York City Knights

York City Knights can trace their heritage right back to 1868 when they were York Football Club and played using portable goal posts wherever they could find a pitch. Finally York managed to locate a permanent pitch on Knavesmire. The team played game after game but only saw their first victory in an association football match against York Training College. Throughout the 1870's they gradually improved as the club attracted a higher standard of players and in 1877 they were one of the founding members of the Yorkshire Challenge Cup. York gradually worked their way through the games to reach the final however they lost to Halifax. The early 1880's saw a large amount of financial problems for York and the team was forced to move out of their home ground and merge with the York Melbourne Club. They played at Poad's Fields for a short time however the York Lunatic Asyum leased the club a plot of land on Clarence Street in 1885. The team went from strength to strength in 1895 and won almost every home game.

When the northern teams broke away from the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Union York chose to stay as members of the RFU, but as their peer clubs gradually began to join the new order it became a financial requirement to do the same. In 1898 they took the decision to join the Northern Union and five days later played their first Northern Union match against Hull Kingston Rovers losing out 29-2. The York team were first admitted into the Rugby Football League in 1901, and in the 1902-1903 season the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues were merged to form a second division. York was one of the teams chose to join the second division. York peaked in the 30's when they reached the Challenge Cup Final only to be beaten 22-8 by Halifax. York were forced to sell their training ground for £200,000 in 1986 due to financial problems. They were also forced to sell a large portion of their grounds for £705,000 and tried to push for a ground sharing arrangement with York City F.C. York then moved to the Huntington Stadium.

The RFL accepted York's bid to play in the newly-formed National League Two on condition that they had £75,000 in the bank by August 31. York decided that the best way to raise cash was through a fans’ membership scheme. With the total standing at £70,000, John Smith’s brewery came in with £5,000 as the club hit the target just hours before the deadline. In their first year as the Knights York made it to the play-offs in National League Two, and the following year were narrowly beaten in the play-off final by Halifax. In 2005 they were champions and promoted automatically to National League One. York had the highest crowd average for National League Two teams in the same year, and despite a good run they were relegated to National League Two in 2006. York currently plan to retain their squadron and challenge for a promotion back to National League One again.