CHRIS HAMILTON says he remains determined to help revive Featherstone Rovers after the club were denied membership of the RFL and removed from the Championship.
Alongside former club chairman Mark Campbell and ex-director Colm Corran, Hamilton was involved in efforts to get a new operation set up after Featherstone were placed into administration last month.
But the RFL said their bid did not meet the required governance criteria, and as a result Featherstone will play no part in this year’s second tier.
The governing body say they remain “committed to supporting a sustainable return of professional rugby league in the town of Featherstone moving forward”.
And Hamilton, who spent more than 25 years involved at Oldham and had a spell as head of operations at Widnes Vikings before joining Rovers last October, still wants to be involved in those efforts.
Posting on LinkedIn, Hamilton said he was “devastated” for “everybody connected with Featherstone” following the RFL’s decision.
“Months of hard work has come to nothing and my feelings right now are ones of total dejection, anger, frustration and sadness amongst others,” he added.
“I have only been at the club for just over two months but I have put heart and soul into it from day one to try and get a positive outcome and then to move the club on into a new era, and if I am feeling like this, I can only imagine what the Fev faithful must be feeling like.
“Delivering the message to the staff who have gone above and beyond over the last few months to keep the club going is one of the toughest things I have ever done.
“Whilst absolutely gutted for all concerned, my gut instinct is always to fight back, harder and stronger than before, and once I get over my initial mood, that’s exactly what I will do on behalf of Featherstone Rovers.”
Administrator Andrew Rosler has said he will “engage with any interested parties to secure a future for the club”.
Featherstone applied to enter administration after twice securing adjournments to an HMRC winding-up petition.
The case, over a reported £120,000 tax bill, was dismissed when the court approved their administration, but their total debt was thought to be considerably more.
Featherstone, who have a significant recent history of financial issues, were already subject to the winding-up petition when key backer Paddy Handley and chief executive Martin Vickers resigned in September.
Campbell, Handley’s predecessor as chairman, returned to the helm the following month, joined shortly afterwards by Hamilton, but the club was unable to find a way out of its predicament except by entering administration.
The RFL set out a period of just four days for new ownership submissions, with Campbell heading the sole interested party on December 19, but in the following three weeks they were unable to satisfy the governing body to receive the club’s playing licence.