York City Knights appoint former Warrington Wolves assistant as James Ford’s replacement

[josie andrews]

York RLFC have confirmed Andrew Henderson has become the new Knights Head Coach after signing a five-year contract at the Club.

The Torquay-born former Scotland international arrives at the Knights from Keighley Cougars where he had held a Head of Rugby role with the West Yorkshire outfit since late 2021, a role that saw Henderson involved in all rugby operations for the West Yorkshire club.

Prior to his time with Keighley, 43-year-old Henderson had a highly successful spell with Warrington Wolves as Assistant Coach, a period that saw the Super League outfit lift the Challenge Cup trophy in 2019. The year prior to that saw Warrington reach both the Challenge Cup Final as well as the Super League Grand Final.

With off-field experience in both Super League and League One in recent years, Henderson held the Head Coach role at London Broncos in the Championship prior to his move to Warrington.

That spell saw the Broncos finish second in the Championship in 2016 and a place in The Qualifiers, narrowly missing out on reaching the Million Pound Game and a shot at promotion.

2017 saw London repeat their second place finish, a season that saw Henderson awarded the Championship Coach of the Year award prior to becoming Warrington’s Assistant Coach ahead of the 2018 season.

Recent years have also seen Henderson involved with the revived Combined Nations All Stars as Assistant Coach, helping the team to victory over England in 2021 with the likes of current Knight Pauli Pauli in that squad.

On becoming the Knights’ new Head Coach, Henderson said: “I’m really excited to be on board and I’m grateful for the opportunity that the owner Clint Goodchild has presented me.

“I’m really pleased after having discussions with him that I feel that we are aligned with how we view the game and how a club should operate along with our aspirations and ambitions.

“York is a club with a huge amount of potential and I feel that, if we get it right here, we can be a genuine Super League club in the future that will add value to that competition. I think we have got a lot to offer and I have to give credit to James Ford.

“I think he’s left the club in a good place and we’ve got the foundations of a good team that’s competitive.

“He’s given me a really good platform to work off to hopefully take this club and this team forward.

“I’m thankful that the club have given me this opportunity and I hope I can repay the faith and trust they’ve put in me as a Head Coach to get the performances from the team to get the results and give the fans the opportunity to not only watch exciting rugby league but also Super League here in York.”

Chairman Clint Goodchild added: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure the services of Andrew Henderson as our new Knights Head Coach.

“He has great experience as a Head Coach in the Championship while also lifting silverware as an Assistant Coach in a full-time operation in Super League.

“That experience will prove invaluable to York RLFC as an organisation as we look to continue our progress and growth as a Club. Andrew’s experience will drive our operation further and the fact he has a great knowledge of the British game from top to bottom will be of benefit.

“Everything we will be doing as a Club moving forward is geared towards moving a successful full-time operation and the fact that Andrew knows what winning looks like in a full-time environment as well as in the Championship is key to that.

“I’m excited to see what he can do with the squad as we move into the 2023 season and beyond.”

https://www.totalrl.com/york-city-knigh ... placement/