LONG-STANDING Huddersfield Giants chairman Ken Davy has stood down from the post and handed the reins to Ralph Rimmer.

While remaining fully committed to the club financially, Davy, 84, believes it is time for a new face at the helm to drive them forward.

Rimmer, 60, a former chief executive of both the Giants and the Rugby Football League, returned to Huddersfield in January as director for change, and now becomes executive chairman.

He was tasked with revitalising the club, currently six points adrift at the bottom of Super League, and securing a new stadium by 2030.

Davy had been Giants chairman since 1996, with the club winning the League Leaders’ Shield in 2013 and reaching three Challenge Cup finals (2006, 2009 and 2022) during his tenure.

The Huddersfield-based businessman says exciting things are coming both on and off the pitch for the Giants, including a state-of-the-art training facility.

He wrote: “I wish to announce with immediate effect my resignation as chairman of Huddersfield Giants.

“It has been my privilege to chair the club since January 1996 and I am proud that our achievements have included winning the League Leaders’ Shield for the first time in 81 years along with three Challenge Cup final appearances.

“Behind the scenes the club is taking massive and exciting strides, including the Giants’ state-of-the-art training facility and gym at Laund Hill, which will open shortly.

“I know this facility will be the envy of Super League, as is the outstanding Giants Community Trust. This is almost certainly Rugby League’s most successful charitable trust, and includes The Zone on St Andrews Road, that for almost 20 years, has helped many thousands of young people and others have fun and get fit.

“Our future is incredibly positive and the recruitment of new coach, Jimmy Lenihan, is another important Giant step forward.”

Davy continued: “My ownership and financial support for the Giants continues but, if we are to fully maximise the investments we are making and the opportunities ahead, we need to move forward with a new face, a new leadership and a new energy.

“Those of us inside the club have witnessed at first hand the dynamism of our director for change Ralph Rimmer, and I am delighted to announce Ralph has accepted my invitation to take the helm as executive chairman.

“The Giants are making multi-million pound investments as part of our commitment to Super League, coupled with our determination to put our current unsatisfactory performance behind us. This announcement and the others which will soon follow are clear statements of our intent.

“For more than 30 years, encouraged by my beloved wife Jennifer (who we lost so suddenly in 2017), I have done everything I can for this great club and the game of Rugby League, including, at the request of my fellow Super League chairmen, spending two years as executive chairman of Super League when, against the odds, I successfully negotiated the reunification of Super League and the RFL.

“It is now time for me to let our new leadership take Huddersfield Giants forward positively into an exciting new era, in a similar way to that which Neil Hudgell has forged at Hull KR.

“I am very much looking forward to being a part of our new Giant journey, albeit from a different position.”