Cougars apply for administration

Wednesday 30th November -0001

Keighley Cougars are the latest Championship club to hit serious financial trouble.

The Cougars, who won promotion from Championship One in September, have avoided a winding-up order brought by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill after applying to go into administration. That hearing will be held on December 18, with a winding-up order adjourned until January 27.

"It gives us chance to explore every avenue open to us," said Cougars general manager Helen Carter. "We do not intend to walk away from our debts but we need to take precautions to safeguard the future."

If Keighley wind up the company that was formed to run the club in 2001, they will begin the new season with a points deduction, a fate that befell Doncaster, Rochdale and Gateshead after breaching the Rugby Football League's solvency regulations in recent times.

Carter says plans are in place to form a new company with fresh blood on the board.