KEIGHLEY COUGARS are up for sale, with joint-owners Ryan O’Neill and Kaue Garcia set to end their involvement following this season.
The married pair (pictured) have been at the helm since 2019, when they saved the club from potentially folding, and oversaw a League One title-winning campaign in 2022, when all 20 matches were won, only for the team to be relegated the following year.
They also own non-league football club Keighley Town (formerly Eccleshill United), who also play at Cougar Park, a stadium O’Neill and Garcia have been working to upgrade and which will stage a two-day music festival featuring leading British boy band JLS and UB40 on July 24/25.
The same-sex couple say the introduction of Rugby League’s club-grading system and an increasingly-high level of personal abuse aimed at them, much of it over their commitment to inclusion and support for the LGBT+ community, are major contributory factors.
“In the light of the changes made by the RFL, specifically making promotion almost impossible, over the last year we made the difficult but necessary decisions to reshape the club into a sustainable operation,” they said.
“That meant reducing our expenditure and ensuring our budget reflected the revenues the club generate.
“We knew this would mean we would no longer spend at the levels we had in previous years when promotion was a possibility, but we firmly believe it was the right thing to do.
“We would rather lead a club that is stable, responsible and sustainable than one that spends recklessly in pursuit of short-term success.”
The pair continued: “For the past seven years, we have done everything we could to serve this club to the best of our abilities.
“We are immensely proud of many of the achievements both on and off the field, from saving this great club, to improving facilities, to having the perfect campaign in 2022, to showing solidarity with the Ukrainian kids facing the challenges of war, bringing football to Keighley and also a great concert that will hopefully put Keighley on the map and make residents feel proud of this town.
“We stuck our necks out and fought the IMG involvement in Rugby League, for which we were ridiculed by many – but we did what we thought was right for the sport, and we believe time has proved we were right.
“However, through the seven years of this journey, social media has increasingly become a hostile environment, where a minority have chosen to direct personal abuse towards us on an almost daily basis, both on public forums and in direct messages.
“No matter what decisions we make, there are always voices claiming we are ruining the club.
“Much of that criticism centres around our commitment to inclusion, our support for the LGBT+ community, and the accusation of ‘not knowing what we are doing’ because we are a gay couple who supposedly know nothing about rugby. We heard countless times that we should ‘focus on rugby’ rather than other initiatives.
“Yet despite the noise, we remained focused on our commitment and belief that Keighley Cougars should be a place where everyone feels welcome, regardless of background, religion, sexuality or gender identity. We wanted our club to be a home for all.
“For us, this was never about politics. It was about people.
“However the constant personal attacks have taken a toll bit by bit. Every defeat, every difficult decision, every player departure or coaching change often triggered another wave of abuse. After the 2023 season, the volume and intensity of the abuse became overwhelming.
“While we fully respect every supporter’s right to express their opinion and hold us accountable, there is a difference between criticism and personal attacks.
“After a lot of reflection, we have made the difficult decision to step away from our roles as custodians of Keighley Cougars at the end of this season.
“Over the coming months, we will work to find a suitable new owner who shares our passion, values and ambition for this great club, and who can continue the work of taking Keighley Cougars to greater heights.”