re ready to go [to Super League]. That next step seems like the right one.”
The Knights play in the York Community Stadium, an 8500-capacity new ground that opened in 2021. They operate a successful women’s side in the Women’s Super League and are coached by former Wakefield boss Mark Applegarth.
The club’s partners include Lloyd Motor Group, Bartercard, Gem Construction, and Autohorn Fleet Services.
Goodchild believes York would “an element of fresh air” to Super League.
“We are a story that is organic,” he said.
“We are a rugby league city but I do think it’s a new audience, I think that it’s a new brand and we bring a fresh approach and some new brand power.
“Everyone in the world has heard of York. We get nine million tourists a year. It’s not somewhere we have to point out on a map, they know where it is. So, for me, there is a real opportunity to piggyback on the city but we don’t have to convince the city that it’s a rugby league city either, it is. It knows that it is. It shows what it is.
“It’s an exciting opportunity and we’ll see that our away attendance – not that we want to be encouraging too many away fans to come and bring their weight of support to the opposition, but from an opportunistic standpoint, we’d be silly not to mention that where would you want to go for a weekend if your team was traveling?
“I think in a first year in Super League, and a tenth year in Super League, you’d circle that one first and you’d make it the pilgrimage to York to see what we’ve got to offer.”
York have never played in Super League before but have made significant gains in the lower divisions in recent years. The won League One in 2018 and were promoted to the Championship, finishing ninth in 2021, sixth in both 2022 and 2023, fourth last year and first this year.
“We’re one of two clubs to have been in the playoffs for the last four years,” Goodchild said.
“We’ve been in the semi-finals the last three, I think we were highly competitive in the semi-final game last year. We won the 1895 Cup [this year] and the League Leader’s, that’s two out of the three main trophies.
“We have our focus firmly on the grand final and make sure we don’t take our eyes off that, and again pat ourselves on the back until something has been achieved. This is just an organic progression of where we were on the field and it’s been an organic reinvestment.
“We haven’t jumped in our budget spend, we’ve just gently increased year-on-year and we’ve invested in youth that’s improved year-on-year. We fully understand and recognise that it’s a big jump on the field, and we’ve recruited accordingly, but we’re also going to stick with our current youth policy because that has been the plan from the outset.
“Our squad is, on average, under the age of 25. That tells me there is going to be improvement when you put them into a full-time environment, and there’s going to be even more improvement as they progress as individuals and they get stronger and more experience.
“So we don’t see it as reinvention, we see it as reinforcement with the likes of Paul Vaughan. You need the Josh Griffins who have been there and done it. We’re quite excited to get that balance of youth and experience.”
York have already signed Paul Vaughan from Warrington and Josh Griffin from Wakefield, and have been linked to other signings.
Goodchild says the Knights will change from a part-time operation to a full-time one in 2026, regardless if they’re in Super League or not.
“The decision was made in June, really,” he explained.
“We couldn’t wait until the decisions [about Super League] were made, it didn’t leave enough time for us to get everything right. So we made the decision to get everything right and deal with the repercussions either way.
“Every decision we’ve made has been that we’re going to be self-funded regardless of which competition we’re in, and we’re going to operate at this level as a club – that’s the only way you can make clear-headed decisions.
“If we were waiting until October, well, not to be rude, who are you going to get? How are you going to put together a team, how are you going to put together the transition from part-time to full-time? How are you going to execute a pre-season that gives you a front-foot opportunity to go out there and succeed at that next level?
“In many ways, it was a decision made on what we know won’t work, as opposed to what we know will. So we’re just avoiding the pitfalls that would sabotage any successful rise into Super League.
“There’s an element of I know that nothing’s guaranteed, but I also feel very strongly that we are as well-positioned as any club in the country to make that jump.”
York are continuing with their recruitment behind the scenes and Goodchild says more signings will be revealed soon, including from overseas.
“There is eight to 10 significant signings that will be announced over the next few weeks,” he said.
“Some are quota spots, some are from within the competition here.”