HUNSLET chief executive Neil Hampshire has revealed that the club was denied entry into Super League in 1999 and that the West Yorkshire club was almost taken over by rugby union side Leicester Tigers.
The Parksiders earned promotion to the Championship in 2024 following an incredible victory over Swinton Lions, overcoming a decade of hurt in the third tier.
However, Hunslet should well have been a Super League side at the turn of the century after winning the then-named Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final against Dewsbury, 12-11 at Headingley.
That being said, the Parksiders were denied entry to the top flight under the banner of ‘Framing the Future’.
Now Hunslet chief executive Neil Hampshire has revealed what went on and why the club was denied entry under former, late chairman Grahame Liles.
“Graham had negotiated a £2m deal with an IT company and we had got a number of Australians ready to come over. I don’t see why we wouldn’t have been as competitive as anyone else in there,” Hampshire told the League Express podcast.
“We had already agreed and designed for a stand opposite the current main stand. That would have been fit for 6,500 people and with the current main stand over 2,000 we would have been near the 9,000 mark.
“However, the RFL said no because it wasn’t 10,000.”
At the time, Hunslet were also subject to a bid from rugby union side Leicester Tigers about the 15-man club taking over the franchise.
“What you may not know is Leicester Tigers came in and tried to buy the franchise. They wanted to have a dual-code team to go into Super League at the time.
“The agreement was that the franchise would stay here and that the deal would see Leicester pay to enter Super League.
“They would pay us £50,000 but we would have to drop down to the third tier again. The club was having none of it.”
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