York City Knights are one of the younger clubs in Championship 1, having been formed in 2003, but there has been a rugby league team in the city since 1898.

That club's most memorable year came in 1931 when they reached the Challenge Cup final for the first and only time, but were beaten 22-8 by Halifax.

However, they were hit by financial problems in 1986 and were forced to sell their training ground for £200,000 to ease their worries.

Three years later they sold the rest of their Clarence Street ground and re-located to Huntington Stadium, becoming known as Ryedale-York.

Their name changed again in 1996 to York Wasps as the Super League era approached, but in 2002, after just 11 games of the season, the club folded.

A supporters' group tried to restart the Wasps that year, but their efforts were in vain and they had to wait until 2003 to have their bid accepted by the Rugby Football League to play in National League Two.

The new club became known as the York City Knights and under the coaching of Mick Cook they achieved promotion in 2005 by winning the Second Division title. However, they were relegated from National League One after just one season.