“I was living in the US for just shy of 14 years,” he said.
“I got involved in Major League Rugby as a passive investor. I’ve just done business turnarounds. I never really had enough money to go out there and buy a successful business. I always looked for the opportunity, looked at the one underperforming where I thought I could make a difference.
Goodchild in the York Knights office, where they’ve sold more than 1500 memberships for their return season in the first few days of sales.Credit: Michael Chammas
“I got approached to look at the Toronto Wolfpack at the time. They were having a few challenges. I looked at it for a couple of weeks, it wasn’t quite the fit I was after. Then COVID came, I had a lot of time on my hands and York was brought to the table. I couldn’t see an obvious reason why it couldn’t work. I kept a promise to come over here and have a look. Then I stepped off the train at the station on a beautiful summer’s day. I walked into the city and I just fell in love with the place.”
The Knights won’t be given any favours in their return to the top flight competition. They will receive just half of the funding from head office as their rivals and have no guarantee to be in the competition beyond the 2026 season.
It makes it difficult for Goodchild to make strategic decisions. He’s also not blessed with a fortune like many of the owners in the NRL and Super League, but has done well enough in business to turn his dream into a reality.
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“Growing up in western Queensland, rugby league’s a religion, isn’t it?” he said.
“It’s part of your identity and I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Then intrigue turned to something a little bit more.
“I’m not the billionaire, multimillionaire types that can just go out and throw money at the place and throw cash at it to see what sticks. We have to be really strategic with where we put it and why we do it.
“I don’t think anyone goes into these things thinking it’s going to triple in cash flow overnight. It’s a long-term play, but one of the big steps on the way was to get in the top tier. Now we’ve got to see what that next frontier looks like.”
