JAMES FORD has paid tribute to the "tremendous job" done by outgoing York City Knights chairman Jon Flatman.

It was announced over the weekend that Flatman had sold the club to Australian businessman Clint Goodchild, ending a hugely successful five-year tenure with York.

Under Flatman, the Knights have transformed themselves from an outfit on the brink of closure in Betfred League One to a side challenging for promotion to the Betfred Super League.

Equally impressive are the club's off-the-field achievements, with the move to the LNER Community Stadium finally completed amid a rise in the side's attendances.

York head coach Ford has developed a close working relationship with Flatman since the latter's arrival in 2016 and hailed his efforts at the club.

“I want to thank Jon for his hard work over the last five years, I think he’s done a tremendous job," said Ford.

“I would feel confident in saying that he will always be welcome here and that the supporters will always think really fondly of him."

Asked if he was going to miss Flatman, Ford laughed: “Well, I’m not sure he’s going to miss me.

“We’ve got a strong relationship but that doesn’t mean we’ve always got on.

"We can have little fall-outs here and there, but always for the right reasons, for the betterment of the club and the team.

“I’ve learned a lot from him and I’m sure that the lessons I’ve learnt from Jon will be of benefit to me in the short, medium and long term and will benefit the team too.”

New chairman Goodchild is making his first step into British rugby league with this move after a lengthy period of negotiation and due diligence which began prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ford said: “The future is really exciting. I’ve spoken to Clint a couple of times and he’s been studying for around 12 months to try and make sure he gets all the details that he needs to get.

“In all the conversations that I’ve had with him, I’ve been really enthused and excited by what his plans are for the future.

“The club is going in the right direction and the trajectory of the club over the last five years has been very impressive.

“I’m sure there are lots (of things) that Clint will want to keep the same and there might be some things that he wants to tweak.

“We’re all for improvements and if it helps the club move forward then we’re absolutely behind it."

In regards to matters on the field, Ford's full attention is now on preparing his side for their Betfred Championship season opener at home to Featherstone Rovers on Monday, January 31.

The head coach will be hoping that the handful of players who picked up knocks in Sunday's pre-season friendly defeat to Castleford Tigers will be fully recovered by then.

“Pauli Pauli's got a bit of a minor issue, so we weren’t going to play him for the full game," Ford said. "We just wanted to get some minutes into him for the Featherstone game.

“I’ve had a chat with him and he’s not overly concerned. But we’ll make sure that the medical team have a good look at him and make sure that he’s ready for Featherstone.

“Olly (Butterworth) has potentially dislocated his shoulder so he is going to get that checked out.

"Jack Logan came off with concussion and there were a couple of minor knocks to (Jack) Teanby and Kirmo (Danny Kirmond).”