KEIGHLEY COUGARS are on the lookout for a new coach after confirming the departure of Ian Hardman by mutual agreement in the wake of a 16th-placed Championship finish.

The former Featherstone Rovers assistant coach arrived in February, taking the reins after Danny Burton was in interim charge for the first three games, two of them in the league, following the eve-of-season departure of Alan Kilshaw, who is now at Oldham.

Success at North Wales Crusaders and Halifax Panthers in the last two matches of the campaign took Hardman’s Championship victories tally to five from 22, with two draws.

At one stage, there were eleven successive defeats for the 40-year-old former St Helens and Featherstone back, who has also coached in the Leeds Rhinos system.

Hardman originally rejoined Featherstone as football manager in May 2021, becoming assistant to Brian McDermott the following November.

He then worked under Sean Long, James Ford and Paul Cooke before Rovers were mothballed for this year after failing to come out of administration.

Keighley have had five coaches in the last four years in Rhys Lovegrove, Matt Foster, Jake Webster, Kilshaw and Hardman.

“The club would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Ian for his hard work and commitment,” said the Cougars.

“He took on the role in a challenging time. Faced with a raft of injuries, he worked tirelessly to improve performances with an admirable points difference (Keighley ended on minus 84) and which culminated with a fantastic win against Halifax.

“With Ian’s departure confirmed, we have now begun the process of appointing a new head coach to lead the club into the next chapter.

“We welcome expressions of interest from ambitious and experienced coaches who believe they have the ability, leadership and vision to take Keighley Cougars forward.”