On their return to Headingley today to rekindle a rivalry with an old foe in Rotherham Titans, Leeds Tykes have an announcement to make – though one they are reluctant to shout too loudly about.

For the Tykes are putting together a five-year plan to look into the possibility of returning to the second tier.

If the language does not scream burning ambition to reach the top or do everything possible to get there, then there is good reason for that.

Because Leeds have been burned badly before, twice sailing so close to the wind that they nearly went bust. They are only here now and still fighting because of a few loyal backroom and boardroom members who refused to let them fall the way of Wasps, London Irish and Jersey into oblivion.

Propotionate: Leeds Tykes are enjoying life at the Sycamores in Bramley (Picture: Tony Johnson)

placeholder image — Propotionate: Leeds Tykes are enjoying life at the Sycamores in Bramley (Picture: Tony Johnson)

Having shed the Yorkshire Carnegie tag to go back to their Leeds Tykes roots, and having bottomed out in the fourth tier, two successful seasons have brought them back into National One and into a position where they can, albeit tentatively, start to think about a sustainable, long-term plan.

“We’ve just had a board meeting to discuss it,” begins Warwick Andrews, a sports consultant taken on to help market the team last season, who was promoted to managing director when Jake Brady left a similar role to move to Harrogate in the summer.

“You have to learn from past experiences. This club has been a little bit more settled since Covid, yes we did get relegated from National One but we had two very good seasons in National Two North and we’re now up again in National One in what is a challenging season.

“But the board are now supporting me and putting together a five-year plan to return to the Champ. That’s the aspiration. We’re not shy in saying it, but we have to be sensible with it.”

Leeds Tykes in action against Dings Crusaders at The Sycamores, Bramhope, last month (Picture: Tony Johnson)

The Titans team they face today may only need five months, let alone five years, to get back into the Champ; Harvey Biljon’s team lead the third tier by five points and trounced Leeds by 40 points at Clifton Lane in September.

They are cautiously ambitious too. But Rotherham never damaged their roots the way Tykes did.

The rebrand to Yorkshire Carnegie in the middle of the last decade was a lesson in not reading the room, to put it mildly.

“The move to Yorkshire Carnegie upset a lot of people,” admits Andrews. “I’m actually from Rotherham. I grew up watching Leeds and Rotherham vie for the Premiership as it was back then.

Leeds Tykes managing director Warwick Andrews.

“The thing this club did wrong, in hindsight, was change the name to Yorkshire Carnegie.

“I think the concept of it made a lot of sense on paper, but it alienated everybody in Yorkshire. Every club in Yorkshire said we’re not interested.

“The execution was poor and when you’re a team that’s on the backfoot and you’re going down, that made it a huge challenge. It didn’t work because they never got to the Premiership.

“So we’re on a rebuild, Tykes is where we want to be and we want to create our identity again.”

The biggest challenge Andrews faces is reconnecting people with the Tykes brand.

“People don’t know we exist,” he says. “I still go out and people say I didn’t even know there was a rugby union team and where do you play.

“Over the season we’re telling people that we’re still here, come and join us, we’re at the Sycamores at West Park Leeds. We’ve never really done that since Covid. They’ve been surviving, just putting a team out on the pitch and hoping it goes all right, now’s the time to be a bit more strategic and that’s why the board are backing this five-year-plan.”

Having been instrumental in making Leeds Knights ice hockey club a success at their proportionate Elland Road venue, he has comparisons to draw on.

It is why today’s return to their old Headingley stomping ground will remain a once-a-season venture, the chance to sell a few hospitality packages – 250 so far – fill the north stand with a few more voices and invite former players like Dan Scarbrough and Tom Palmer back.

“There’s an element of showcasing what is possible, ironically, part of the conversation is can we go back into Headingley? But realistically that’s not part of the plan,” says Andrews.

“Headingley is a nice showcase but we’re never going to fill it. This is a busy city with Leeds United as its No 1 and Leeds Rhinos as its No 2. I had it when we were at the Knights, everybody said how are you going to fill it. We were never going to challenge the Rhinos, but let’s make a stamp with a good ice hockey team.

“And that’s what we’re trying to do with a good rugby union team; perform at the highest level and if Headingley can give us an occasional platform to showcase what we do, we’ll use that.”

Right now, Tykes are happy being tenants at the Sycamores, renting off West Park Leeds. It is proportionate for the size and the scale of their current standing and ambition.

Dare anyone mention the P word – the Prem? Leeds were fifth-place finishers in 2004, played in the Heineken Cup and won the Powergen Cup in 2005.

“If you’ve got a sugar daddy with £20m a year who can fund that…” offers Andrews.

“There’s a reality in sport, and the game of rugby globally, that there’s only certain types of brands they want. At the end of the day it comes down to pounds and pence and the economics of it and we haven’t got the ability now and we perhaps need to build towards going into the Champ as a starting point. And then can you stay in the Champ and be sustainable? It’s never not on the table, but let’s take sensible steps.”

Continuing today, with a low-key announcement, a showcase game and a good showing against their neighbours from down the road.