After nine years with the Knights, general manager Ian Wilson is set to move on

Wilson, 30, is to take up a new position at Harrogate High School as a student progress manager, starting in the new academic year on September 1.

He handed in his notice at the end of May, and says it was “the most difficult thing” to do. His last day at the club is August 13, though he’s likely to continue working on match-days until the end of the season.

Wilson now lives between Harrogate and Ripon and travelling was one of the reasons for changing jobs. Spending more time with family and having a new type of challenge were others.

“I’ve been with the club for nearly nine years and I felt it was probably time for a change,” he said. “It’s quite a full-on job at the Knights. I’ve loved it, though, and it’s been a very tough decision.

“I won’t stop supporting the club. I was a rugby league fan before anything else and I’ll definitely be coming to home games and as many away matches as I can. I don’t want to be a stranger.”

Wilson joined the Knights in September 2004 as North Yorkshire development officer and Service Area co-ordinator, a role which no longer exists due to changes in funding and development structures.

He became the club’s development manager three years later, after Jason Ramshaw left for Australia, and then general manager in September 2008, following a club reshuffle after Roger Dixon stepped down as chairman.

In that time there have been several high and lows, both on and off the field, a rollercoaster ride comparable to most Championship rugby league clubs.

Asked of the highs, Wilson said: “The first big one was probably the family fun day we had in 2005 for the match against Hunslet, when we got a crowd of over 3,000 (a club record 3,224). It was the first proper project I had done for the club, with the build-up in the schools and the tag festivals. It was the first time we had done something like that.

“At the end of that 2005 season we got promoted as (National League Two) champions, which was obviously another high. I’d joined the Knights a week before the 2004 Grand Final when we lost to Halifax at Widnes so it was great the club bounced back so well from that disappointment – obviously it wasn’t down to me but it was a great memory.

“Another high came in 2009 when we had our first Sky TV game, against Oldham, where we got another big crowd of over 3,000.

“We opened Bar 13 at Huntington Stadium that night too, and it was a great night all round for the club.

“We won the game and it was a thriller as well. We’d done a lot of work to get that crowd and it was one of the best Sky had all season in the Championships and certainly the best in Championship One.

“The game went down to the wire. If I remember right, Dave Clayton scored one of the team tries of the season and Oldham had a last-minute winner ruled out by the video ref. It was probably one of the best games Sky had that year.

“The following year we won promotion through the play-offs, winning the Grand Final against Oldham in Warrington. At that time I was general manager and so was involved more with the team and working with the coaching staff. That was a great occasion.”

As for low points?

“Relegation in 2006 was a low, going down narrowly after people had worked so hard to go up the previous year,” said Wilson.

“The biggest low by far, though, was the death of Paul Higgins. Nobody is ever prepared for something like that.”

Higgins, who lived in Acomb, had headed up the rugby league development course at York College, as well as the North Yorkshire RL Service Area, working out of the Knights’ offices. He was also a scholarship coach and had been the club’s academy boss for three years. He died, aged 56, after a heart attack during a children’s rugby festival in 2008.

Wilson added: “He was a great guy and was someone we worked with on a day-to-day basis.”

Wilson, fittingly, says the work in the community he carried out alongside the likes of Higgins is something that will live long in the memory. It can be inferred from his words Wilson thinks this is just as important, if not more so, than what happens in the first-team arena.

“The number of people we’ve introduced to the sport and the work we’ve done on certain community programmes is a big high,” he said.

“Helping people and young kids to become physically active and healthier through classroom sessions and community work – it is so rewarding. The experiences you get, you’ll never forget.”

The Knights might not be among the biggest of professional clubs, but Wilson was sure of their significance. “Working in pro sport – no other job gives you the opportunity to experience such highs and lows that mean so much to so many people,” he said.

“You feel privileged to be involved in whatever way, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had at the club and in the great sport of rugby league.”

The new make-up of the Knights’ office staff is to be confirmed.

THE community work of which Ian Wilson speaks so highly might not grab the headlines all too often, but it does have knock-on effects regarding the number of kids playing the game, watching the game and coming through player pathways and therefore should never be overlooked.

As regards the latter, it is certainly worth noting that no fewer than ten North Yorkshire players were in the Knights under-20s team that thrashed Oldham on Thursday night (see the report on Page 47).

The changes to funding – not least recent cuts – and the restructuring of rugby league youth systems haven’t always been helpful to clubs like the Knights, but the committed work they do on a limited budget and with limited resources deserves fulsome praise.

Flockhart in right place

DOUGIE FLOCKHART might not be concentrating on getting into the Scotland squad for the forthcoming World Cup, but he isn’t doing his chances any harm, is he?

The Knights’ dual-code winger currently has the longest try-scoring streak in professional rugby league, having notched tries in five consecutive matches – against Keighley, Leigh (2), Barrow, Dewsbury and Whitehaven. He drew two blanks in his first two outings for the club after arriving from Doncaster RUFC, but hasn’t stopped scoring since.

And all this despite the team’s indifferent run as a whole, with only one win in these last five games.

As an aside, ex-Knight Danny Brough, who will almost certainly be in the Bravehearts squad for the World Cup, has the longest point-scoring run in the pro game.

The half-back has registered points in Huddersfield Giants’ last 20 matches, beginning with a try and four goals in his side’s 32-8 Super League win at Leeds on March 8.

Flockhart’s form has seen him rise a few places in The Press Player of the Year standings.

He was deemed our second best player in last week’s loss to Whitehaven and so collects two player of the year points.

Adam Sullivan was our man of the match, though, and the three points this garners takes him to joint-top of the leaderboard, alongside Sam Scott and Jonny Presley.

Kriss Brining was awarded the last remaining player of the year point this week.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Scott 15pts, Sullivan 15, Presley 15, Carr 12, Aldous 10, Lee 9, Brown 8, Nicholson 8, Ford 8, Latus 7, Briscoe 6, Freer 4, Flockhart 4, Hadley 3, Lineham 3, Lyons 3, Elliott 3, Mallinder 3, Pickets 3, Brining 2, Smith 2, Golden 2, Bowden 2, Dent 2, Johnston 2, Potter 1, Kent 1.