York confirm Wakefield Trinity bound James Ford’s shock replacement as Head Coach

Last week York RLFC were forced into a new era with the departure of James Ford to be assistant at Wakefield Trinity as assistant coach to Mark Applegarth.

That new era truly came into effect when they confirmed their rebrand dropping the ‘City Knights’ from their title and adapting a new look for their logo with a sleek, black, modern look replacing the traditional look.

Now their new era is well and truly underway with the appointment of their new coach in the shape of former Castleford Tigers man Andrew Henderson who has spent time as Head Coach at Sheffield Eagles and London Broncos.

Henderson has been building a star-studded squad at Keighley Cougars who have just secured promotion to the Championship.

He masterminded the signing of Hull KR star Ben Crooks and Wakefield Trinity’s Brad Walker as they prepare for a real fist of things in the second tier as they look to make a statement following their push against the IMG recommendations which do away with traditional promotion and relegation.

However, the next step of their journey will be without Henderson who has masterminded so much of their progress as he takes up a five year deal with Keighley.

York Chairman Clint Goodchild said on the appointment: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure the services of Andrew Henderson as our new Knights Head Coach.

“He has great experience as a Head Coach in the Championship while also lifting silverware as an Assistant Coach in a full-time operation in Super League.

“That experience will prove invaluable to York RLFC as an organisation as we look to continue our progress and growth as a Club. Andrew’s experience will drive our operation further and the fact he has a great knowledge of the British game from top to bottom will be of benefit.

“Everything we will be doing as a Club moving forward is geared towards moving a successful full-time operation and the fact that Andrew knows what winning looks like in a full-time environment as well as in the Championship is key to that.

“I’m excited to see what he can do with the squad as we move into the 2023 season and beyond.”