YORK City Knights have signed up-and-comer Olly Butterworth from Championship rivals Sheffield Eagles.

The 23-year-old winger only started playing rugby league six months ago but has a host of experience in other disciplines.

A former rugby union player with Llanelli Scarlets, Butterworth has also been a serving member of the Parachute Regiment since 2018 - and competed for Team GB in bobsleigh.

Butterworth signed for Sheffield in July, making his one appearance for the side in their 34-28 home defeat to Swinton Lions.

He has, though, made appearances for the Army’s rugby league team, scoring a brace during their 34-16 win over the RAF.

A driven individual, Butterworth highlighted his desire to improve as an athlete and rugby league player.

“It’s all about development now for me,” he said. “I’m six months into the sport so it’s a case of chipping away at those rough edges and developing as a player.

“I’m quite self-motivated and I’ve got my own reasons for doing things. I set myself short-, mid- and long-term goals and go step by step towards ticking them off.”

Knights head coach James Ford said: “Olly is a player with a huge amount of potential. He’s an outstanding athlete who has a great mentality towards being the best version of himself.

“I’m really looking forward to working with him and helping him kick on and fulfil his potential.”

Butterworth added: “I’m really happy to sign. It’s an exciting opportunity and as soon as I spoke with Fordy and saw the facilities, it shows what a professional set-up it is and that’s something I want to be a part of.

“I’ve been in multi-million-pound complexes for the last five years and these are right up there. They’re world-class facilities and world-class facilities produce world-class teams.

“Thanks to the Army’s support, I get to train full-time, to live and breathe the gym and the rugby field.

“I watched a few matches last season and it looks like a strong squad and, with some new signings, hopefully, it should be an exciting year for us all.”

Before joining the Army, Butterworth played union in Wales, going through the set-up at Scarlets and then playing with the Cardiff Metropolitan University first team.

“I’ve always supported league,” he admitted. “My family always wanted me to play union. League was always something I’ve been really interested in going to, just because of the level of athlete in the game, and I thought that it would really suit me and what I have.”

His bobsleigh journey started with while with the Army.

“The coach of the parachute regiment team saw me and said I was what they were looking for,” he explained. “I went along with it and, three months later, I was picked up by the GB team.

“I went to World Cups and World Championships with them so I’ve done plenty of travelling with bobsleighing.

“Bobsleighing is incredible. It’s a great sport but rugby was always my first love. I’m 23, coming into a really good place athletically and this is where I want to go back to the first sport I loved and really go for it.”