After watching Keighley Cougars regularly since the late 1980s and before that of and on since the 1960s I am about to walk away from the club. Is it but a few seasons since being narrowly beaten by Featherstone, Leigh and Batley which cost us our Championship place? Since then we have gone backwards and are now almost on a par with the likes of Gloucester and Oxford. We have had two coaches in that time and both struggled with getting the right results out of the squad. Our 2017 squad is a decent squad with just a few additions needed but the results have still not come. Craig Lingard is an outstanding coach, best we have had at Cougars for many years, and his back-room staff are international class, two are away now with the Student World Cup. So – what is the common denominator? It has to be said - IT IS THE BOARD. They have taken the club as far as they can and if they really have an affection for the club they should walk away now and hand it on to people I know are waiting to come in and take the club forward. Their penny-pinching attitude has seen the ground and the team suffer. If they don't walk away I can foresee in a year or less the club will go to the wall as the loyal crowds diminish and revenues collapse.

OK I hear the club has no money but also it doesn't seem to actively chase monies and it is run far worse than many any amateur clubs I have seen. The ground is a shambles and players facilities seem to be awful. If that is the best that the Board can do then please – GO NOW! There are REAL Keighley rugby fans waiting to take the club back to where we belong.

I'm really not sure there is anyone waiting in the wings to take the club on though.

You either need to have and be able to put a lot of money into the club or a lot of time to put into the club, or ideally both.

I cant imagine there's anyone out there with either the money or time to get the club to the top end of the championship quickly.

However I think Craig is going about building a squad the right way, we have to remember this is a very young side which will only get better.

As for diminishing crowds, the average attendance is actually up over 20% on last season, even though results are similar if not slightly worse.

Spot on for mine. Change of regime long overdue.

If what I hear is to come about and the top two divisions made up if 14 teams each (Bulls won't be relegated) then we will be left in a league of largely southern teams and do you expect the crowds to be coming down to that? Is the 20% up average including the Toronto game?

True fans will put their money in now. If not money at least their time as volunteers. Present group of volunteers do a great job in keeping the ground and surroundings looking good.Others are out in the community raising the profile of Cougars and raising sponsorship. Not made any easier by negative comments such as those above. Oddly this is the 2nd timewe have heard these comments in the past few days.Lets all get together and support Craig and the lads in the next games. No doubt you will be at the Cumbria games. I WILL.

Well yes it does include the Toronto game otherwise it wouldn't be an average.

It also includes the the 4 teams that we have played at home last season and this season

2016

Barrow 716
York 631 and 638
Hunslet 384
London Skolars 297

2017

Barrow 728
York 927
Hunslet 744
London Skolars 457

I find it really difficult to bite my tongue when things like this is posted.
If I was at the point of stopping supporting the team I wouldn't want to put a spanner in the works which will cause more controversy.
Take a look at previous directors.
Smith and O Neil built a strong reasonably successful team but left a trail of financial destruction behind them when they left.
Carl Met calf, very dodgy character who came and went even though he put money in but we certainly didn't go forward.
Hammy Patel, from what I heard ploughed in money but wasn't kept in the frame as to where his money was spent on and left. Once again no great success.
Colin Farrier and Neil Spencer, Once again carried on the downward spiral even though I think they ment well still sent the club bust to the tune of around £185k.
The present directors all local men seem to be running the club without debt. I may be wrong but I haven't seen any winding up orders or closed signs on the gate.
Now bearing in mind our neighbours down the road going bust 3 times in 4 years and milk there supporters and sponsors of probably somewhere in the region of over half a million pounds then I personally don't think these guys are doing too bad.
Yes we are rebuilding and maybe this season hasn't gone as well as they expected and who knows what signings are planned for next season.
You say the coach is as good as we've had for a while plus the backroom staff are well thought about throughout the game well these were set on by the directors and they brought in players they wanted then surely they have to stand up and put there hands up and take some blame for the season.
But as the old saying goes Rome wasn't built in a day so let's see how this season finishes and what the closed season brings on the ins and outs at the club then judge.
But in my mind they are Keighley through and through but if the so called angels waiting in the wings are so keen to jump on this so called sinking ship then why don't they make a public business plan so everyone can see what they have in mind for the club and take things from there.
Rant over .

I think i agree with everything you have said there...I had to sit down and take a few deep breaths

Unless some millionaire is prepared to take on a struggling team we will have to make do with directors who, unless we are mistaken, are running the club not at a crippling deficit. Bulls have been run into the ground by the directors making bad decisions, their playing roster was overpaid and now the irony is their best players are the u19s who will all leave for super league.

Keighley is still a big town and potential is there. Castelford population is 40k keighleys is 51k, admittedly a good proportion of the demographic are unlikely to watch rugby league but the potential is still there, as proven historically. Yes those days are gone but a Ch1 team performing in the top 4 would get over 2 thousand I reckon. I just dont see anyone 'waiting in the wings' wanting to take on a crumbling ground. Keighley must be one of the only towns left without some kind of community stadium type affair, I think a merge with the union side would be worth investigating. Get a 3G pitch, build a new stadium. Easy!


Positive news about attendances, the barrow game was also a weds night. They did the super league season ticket offer that night, I saw Hethrington, Brian Noble amongst others on the terraces and a few Rhinos fans. So maybe those offers work.

Latest published accounts (over two years out of date mind) show over £60,000 owed to creditors. Good result Sunday after poor first half. Coach had to work hard on attitude at half time.

That is probably money owed to directors, in other words they are covering shortfalls. For example we have three directors when in 2010 we had 1, presumably each new director buys their rights to be in there (with potentially £30'000).

I cant see suppliers being owed 60k and no one knowing about it, word spreads fast of these things.

I could of course be wrong, in which case these magical directors waiting in the wings with lots of money could be a step closer than you think.

Thanks t_c_o, you obviously know more about it. You say the £60k owed to creditors is probably owed to directors. But there has only ever been one director of Keighley Cougars (2010) Ltd according to Companies House i.e. Gary Fawcett. Also, the previous year's accounts showed £167,000 owed to creditors. Are you saying this was owed to Mr Fawcett and the reduction in the debt to about £60k meant that he took over £100,000 out of the club that year???

Or GF wrote off over £100,000 of debt

Or £167,000 was owed to outside creditors and the club made enough money to pay off some of them that year.

But even if GF did take over £100,000 "out of the club" he must have originally put it "into the club"

I know the situation at the club isn't ideal, but I seriously think that without GF then the club may have disappeared completely, and if that ever happened it becomes nearly impossible to get back a semi pro club.

Well said Panth. Totally agree.

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