Dear Members,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support and kind messages received over the Coronavirus period. Both personally and for the club, this has been a difficult period and messages of support have been greatly received and welcomed.
I wish all members and season tickets holders the very best of health and offer my condolences to all those who have suffered losses during the period to date and in the future.
Now the situation of the 2020 league season has been resolved, which was a difficult decision for the RFL, we have been working to establish a package of options for our members. As we are sure you will appreciate the situation is a complex one with many considerations and we wanted to finalise our options before communicating these clearly with you.
We know that 2020 will, financially, be an exceedingly difficult year for the club which will impact into 2021. The combination of the delay in the stadium opening pre-COVID, the loss of the SL double header and the issues COVID has brought have meant we have had to adapt and flex to minimise the impacts of this. The loss of income and surrounding uncertainty around some income streams has led to forecasting our budgets being difficult to undertake.
When looking at the individuals in the club we understand that circumstances vary for each player and we have committed to maintaining contracts at 100% until the end of the season. We believe this is both the right thing to do and will support our players welfare, health and wellbeing. We believe that this is what the RL community of York would want for our players and we have worked hard to ensure this occurs.
The recruitment of players and improvement of the club is a continual process however it is around this time of the season when offers are made to players and contracts start to be signed. We do know that we are now an attractive club for players with a good culture, great fans, excellent facilities and fantastic staff. We know that players want to play at York and we are excited for what the squad of 2021 will look like and being able to welcome you to a new season at the LNER Community Stadium. We will continue to improve off and on the field and maximising our income and controlling our costs is essential to maintaining the progress.
As a club we have a limited number of key income streams. Our Season Ticket and Membership sales account for around a quarter of our income. This income is essential to sustaining and continuing the growth of the playing squad and club alongside our commitment to the growing participation in the Sport.
We realise that lives have been changed and jobs have been lost and we believe the options we outline below are the right thing to do both contractually and morally. We would like to emphasise that we are sympathetic to everyone’s circumstances and no judgement will be made on anyone’s decision.
Bearing in mind the situation outlined above please see the three different options for your 2020 membership below:
Option 1- Donate your 2020 Membership to the Knights and become a 2020 Knights Patron
By donating your 2020 membership to the club with no refund or credit of memberships you will become a 2020 Knights Patron and to show our gratitude or your generosity we will deliver the following benefits;
Invite you to an exclusive 2020 Knights Patrons Evening with James Ford and players ahead of the 2021 season. This event will be for these individuals only and we would hope for a busy room and a night of stories, Rugby league insight and togetherness.
All 2020 Knights Patrons will have their names permanently displayed at the LNER Community Stadium.
All 2020 Knights Patrons will have their names on the 2021 Knights warm up t-shirts.
Offer you a price freeze for 2021 memberships at 2020 prices.
Option 2- 2021 Membership Credit
By not requesting a refund we will credit the value of your 2020 membership to any membership package in the 2021 season.
Option 3- Request a refund
We will refund your 2020 memberships.
The support and generosity of the fans throughout this period to the Lottery, Merchandise, Blind Cards and Donations to the Legacy Appeal has been tremendous however we would ask if you can support us by donating your 2020 season memberships if at all possible. The impact of the donation would be maximised and I guarantee to ensure the funds are used to build our club still further.
Please can you confirm your choice of the options outlined above by contacting info@yorkcityknights.com or calling 01904 876527 by the 23rd August 2020, if we do not hear from you we will presume you are happy for us to keep your membership money as a donation. If you would like to feedback on the contents of the letter or have further questions, please use the email address above.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for your ongoing support of York City Knights.
Yours sincerely,
Jon Flatman
Chairman
