YORK Knights head coach Andrew Henderson believes that last weekend’s Betfred Championship Summer Bash did not get the “support that it needed or deserved.”

As The Press reported earlier this week, this year’s Summer Bash at the LNER Community Stadium attracted a total attendance of just 6,741 spectators - the lowest in the event’s eight-year history.

Poor promotion of the event from the RFL, the expense of a weekend in York, a waning interest in the sport and a move away from the event’s pre-pandemic home at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road have all been blamed for the low attendance.

Henderson concedes that holding the event at a venue that Championship clubs will already experience over the course of the season also did not help its cause, but felt that the club had done all that it could to support the RFL.

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“I think it was great that we’re able to host an event of that magnitude,” he told The Press.

“From our end of things, I think we organised things quite well. The set-up was good with the fan zone and the different stalls that we had there.

“It probably just wasn’t as well supported as the game would like to have had it and that’s the facts.

“It didn’t get a huge turn out over the course of the weekend.

“I think York’s a wonderful destination, and I think people could have really made a a good weekend of it - but I think probably the challenge was the fact that the Championship clubs get to experience York through the season anyway.

“It probably didn’t feel like it was something new or a different sort of event in terms of having all those games and all that action over the weekend. That’s probably the reality of it.

“ I thought we had a fantastic facility for it, but ultimately the event itself probably didn’t get as well-supported as a game.

“It didn’t get the support that it needed or deserved.”

York Press: Knights fans turned out in their droves, and they were extremely vocal.Knights fans turned out in their droves, and they were extremely vocal. (Image: Craig Hawkhead)

Despite the low overall crowd, one thing that cannot be criticised is the support from the York Knights and York Valkyrie fans.

The 3,793 spectators that watched their defeat to Featherstone was by far York’s largest crowd of the season.

York fans hardly stopped their signing to take a breath during the Knights’ clash with Featherstone, something that did not go unnoticed by Henderson as he took to his seat in the East Stand.

“I have to give them a massive rap,” he enthused. “I thought they were brilliant. 

“I had the pleasure of being sat that side of the the stadium for for once, and the York fans to my left that were just constantly banging that drum, singing and chanting.

“Really positively too, trying to encourage the team to to to keep competing and doing well. 

“I thought the Featherstone fans brought a great atmosphere and energy too - it was a bit of a battle between both fans when they’re almost having a sing off there at one point. 

“It did make for a great atmosphere. 

“And I think by all accounts, I think that Viaplay had their biggest viewing figures for that fixture as well. That great to see in York. 

“Definitely the atmosphere for that game was was first class.”