For the fun of it

11:54am Saturday 7th June 2008

YORK City Knights will be hoping nothing interferes with their family fun day tomorrow as they seek an increasingly rare bumper crowd.

Attendances at Huntington Stadium have been on the wane since the record-breaking promotion year of 2005, culminating in the lowest-ever crowd since the forlorn days of the dying York Wasps which turned up at the last home match a fortnight ago.

It is a trend which has mirrored the club's on-field success, but more worryingly it is the kind of trend which can become self-perpetuating - fewer fans, less money, less expenditure, poorer players, worse results, fewer fans, etc.

The club will be desperate for that trend to end tomorrow at the Drax-sponsored 2008 schools family fun day - in the corresponding fixture to that which brought the Knights' biggest-ever crowd.

Family fun days began at Huntington in 2004, when 2,519 fans - many of them children - watched the Knights beat Gateshead 48-12.

That was a then record crowd for National League Two, and it was surpassed in eye-opening fashion the following year when another then record NL2 attendance, this time of 3,224, which included 1,250 youngsters, saw Mick Cook's men pip Hunslet 17-16 on their way to the NL2 title.

Things have been on the slide since then, however.

A still respectable 2,220 saw the Knights hammer Oldham 56-14 in 2006, a rare good day in their NL1 relegation season, but last year only 1,402 turned out for the event against Workington. That low was matched by the Knights' first defeat on such an occasion, a sorry 26-18 loss to 12-man Town.

Ian Wilson, the Knights' community development chief, is hopeful for an upturn tomorrow - on and off the pitch - when Hunslet will again provide the opposition.

"The last two years' fun days have clashed with other things unfortunately. One was Father's Day, and the other was an England World Cup football match," he explained. "If we can get good weather and a decent day, fingers crossed we can get back up to the 2,000 mark tomorrow."

With a bit of luck, he will be right. A lot of work has, as ever, gone into the day, and a lot of kids have been urged to come along on the back of the brilliant work the Knights continue to do in and around schools.

Thanks to sponsorship from Drax, the club have been able to put on a feast of fun-filled activities for children (and big kids too).

There's a bouncy castle, assault courses, face painting, a rodeo bull, a bungie run, gyro wheel, an inflatable slide and tag rugby matches on the pitch before the main game. There will also be the chance to dance with the Knights Fantastic cheerleading troupe.

Admission is free for all under-16s if they have a special ticket which the club have been distributing around all schools.

Furthermore, as always, there is a set of rugby strips awaiting the school which has the best turn-out of children at the match.

All the fun starts at 12.30pm so get there early. Kick off is at the usual 3pm.

Centre star Spicer's continued good form to be rewarded

HE didn't quite make the NL2 Team of the Month in the official Rugby League World magazine standings - but Knights fans knew different.

Rob Spicer came fifth on the list of best NL2 centres during May, behind team-mate Ryan Esders, but York fans had the pair the other way round - with the former walking off with the latest Press-sponsored Player of the Month award.

Spicer, the reigning Press Player of the Year, was a clear winner of the May poll among Press readers, as voted on our website www.thepress.co.uk, with Esders coming second.

Esders gained consolation, though, by being included in the Team of the Month - the only Knights player in there despite the fact it was the club's best month of the season. (Not that this consolation will provide much cheer now that he has been ruled out of action for ten weeks.) Player-coach Paul March reckoned both accolades were warranted. He said: "Rob and Ryan Esders have both been outstanding. Ryan got the accolades in the papers with the Team of the Month but Rob Spicer, I think, has been tremendous."

Spicer has played throughout the back row and at stand-off during his time at York, but March believes centre is his best position. "He's fitted in there really well," he said. "He showed with that (length-of-the-field) try against London Skolars that he's got pace. He's got the ball skills to be a centre and he runs nice lines. We need to build off the back of some of the stuff he does."

Ironically, former Knights captain Dan Potter was named as the other centre in the NL2 Team of the Month.

Two other Knights players just missed out on such an accolade. Lee Mapals was deemed NL2's second-best full-back in May, and Ross Divorty the third-best second-row.

It was interesting to note, meanwhile, that ex-Knight Lee Paterson was among the top four stand-offs in National League One in May. Paterson, who hails from York, was a star of the Knights' 2005 NL2 title-winning side but wasn't a firm favourite with some fans during the 2006 relegation year. He joined Batley that winter after being offered better terms there and he's now seemingly doing the business at NL1 big-guns Widnes.

Given the stand-off situation at Huntington Stadium, his home-town club could possibly do with him right now.

ROB Spicer has continued his May form into June, with a man-of-the-match display in last week's otherwise disappointing loss at Rochdale.

This earns him three Press/K Walker & Co Player of the Year points and, added to the three bonus points from being Player of the Month, jumps him up right to joint-third.

Paul March (2pts) and Ross Divorty (1pt) were the others to claim player-of-the-year points out of the Rochdale game.

Press/K Walker & Co Player of the Year standings: Mapals 15pts, Buckley 12, D March 11, Spicer 11, Divorty 9, Applegarth 8, Ekis 8, Oakes 7, Hughes 7, Esders 6, Grimshaw 6, Ratcliffe 5, P March 3, Rhodes 3, Lewis 2, Greenwood 1.

THIS weekend is the last chance to buy tickets for the Knights Supporters' Club race night at Huntington Sports Club on June 14. Tickets cost £5 adults, £3 U16s and include a chicken and chips supper. To book, phone 07958 569266 or see Big Ian tomorrow.

There is an on-the-road race night tonight at the Nags Head, Heworth, starting at 8.30pm. All are welcome.

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