York City Knights

[marklaspalmas 1,289]

Well done.

All credit to them, I thought Bradford would walk that league.

Ford is obviously a very good up and coming coach.

Things are coming together with the new ground and they are getting good crowds.

Nice club, Im pleased for them.

Welcome to the Championship.

[johnh1 815]

Yes, well done York. Pleased that they look to have overcome their financial troubles over recent years.

[Futtocks 11,972]

They came back from the brink, and did it in style. 

[Skids 7]

Up the knights/kneets.

C'mon York.

[Mr Plow 724]

Moving into a new stadium some time next year as well, the future looks really good for them. Hopefully they can establish themselves in the Championship 

[EssexRL 1,104]

Really good news. Great club doing good work locally and justly rewarded. 

[Man of Kent 5,120]

3.2k crowd today. If York can get that for a L1 fixture against Whitehaven then the potential must be pretty big. 

Edited September 23, 2018 by Man of Kent

[Oliver Clothesoff 2,805]

It looks as though they’re not throwing money at it to try and climb the ladder, which is a massive plus. Wish them all the best. 

[Wellsy4HullFC 3,731]

I'd love York to be a success. Very nice city.

[Damien 7,318]

Yeah a successful York would certainly add to the game. It's a reasonably sized city with a catchment area well away from the conventional Yorkshire heartlands.

[DEANO 1,061]

2 hours ago, johnh1 said:

Yes, well done York. Pleased that they look to have overcome their financial troubles over recent years.

Not aware they had any since they went bust 20 years ago

[dixiedean 798]

Yes. Well done York. Fondly remember them winning the Second Division ahead of a well-funded Fulham, and the not-so-mighty Wigan.

Clearly have a decent nascent support base too.

After Toulouse, then Toronto, then York/Bradford this year, League 1 could be wide open next year. At least 7 teams will fancy their chances of the title.

Skolars, Crusaders and Coventry will also be able to take occasional wins from these 7, making it all unpredictable.

Hopefully Hemel and WWR can improve...

Edited September 23, 2018 by dixiedean

[RayCee 1,572]

Wiki states the population of the city at just over 200,000. I have visited there but didn't realise it that was that large.

[Stirlin 308]

1 hour ago, dixiedean said:

Yes. Well done York. Fondly remember them winning the Second Division ahead of a well-funded Fulham, and the not-so-mighty Wigan.

Clearly have a decent nascent support base too.

After Toulouse, then Toronto, then York/Bradford this year, League 1 could be wide open next year. At least 7 teams will fancy their chances of the title.

Skolars, Crusaders and Coventry will also be able to take occasional wins from these 7, making it all unpredictable.

Hopefully Hemel and WWR can improve...

Martini the writer for York press suggests that Hemel and WWR may not have any future in Lge 1 next season which would reduce it to 10 teams , I hope he is wrong , not just for Hemel and WWR but the make up of Lge 1.

https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/sport/16897213.york-city-knights-chairman-jon-flatman-discusses-the-importance-of-promotion/

[cookey 1,008]

I'm delighted,York is just the sort of Club to do well in the Championship. New ground,good population,not too much other local sporting competition(York RU are doing quite well).

Hope they build slowly and dont over stretch themselves.

Lots of oppourtunities in the numerous market towns to the north and east of York.Link with Newcastle Thunder to the north and the Hull clubs to the east.

[Hopping Mad 750]

8 hours ago, RayCee said:

Wiki states the population of the city at just over 200,000. I have visited there but didn't realise it that was that large.

York is a growing city, too. Plenty of new housing developments planned for the central area and also for the vast empty spaces beyond the outer ring road.

Edited September 24, 2018 by Hopping Mad

[AB Knight 1,411]

I'll also add York is apparently the 2nd most visited city in the UK outside of London. Although I don't think you'd ever convince many tourists from China or America to hop on a bus up to the new stadium to watch a completely new sport (to them), I do think there is a lot of scope to tap into the Racecourse crowd.

There are also a lot of supporters who were lost to the club under previous regimes, and plenty who trundle down the A64 to Leeds Rhinos and Cas. Lot's of work to do yet but I see no reason why York can't average 3k+ and become an established Championship club.

 

[henage 629]

Sat behind myself and my son at Wembley  was a small group of Chinese ?  Probably tourists to London . Didnt look like they had a clue what was going on early in the game . Different matter near the end , Catalan flags flagging , clapping , cheering great to see .

 

[Marauder 794]

A vibrant York City Knight can only be good for the local amateur game, both should embrace each other for the good of the game.

[Lowdesert 2,437]

1 hour ago, AB Knight said:

I'll also add York is apparently the 2nd most visited city in the UK outside of London. Although I don't think you'd ever convince many tourists from China or America to hop on a bus up to the new stadium to watch a completely new sport (to them), I do think there is a lot of scope to tap into the Racecourse crowd.

There are also a lot of supporters who were lost to the club under previous regimes, and plenty who trundle down the A64 to Leeds Rhinos and Cas. Lot's of work to do yet but I see no reason why York can't average 3k+ and become an established Championship club.

 

I think a lot of the Racecourse crowd would get lost half way down Bishopthorpe Road anyway, drunk.

Hopefully, Heworth, Acorn, Earswick and the Locos will see an uptake in players as a result of promotion.  They could all do with a boost.

The stadium seems to be progressing, whether it will be ready for next seasons start is another story.  Have you an idea what is the timeframe on that?

[AB Knight 1,411]

8 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

The stadium seems to be progressing, whether it will be ready for next seasons start is another story.  Have you an idea what is the timeframe on that?

Not seen any photos for a few weeks, so I can only go on what I've read which is that's it's slightly ahead of schedule. Obviously with winter weather fast approaching that might slow things down but I'd still hope July/August.

I know not many are too bothered about this but I'd expect the Knights to be the last team to play at Bootham (apart from charity games) and the first to play at the new stadium.

[DoubleD 4,653]

1 hour ago, henage said:

Sat behind myself and my son at Wembley  was a small group of Chinese ?  Probably tourists to London . Didnt look like they had a clue what was going on early in the game . Different matter near the end , Catalan flags flagging , clapping , cheering great to see .

 

Are you sure they weren’t Warrington fans?

[henage 629]

Warrington fan next to them , shirt off , blaming the ref even when game was 100m away .

Fantastic day .

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon 831]

53 minutes ago, AB Knight said:

Not seen any photos for a few weeks, so I can only go on what I've read which is that's it's slightly ahead of schedule. Obviously with winter weather fast approaching that might slow things down but I'd still hope July/August.

I know not many are too bothered about this but I'd expect the Knights to be the last team to play at Bootham (apart from charity games) and the first to play at the new stadium.

Thanks for the update, ABK.  This is one very good RL story, which some might say makes a change!

I wouldn't expect the winter weather to slow things down against the planned schedule, as the possibility of weather related delays would, I presume, have been factored in.  Also, they may well put more emphasis on working on internal stuff, if enough of the basic building has been done to allow that.

[thepimp007 234]

Very much well deserved from York. From a Bulls fan point of view they have been the most cohesive side all year and Ford has them playing some terrific open rugby. I actually think the thing that has won them the league is a stat which was branded about that York had played 7 games where the outcome was within 6 points either way and won 6. Where as we played 4 I think it was an won only one. Whether that was down to attitude or not, them are the sort of games champion sides are built on when you are not completely on it. Also big hats off to Whitehaven too who gave us Bulls fans a glimmer of hope for a while on Sunday sounds like they played a big part in the game too, under testing times they have done well this year

Edited September 24, 2018 by thepimp007