KEIGHLEY Cougars will begin their Betfred Championship season by welcoming the Featherstone Rovers to Cougar Park.

The visit of the Rovers, live on viaplay (formerly Premier Sports), will take place on Monday 6th February with a 7:45pm kick-off.

It is a fitting start to life back in the second tier with the Cougars last game at this level of the sport back in September 2014 also coming against Featherstone at Cougar Park.

This is followed six days later on Sunday 12th February with a visit to Cheshire, to face John Kear and his Widnes Vikings side.

Other fixtures of note include the derby fixtures against the Bradford Bulls and the Halifax Panthers.

The Bulls visit Cougar Park on Sunday 26th March, with the visit to Odsal coming on Sunday 2nd July.

Meanwhile, we visit The Shay on Sunday 19th March with the Panthers visiting Cougar Park for our final home fixture of the season on Sunday 17th September.

There will also be meetings throughout the year against two familiar faces in the shape of Andrew Henderson and Craig Lingard.

We visit Lingard’s Batley on Sunday 26th February and Henderson’s Knights on Good Friday, Friday 7th April.

Their respective returns to Cougar Park coming on Sunday 20th August and Sunday 9th July.

Rhys Lovegrove will also renew rivalries with our fellow promoted side the Swinton Lions in June and August.

The trip to France to face Toulouse Olympique will take place on Saturday 29th July with the season concluding on Sunday 24th September with a trip to the London Broncos.

The Summer Bash will take place over the May Bank Holiday weekend (28-29 May) with the venue and opposition to be announced this coming Tuesday (15th November) morning at 11am.

We can also confirm that Betfred Championship clubs will be entering this season’s Betfred Challenge Cup at the Third Round stage to be played over the weekend of the 11-12 March.

Please note that all fixtures are subject to change.

2023 KEIGHLEY COUGARS BETFRED CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES:

Round 1 | FEATHERSTONE ROVERS
Monday 6th February | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 7:45pm

Round 2 | WIDNES VIKINGS
Sunday 12th February | Venue: DCBL Stadium | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 3 | NEWCASTLE THUNDER
Sunday 19th February | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 4 | BATLEY BULLDOGS
Sunday 26th February | Venue: Fox’s Biscuits Stadium | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 5 | LONDON BRONCOS
Sunday 5th March | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Challenge Cup Round 3 | OPPONENT TBC
11-12 March | Venue: TBC | Kick Off: TBC

Round 6 | HALIFAX PANTHERS
Sunday 19th March | Venue: The Shay | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 7 | BRADFORD BULLS
Sunday 26th March | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 8 | YORK CITY KNIGHTS
Friday 7th April | Venue: LNER Community Stadium | Kick Off: 7:30pm

Round 9 | TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE
Saturday 15th April | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 6pm

Round 10 | WHITEHAVEN
Sunday 7th May | Venue: LEL Arena | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 11 | SHEFFIELD EAGLES
Sunday 14th May | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 12 | SUMMER BASH (OPPONENT TBC)
27-28 May | Venue: TBC | Kick Off: TBC

Round 13 | SWINTON LIONS
Sunday 4th June | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 14 | BARROW RAIDERS
Sunday 11th June | Venue: Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 15 | NEWCASTLE THUNDER
Sunday 18th June | Venue: Kingston Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 16 | WHITEHAVEN
Sunday 25th June | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 17 | BRADFORD BULLS
Sunday 2nd July | Venue: Odsal Stadium | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 18 | YORK CITY KNIGHTS
Sunday 9th July | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 19 | WIDNES VIKINGS
Sunday 16th July | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 20 | TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE
Saturday 29th July | Venue: Stade Ernest-Wallon | Kick Off: 6pm (GMT)

Round 21 | SWINTON LIONS
Sunday 6th August | Venue: Heywood Road | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 22 | BATLEY BULLDOGS
Sunday 20th August | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 23 | FEATHERSTONE ROVERS
Sunday 27th August | Venue: Millenium Stadium | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 24 | BARROW RAIDERS
Sunday 3rd September | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 25 | SHEFFIELD EAGLES
Friday 8th September | Venue: Olympic Legacy Park | Kick Off: 7:45pm

Round 26 | HALIFAX PANTHERS
Sunday 17th September | Venue: Cougar Park | Kick Off: 3pm

Round 27 | LONDON BRONCOS
Sunday 24th September | Venue: Cherry Red Records Stadium | Kick Off: 3pm

By Joshua Chapman.