In the 2022 rugby league season, York City Knights competed in the 2022 RFL Championship and the 2022 Challenge Cup. At the start of the season the club was taken over by Clint Goodchild who became the new chairman. York had a strong first half of the season which included a run of seven wins in the league that helped them finish in sixth place to qualify for the play-offs despite winning only five of their final 11 games. They lost in the semi-finals to Leigh Centurions who earlier in the season inflicted a club record 100–4 defeat on York. In the Challenge Cup York reached the fifth round. It was the final season that the team played as York City Knights after which the club was renamed York RLFC and the team became the Knights.
Season review Pre-season In November 2021, James Ford signed a new contract extending his contract as head coach until the end of the 2024 season. Brett Delaney was appointed as assistant coach, but left in July to join Hull KR. Several players retired at the end of the 2021 season including Tim Spears, who had been at York since the 2017 season, and the pre-season saw numerous player transfers followed by the departure of Jon Flatman as chairman when the club came under the new ownership of Clint Goodchild in January 2022.
2022 Season York began the season on 31 January with a Monday night fixture against Featherstone Rovers in which York lost 30–12. In February, York won against Dewsbury Rams and Batley Bulldogs before losing to Leigh Centurions, Jack Logan, who had signed at the start of the season, announced his retirement from the game, and York defeated Newcastle Thunder 42–13 in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup. At the start of March, York moved to fifth in the league with a 26–24 win over London Broncos, but were knocked out of the Challenge Cup by Whitehaven a week later. However, the women's team continued their Challenge Cup campaign with a double-header played with York's next league game; a 32–6 win over Widnes Vikings in which Levi Edwards made his debut for York and scored his first try for the club. His second came on 3 April as York won 44–18 away to Workington Town in what was also the final game for Kristian Brining who announced his retirement a few weeks later.
York recorded home wins over Newcastle and Whitehaven in April, and started May by defeating Barrow Raiders and winning 20–6 at Bradford Bulls. The run of seven successive league wins, which had taken York up to third in the table, was ended the following week with a 40–24 loss to Halifax Panthers. New signing Bailey Antrobus made his debut in the game and scored his first try for York the following week in a 34–14 win at Sheffield Eagles. York continued to be successful throughout June with a closely fought 36–34 victory over London, followed by away wins at Widnes and Whitehaven. The Whitehaven game was the first ever victory for the City Knights at the Recreation Ground and the first by a York team since 1992. This run of four wins was followed by matches against Barrow, Halifax, Batley and Featherstone, all of whom finished above York in the league table. At the end of July, York defeated Newcastle at the Championship Summer Bash to end a run of four losses, but three weeks later suffered a club record 100–4 loss at Leigh. A run of three wins at the end of the season, including a 74–12 victory over Workington meant that York finished their Championship campaign in sixth place.
In the play-offs, York won 26–24 at Halifax to reach the semi-finals, where their season was ended by a 70–10 loss to Leigh. At the Championship Awards York's AJ Towse was a nominee for the Young Player of the Year.
Post-season In October 2022, James Ford resigned from his role as head coach to become assistant coach at Wakefield Trinity. On 14 October it was announced that the club had been renamed York RLFC and that the men's team would be rebranded as the Knights.
Results Pre-season friendlies
DateVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport+Pre-season results 7 January Midlands Hurricanes H York Community Stadium 46–6 Harris (2), Harrison, Butterworth (2), Kirmond, Brining, Matongo Ellis (7) 16 January Castleford Tigers H York Community Stadium 10–32 Oakes, Marsh Ellis Championship
League table
Championship results
DateRoundVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport+Championship results 31 January 1 Featherstone Rovers H York Community Stadium 12–30 Glover, Jubb Ellis (2) 3,602 6 February 2 Dewsbury Rams H York Community Stadium 30–2 Marsh, Ellis, Davis, O'Hagan, Clarkson Ellis (5) 1,562 13 February 3 Batley Bulldogs A Mount Pleasant 10–4 Michael, Oakes Ellis 20 February 4 Leigh Centurions H York Community Stadium 4–40 Jubb 2,069 6 March 5 London Broncos A Plough Lane 26–24 Oakes, Michael, Harris, Clarkson, Glover Ellis (3) 903 20 March 6 Widnes Vikings H York Community Stadium 32–6 Marsh (2), O'Hagan, Ward, Stock, Edwards Ellis (2), Harris (2) 2,156 3 April 7 Workington Town A Derwent Park 44–18 Harris (2), Thompson, Brown, Edwards, Glover (2), Jubb Harris (6) 16 April 8 Newcastle Thunder H York Community Stadium 38–6 Thompson, Dixon, Glover, Towse (2), Matongo, Brown Harris (5) 24 April 9 Whitehaven H York Community Stadium 30–12 O'Hagan, Edwards, Harris (2), Glover Harris (5) 2 May 10 Barrow Raiders A Craven Park 30–18 Brown, Oakes, Marsh, Thompson, Harris Harris (4) 2,260 15 May 11 Bradford Bulls A Odsal Stadium 20–6 Clarkson, Jubb, O'Hagan, Kirmond Ellis (2) 3,081 22 May 12 Halifax Panthers H York Community Stadium 24–40 Harris (2), Teanby, Marsh Ellis (4) 2 June 13 Sheffield Eagles A Olympic Legacy Park 34–14 Glover, Antrobus, Dixon, Pauli, Stock (2) Harris (5) 5 June 14 London Broncos H York Community Stadium 36–34 Harris (2), Thompson, Marsh, Towse (2) Ellis (6) 12 June 15 Widnes Vikings A DCBL Stadium 16–14 Brown (2), Marsh Ellis (2) 26 June 16 Whitehaven A Recreation Ground 40–16 Thompson, Ellis, Towse (2), Antrobus, Brown, O'Hagan Ellis (5), Harris 3 July 17 Barrow Raiders H York Community Stadium 16–24 Brown, Pauli, Glover Ellis, Harris 11 July 18 Halifax Panthers A The Shay 10–36 Clarkson, Jubb Harris 1,621 18 July 19 Batley Bulldogs H York Community Stadium 16–32 Harris, Towse, Kirmond Harris (2) 24 July 20 Featherstone Rovers A Post Office Road 22–30 Towse, Brown, Ward, O'Hagan Glover, Harris (2) 31 July 21 Newcastle Thunder N Headingley Stadium 27–18 Brown (2), Marsh, Glover, Kirmond Harris (3) 4,011 7 August 22 Dewsbury Rams A Crown Flatt 22–10 Harris, Hingano, Marsh (2) Harris, Glover (2) 711 15 August 23 Bradford Bulls H York Community Stadium 16–20 Jubb, Marsh, Brown Glover (2) 21 August 24 Leigh Centurions A Leigh Sports Village 4–100 Brown 2,744 26 August 25 Sheffield Eagles H York Community Stadium 20–12 Marsh, Antrobus, Harris, Glover Glover (2) 3 September 26 Newcastle Thunder A Kingston Park 24–18 Glover, O'Hagan, Brown, Inman Harris (3) 11 September 27 Workington Town H York Community Stadium 74–12 Michael, Harris (3), Kirmond, Brown (2), Glover (2), Porter, Inman, O'Hagan, Clarkson Harris (2), Glover (9) Play-offs
DateRoundVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport+Play-off results 18 September Eliminators Halifax Panthers A The Shay 26–24 Brown, Jubb, Harris, Edwards Glover (2) 1,850 25 September Semi-finals Leigh Centurions A Leigh Sports Village 10–70 Marsh, Stock Harris 3,329 Team bracket
Source: Challenge Cup
DateRoundVersusH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAttendanceReport+Challenge Cup results 27 February 4 Newcastle Thunder H York Community Stadium 42–13 Ellis, Dixon, Marsh (2), Harris, Stock, Ward Ellis (7) 1,221 13 March 5 Whitehaven A Recreation Ground 12–38 O'Hagan, Brown Harris (2) 798
Players Squad
2022 transfers Gains + Player Club Contract Date Joe Brown Bradford Bulls 1 Year September 2021 Jamie Ellis Leigh Centurions 1 Year September 2022 Liam Harris Halifax Panthers 1 Year October 2021 Sam Davis London Broncos 1 Year October 2021 Jacob Ogden London Broncos 2 Years October 2021 Will Oakes Dewsbury Rams 1 Year October 2021 Masi Matongo Hull F.C. 1 Year October 2021 Pauli Pauli Salford Red Devils 1 Year October 2021 Olly Butterworth Sheffield Eagles 1 Year October 2021 Jack Logan Leigh Centurions 1 Year November 2021 Ronan Michael Huddersfield Giants Season loan November 2021 James Glover Sheffield Eagles 1 Year October 2021 Jordan Thompson Leigh Centurions 1 Year October 2021 Brad Ward Hull KR 2 Years January 2022 Levi Edwards Leeds Rhinos Season loan March 2022 Bailey Antrobus St. George Illawarra Dragons End of season May 2022 Ata Hingano Leigh Centurions Loan to end of season July 2022 Tom Inman Warrington Wolves End of season July 2022 Ben Barnard Heworth Trialist September 2022
Losses + Player Club Contract Date James Green Retired July 2021 Jordan Baldwinson Bradford Bulls 2 Year September 2021 Ryan Atkins Retired September 2021 Danny Washbrook Retired September 2021 Tim Spears Retired September 2021 Morgan Smith Featherstone Rovers 1 Year October 2021 Sam Scott Bradford Bulls 1 Year October 2021 Jason Bass Sheffield Eagles 1 Year November 2021 Ben Jones-Bishop Sheffield Eagles 1 Year November 2021 Kieran Dixon Leigh Centurions January 2022 Jack Logan Retired February 2022 Kristian Brining Retired April 2022
Internationals Several York players were selected for 2021 World Cup squads:
Ronan Michael Brendan O'Hagan
Jacob Ogden
Jack Teanby
Bailey Antrobus
References