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new york Chairman Clint Goodchild has hailed an exciting new era for the sport north yorkshire After the Knights were confirmed as one of two additional clubs to join the expanded 14-team squad betfred super league For 2026.
The panel was tasked with selecting the two best candidates to join the 12 teams that had already secured their place in the top spot based on the IMG grading scores announced on Thursday.
Toulouse and York, which ranked 13th and 14th respectively, were selected from a short list of applicants, London are considered other viable contenders for a return to the Super League.
Goodchild said: “It’s a great day for the region. A team that can represent the region in the highest level of professional sport has been a long time coming. The city of York is buzzing.”
York have not played at the top level in the Super League era. The previous York club last appeared in the top division, then the Championship, in 1986.
Toulouse, who will join fellow French side Catalans at the top level, played one season in the Super League in 2022 before returning to the Championship.
Under the terms of the expansion agreement, York and Toulouse will receive only half of the central funding handed out to the other 12 teams, a financial shortfall with which Goodchild, who confirmed that the Knights will become a full-time operation, is unconcerned.
“I’m grateful to have got 50 per cent funding because we had budgeted for zero – we now have an extra £650,000,” Goodchild said.
“From a strategic recruitment point of view for 2026, we are not playing catch-up. We are an inexperienced club both on and off the field when it comes to this level, and we just need to make sure we start to get it right in pre-season.”
York’s promotion means a return to Super League for head coach Mark Applegarth, who coached Wakefield during their difficult Super League relegation campaign two years ago.
The Knights’ fortunes improved dramatically under his tenure, culminating in victory over Featherstone in the 1895 Cup Final at Wembley, and they topped that year’s Championship at the end of the regular season and reached the Grand Final, where they were defeated by Toulouse by a narrow margin on home soil.
“I am proud and privileged to coach York in the Super League,” Applegarth said. “It’s that attitude that brought me to the club in the first place. Once I met Clint, I had a strong desire to get York back and compete. We’re happy and privileged to be there, but we don’t just want to go and make up numbers.”
The decision will come as a blow to London, which had high hopes of being lifted back into the top flight after being effectively relaunched by a new union including Australian rugby league great Darren Lockyer.
In a statement, incoming Broncos boss Grant Wexel said: “While we are naturally disappointed not to be promoted and respect the process run by the RFL, our confidence in this project and our direction as a club will not be wavered.
“The game of rugby league needs a strong London team, and we will not stop until we return our club to the top level of the game. Darren Lockyer and I are determined people, and today’s decision will serve as strong motivation to build on our success in 2026 and prove people wrong.”
The structure of the competition beyond 2026 remains uncertain and is subject to the findings of an ongoing strategic review and potential television negotiations, with Sky’s current deal set to expire at the end of next season.