208,200 as of 2017. Hull 280,000 so York could easily support a team in Superleague
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Population alone though doesn’t do it. Otherwise London would get 50,000 every time they play. Historically York has never really attracted a big crowd - probably more to do with the traditions and nature of the demographic. Hull - docks and fishing, Saints, Wigan mining and glass. RL tends to draw support from traditional working class towns. I know I’m hopelessly generalising and out of my depth with these assumptions but I thought it was worth discussing.
But York has traditionally had a working class demographic: chocolate (Rowntree and Terry), Railways (big engineering works), glass (not as big as St Helens, but important nevertheless). B.S. Rowntree’s Studies of Poverty, from 1900, 1934 and 1955, all based on York evidence, are credited as the inspiration for the welfare state. Thatcher devastated most of that economy, as she did elsewhere, and York is heavily indebted to its major university and hi-tec start-ups stemming from research there. It could support a Superleague team. Whether it will, though, is another matter.
Thanks. I am getting my E's mixed up! The town of Ealing is even smaller. About 72K.
You are of course correct in saying that they carry the name 'London', but that's where, IMO, folks become unreasonable when talking about populations, and use the likes of (Greater) London's 8.9 million to define potential Broncos Fans.
Just to throw something else into the mix... The Stoop to Trailfinders is about 45 mins drive. Charlton to Trailfinders would take twice that.
York as a rugby league city was at deaths door due to a number of reasons losing Clarence Street being perhaps the final straw. Now the RL club is going into this new stadium very much on the front foot. Like everything else people always want a winning side but I honestly believe that York achieving mid table status in super league in the summer era, with away support would be looking at 5 to 6 thousand average crowds. It would also boost the marketing image of Super-league.