YORK KNIGHTS owner Clint Goodchild has admitted that Wigan’s 72-20 victory against his team last week could have deflated his club, but he is confident it will not damage it in the long term.
“If you invite them into the game they have too much speed and too many weapons,” said Goodchild, who wasn’t setting much stall by York scoring four tries themselves in the final ten minutes.
“Wigan were in the sheds by then.”
Despite that defeat, Goodchild is still full of enthusiasm for the impact of York’s first season in Super League.
“It’s been great. The support is so consistent,” he told League Express.
“We have a loyal fan base of around 4,500 to 5,000 for home games, which are the figures we registered against the French teams, who don’t bring additional support.
“And we have some bit games to come, such as Hull and Leeds, for example.
“I think we’ll see some big crowds for those games.
“The only thing I’m not happy about is having Thursday night games, which really hurts our away fans’ support.”
Earlier this week there were reports that York had asked for an advance of £50,000 from their distribution from the RFL because of short-term cash flow issues.
“We had both French teams within three or four weeks and then no home games for four weeks because of pitch maintenance work being undertaken, during which we had no income,” he explained.
“The RFL was kind enough to advance us that income but I should emphasise that it was a short-term issue.
“We have never missed a payment period for any of our staff.”