York Knights boss Mark Applegarth has provided an honest answer to rumours surrounding the club’s financial situation.
A report emerged this week that the Knights were seeking a monetary advance from the RFL to relieve financial pressures on the club.
Both York and Toulouse Olympique arrived in Super League at the beginning of this season on half of the central funding as the 12 other clubs, and only received £650,000 as opposed to £1.3 million.
With salaries and just overall costs being more in the top flight as opposed to the Championship, the North Yorkshire outfit are on a shoesting budget, and need to be more careful with their finances given they are 650k behind the rest of the competition.
However, amid the rumours, Applegarth has revealed he has no current knowledge about any financial issues at the club.
He said: “I’m not going to lie to you, of course I’ve seen them [the rumours]. But, if there’s one thing I’ve never worried about at York since I’ve been at the club, it’s that side of it.
“I get paid to coach, players get paid to play, that’s what we focus on. All I can say, from my point of view, is I’ve never once worried about that, and I don’t intend to start worrying about it.
I’ll let the powers that be answer that in a more detailed response, but from a performance side of view and a payment sort of thing, never stressed once about it, and I don’t envision that changing if I’m honest with you.”
Of course, rumours going round could cause unrest in and around the group, and in these situations, communication is key. The boss revealed that whilst there hasn’t been any meeting between the higher-ups and the squad yet, but expects there to be in the near future.
“We’ve never stressed about it once,” Applegarth stressed. “That’s my honest answer with you, and I don’t intend to. I’m sure there will be [communication], just to reassure everyone, but all I can do from a head coach point of view is say there’s never been an issue with that, I don’t envision they have.
“I haven’t read the article. I got told it was to do with a short-term cash flow issue, which I know will be getting fixed up in the near future, and as I say, I’ll let the powers that be sort all that out.”
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York Knights earn fourth Super League win as performance hailed amid financial uncertainty rumours
The Knights defeated Castleford Tigers 20-14 last night, as a great defensive showing, combined with attacking grit and determination, saw them over the line.
It would be easy to say that the recent reports could have distracted some of the players, especially with them coming so close to game day.
That fact made the win even nicer to swallow, with Applegarth praising the Knights for their ability to bounce back after the 72-20 defeat to Wigan last week.
He said: “100% [it could have been a distraction], and I think the most honest answer I can give you, because after that defeat last week, I’m sure people were thinking ‘Oh, is it things in the background?’
“It was nothing to do with that. It was literally – we came up against an absolute red-hot team that, if they play like that, I struggle to see who beats them, and we were off.
“Naturally, people put two and two together and come up with what they do and yeah, we only found out yesterday afternoon, but as I say, I’ll let the powers that be respond to that in a more in-depth interview, but from my point of view, I never stressed much about it.”
The York boss confirmed that players had been paid on time at present, and with rumours of a financial investor set to join the club soon, their reported issues could be solved sooner rather than later.
