YORK KNIGHTS owner Clint Goodchild had no doubt about the significance of Friday’s decision to elevate his club to Super League in 2026.

“It’s a great day for the city and a great day for the region, to have a team that can represent the highest tier in a professional sport,” he said.

“It’s been a long time coming. The last time we were in this position was the 85/86 season. Hopefully we can kick on from here.

“We always bought into the strategy that if we were ready and we did things right, that the opportunity would come, whether that was this year or in the future, but we’re very thankful that that opportunity’s here now.”

Goodchild said York are already well prepared for Super League, adding: “Our recruitment’s been done for the better part of a month.

“Regardless of what the outcome was, we’ve been prepared for this moment, and now it’s time to execute.

“We’ve staffed up and a lot of those staff members that we need for this jump to full-time status had to be made three months ago, because those employees needed to give three months’ notice.”

Goodchild isn’t deterred by the fact that his club will only get half of the distribution that goes to the twelve other top-graded Super League clubs next season – £650,000 in 2026 instead of £1.3 million – before equality returns in 2027.

“I’m thankful to be getting 50 per cent because we budgeted for zero. So the way I look at it is that we don’t have a shortage, we have an additional £650,000,” he insisted.

And he recognises that his club will have a lot to learn when it enters Super League.

“We’re playing catch up on the decades they (the other Super League clubs) have had ahead of us,” he said.

“So we need to catch up on everything; we’ve got a lot to learn.

“We’re an inexperienced club, both on and off the field when it comes to this level.

“We just need to make sure that we’re putting in the right pre-season and that we’re working harder than or as hard as any other club is.”

But Goodchild is also sure that the Knights will have some advantages that are perhaps denied to some others.

“I think one of the bigger concerns for me is how many away fan tickets we’re going to have to sell because I think York’s a very attractive place to come to,” he said.

“So we’re going to have to be very strategic about making sure that we have enough seats for our home fans, because I do think this is one that a lot of away teams will circle and say, let’s go to York for the weekend.”

One element of the future will be the integration of local youngsters into the York squad.

“We’ve got very strong community clubs here in York with two teams in the NCL Premiership in Heworth and Acorn,” said Goodchild.

“So I don’t think we have an issue with producing talent in the area. It’s now just a case of channelling it into our own club.

“We’ll be taking the mindset of hard work having got us here and hard work will get us to the next stage. We’re under no illusions.

“If you look at the pattern of improvement over the last four years, we don’t try and skip steps and I’m not saying other clubs do, but I’m very much of the mindset that if we work hard, that’s what shortens the timeline.

“We just have to tackle each challenge as it comes and just try and tweak it to get those improvements.

“There’s nothing major that needs overhauling here. It’s just that everything needs to be improved.”

Goodchild is hoping that the future is one of growth, both for his club and for Rugby League more generally.

“We have to be a self-sufficient organisation and we have to be prepared for the best and the worst,” he said.

“So it’ll be nice to have some clarity around what the competition looks like moving forward and it’d be nice to have a very clear decision on what we’re trying to achieve as a sport.

“I’m sure those answers will come in time.”