# 2022 York City Knights season

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

W Win L Loss
Pre-season results :
| Date | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

### Championship
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Leigh Centurions | 27 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1306 | 208 | +1098 | 52 | Championship Leaders' Shield & advance to play-off semi-final |
| 2 | Featherstone Rovers | 27 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 1060 | 468 | +592 | 47 | Advance to play-off semi-final |
| 3 | Halifax Panthers | 27 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 837 | 442 | +395 | 40 | Advance to play-off eliminators |
| 4 | Barrow Raiders | 27 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 757 | 587 | +170 | 37 | Advance to play-off eliminators |
| 5 | Batley Bulldogs | 27 | 17 | 2 | 8 | 738 | 551 | +187 | 36 | Advance to play-off eliminators |
| 6 | York City Knights | 27 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 677 | 596 | +81 | 36 | Advance to play-off eliminators |
| 7 | Sheffield Eagles | 27 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 701 | 660 | +41 | 24 | |
| 8 | Widnes Vikings | 27 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 567 | 679 | −112 | 24 | |
| 9 | Bradford Bulls | 27 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 523 | 677 | −154 | 22 | |
| 10 | Whitehaven | 27 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 488 | 854 | −366 | 19 | |
| 11 | London Broncos | 27 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 548 | 740 | −192 | 17 | |
| 12 | Newcastle Thunder | 27 | 7 | 1 | 19 | 559 | 877 | −318 | 15 | |
| 13 | Dewsbury Rams | 27 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 385 | 964 | −579 | 7 | Relegated to League 1 |
| 14 | Workington Town | 27 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 296 | 1139 | −843 | 2 | Relegated to League 1 |

#### Championship results

W Win D Draw L Loss
Championship results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

#### Play-offs

Play-off results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

##### Team bracket

| Eliminators | Eliminators | Eliminators | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| | | | 1 | Leigh Centurions | 70 | | | |
| 3 | Halifax Panthers | 24 | 6 | York City Knights | 10 | | | |
| 6 | York City Knights | 26 | | | | 1 | Leigh Centurions | 44 |
| | | | | | | 5 | Batley Bulldogs | 12 |
| | | | 2 | Featherstone Rovers | 28 | | | |
| 4 | Barrow Raiders | 8 | 5 | Batley Bulldogs | 32 | | | |
| 5 | Batley Bulldogs | 18 | | | | | | |
    Source:Rugby League Project

### Challenge Cup

W Win L Loss
Challenge Cup results :
| Date | Round | Versus | H/A | Venue | Result | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Report |

## Players
### 2022 transfers

Gains
List of players joining York :
| 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 |
Losses
List of players leaving York :
| 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:
* Ireland
** Ronan Michael
** Brendan O'Hagan
* Jamaica
** Jacob Ogden
* Scotland
** Jack Teanby
* Wales
** Bailey Antrobus