York Knights are one seven Championship clubs looking to make the step up to Super League in 2026, and after a season that already includes a League Leaders’ Shield and an 1895 Cup, their chances of achieving that look better than most.
After already announcing signings such as Warrington Wolves’ Paul Vaughan and Wakefield Trinity’s Josh Griffin, the club are one that is certainly on the up, and now prepare for one of their biggest games of the season this Saturday.
The Knights take on Halifax Panthers in the Championship semi-final, and whilst the winner of the play-off competition does not gain automatic promotion to the top tier, one reward is an increase of 0.25 to the IMG ratings, something that could become crucial if they are to earn a rise to Super League.
Knights chairman, Clint Goodchild, has been open and honest throughout the season as to what his club’s plans are moving forward, with him already confirming earlier in the year the club will go full-time regardless of what division they are in next year.
This week, he has once again explained the Knights‘ ambition of achieving Super League status for the first time in their history, and revealed it has been a season-long plan that he hopes will come to fruition when the announcement is made next month.
He told the BBC: “We made the decision [to prepare for Super League] in May and started to take action in June. Realistically, we made the decision knowing that if we waited until October to start making the changes, then we’d have no chance of being ready, and that it would be a really tough ask to make that transition. So rather than waiting for the green light, we made the decision on avoiding what doesn’t work. Hopefully, that decision is now looking really positive. I can’t sit here and say that we know we’re going to be in Super League next year, but I know that we are very well prepared for it, which is nice to be able to say one of those things.
“I use the term ‘we can’t be half-pregnant’. We are knocked up, we are committed, we’re going to grow this thing and it’s going to be at it’s next stage. We had to take control of the situation as best we could and that’s how we’ve done it.”
“We may not be a Super League champion from 25 years ago, but the attitude that I have is that we are on the path to being a competitive Super League club now. Our facilities, our community, our commercial, our foundation, our scenario is really well placed to take that jump. I do feel like there’ll be three new teams coming up into Super League next year. Again, there’s no guarantees of that, but it seems likely. In that scenario, do I think that there are three clubs better prepared and better situated than we are? No. But my opinion may not be the one that matters.
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The one thing perhaps York aren’t as strong as in regards to other teams is attendance. Compared to the likes of Bradford Bulls and Toulouse, two other teams thought to be in strong contention of achieving promotion, the Knights’ attendance figures aren’t as strong as what those two are. However, after four years of back-to-back attendance increases, Goodchild believes their attendances are not of any concern.
“Our crowd numbers are the highest for any club that’s never been in Super League, so what are we measuring against? Are we measuring against fact? Fiction? Are we measuring against legacy?
“Our crowd numbers have grown year-on-year for the last four years… Every time we’ve had an opportunity to fill the stadium on a special stage, whether it’s the Challenge Cup Semi-Finals that we saw this year – Catalans didn’t bring anyone but the stadium was full. When we had the Women’s Super League Final there a couple of years ago, that stadium was over 5,000 people.
“When you look at away attendances for Wigan, Leeds, St Helens, Hull KR, Hull FC, Castleford, if you were one of their fans and you had an away trip to circle on your calendar to come to, do you think York might be one that gets considered? I think it probably would.”
“…When you’ve got every game on Sky Sports and when that brand is getting the exposure, I believe it deserves, my concern would be that 8,000 may not be enough.”
