The York club was first admitted to the Rugby Football League in 1901. In 1902/03 the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues were combined to form a second division. They defeated the touring All Golds team in 1908. York was one of the new teams to join the second division. After the First World War, they became known as ""the Dreadnoughts"". They beat the visiting Australasian team of the 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain 9–3. York played touring teams on a number of occasions between 1908 and 1978. There were 8 games against Australia (one win and one draw) and 6 games against New Zealand (3 wins).