York City Knights to host Toulouse in opening round of Championship season as 2021 fixtures released
It will be their first league match at the LNER Community Stadium
York City Knights will kick off their 2021 Betfred Championship campaign at home to Toulouse Olympique on Good Friday weekend, following today’s release of the 2021 fixtures.
That first encounter of the season will see the Knights lock horns with a team who, like the Knights, have recruited impressively ahead of the 2021 season.
Former Super League winners Mitch Garbutt, Joseph Paulo and Dominique Peyroux have joined Sylvain Houles team and will no doubt provide a stern test for James Ford's team in what will be their first league match at the LNER Community Stadium.
The Knights faced Toulouse in an exciting opening encounter on the opening weekend of the 2020 Betfred Championship season and a team that has now seen the likes of Adam Cuthbertson, Morgan Smith, Kieran Dixon and Ben Jones-Bishop added to it will again take the challenge to our much-fancied French visitors.
One match that will no doubt whet the appetite of Knights fans will be the visit of Bradford Bulls to the LNER Community Stadium on the 29th August, by which time fans could be present in sporting stadiums across the country.
Shortly following the visit of the Bulls is a scheduled trip to France to face Toulouse in mid-September, out penultimate match of the season, before playing host to London Broncos on the final day of the regular season.
Betfred Challenge Cup Round One opponents Sheffield Eagles will visit the LNER Community Stadium in the second match of the league campaign on the weekend of 16-18th April, four weekends after an away clash at the Keepmoat Stadium.
While fixtures have confirmed dates, matches played behind closed doors will have staggered kick off times and days and could be played any day across the corresponding weekend.
Details of match streams, due to be shown through the RFL’s Our League app, will be confirmed in due course with access free to the streamed home Betfred Championship matches for season ticket holders and available for a fee to other fans with arrangements for Betfred Challenge Cup matches to be confirmed.
On the kick off against Toulouse Olympique, head coach James Ford said:
“We’re all looking forward to the league campaign and I think the challenge of Toulouse in round 1 will be immense but one that we’re very excited by.
“The squads across the division are superb and I’m sure the Betfred Championship supporters are in for a real treat.”