YORK City Knights’ Betfred Championship match at Rochdale Hornets, which was controversially called off last Sunday, will be rearranged for later in the season.

The Knights had pressed to be awarded the two points from the game but the Rugby Football League has announced the game must be replayed to “protect the integrity of the competition”. A date for the match has yet to be agreed but it is likely to be in midweek later in the year.

However, the RFL says Rochdale must pay the "duplicated costs of the Knights team and the RFL match officials" - and could yet face an off-field misconduct charge.

There was no mention of travelling fans being potentially recompensed.

A statement from the RFL today read: “The board of the Rugby Football League have ruled that the Betfred Championship fixture between Rochdale Hornets and York City Knights, which was postponed on Sunday (March 10), will be rearranged for later in the season.

“York had claimed that they should be awarded the match because of the late postponement - and under Operational Rule B1:23, 'the board shall decide whether a club refusing or failing to play a match shall forfeit the match and if so whether the points shall be awarded to its opponent or whether the match shall be replayed'.

“The overriding rationale for this decision is that the board consider a replay to be necessary in order to protect the integrity of the competition.

“In making the decision, the board took account of the submissions made by each party, and also considered the views of an independent ground safety expert on the submissions made by Rochdale.

“Rochdale will be responsible for meeting the duplicated costs of the York City Knights team and the RFL match officials.

“In addition, the matter will separately be considered by the RFL compliance manager as potential off-field misconduct by Rochdale Hornets in respect of the failure to have a ground that meets the Laws of the Game and in relation to the process that was followed on the weekend.”

Last Sunday’s match was called off shortly after the scheduled 3pm kick-off time due to “health and safety concerns” caused by high winds. Both teams were stripped for the warm-up and wanted to play.

The ground is owned by League One football club Rochdale AFC, who had played a match there 24 hours earlier and had another on Tuesday night. Groundstaff had put protective covers on the pitch after the Saturday game, citing forecast heavy rain, and did not take them off on the Sunday. They stated high winds on the Sunday made it too dangerous to remove the cover and put the rugby posts up.

An estimated 300-400 York fans had travelled over the Pennines for the game and were left waiting outside or in the bar at the ground before being told the match was off.

The Hornets said earlier this week they "were not made aware of the safety concerns until early afternoon" but apologised "unreservedly to all supporters, particularly those who travelled significant distances, for a lack of communication and our inability to convey the potential risk to the game".

Both clubs have said they will make no further comment.