Keighley Cougars have today received their illustrative IMG grading for the year ending 2023.
Whilst disappointed with a rank 30th place, the club are committed to working on granular improvements within the grading pillars and will continue throughout 2024 to increase our IMG points position for 2025.
We would hope we can do this on a fair and level playing field with a merged League 1 and Championship competition which we believes gives parity between all clubs outside Super League.
We see our rank 30th as an insult to our club and fans and over the last 4 years, Keighley Cougars have achieved great things:
– Our Chairman Mick O’Neill has been awarded an MBE for services to rugby league;
– Cougars were promoted in 2022 in an unbeaten League 1 season
– Cougars have had national media coverage in both print and broadcast. On occasions with much higher reach and engagements than those considered to be A grade clubs;
– The club has pioneered LGBTQ+ rights and built an inclusive community in Keighley;
– Cougars have won RFL and Bradford Council awards for 3 years;
– Our crowds have doubled over the term.
Whilst all this success doesn’t fit with IMG’s grading criteria, we will continue to work with them and diversify into the spreadsheet era of Rugby League.
Supporters can play their part by continuing to like share, comment, engage and follow all our content on social media platforms.
The IMG gradings have no scientific or statistical validity. The gradings will be skewed very much in the favour of clubs who have benefitted the most from SuperLeague funding. Catalans will be penalised for being too far away and not having Media Sponsors given the lack of ‘TV interest’ in France. Smaller clubs in the RL homelands will be penalised for being too close together (Man Utd and Man City beware!) or not owning their grounds. Finally – if you’ve never been in SuperLeague you will be downgraded!!!
Imagine if you wanted a passport and you were told you couldn’t have one because either a)no one in your family ever had one b)you’ve never had one before…….it would be a civil liberties issue. Cougars owners are to be praised for their stand against this scandal – one can only hope that other clubs may wake up to the injustice being done to RL and it’s supporters.
Good luck lads!
No surprise they have never liked us and never will. We have too many enemies in higher places. I would guess whatever we do it wouldn’t be good enough
They really like to shaft us don’t they.
They are killing the game.
Reserve superleague teams is an insult.
Merged leagues Inc more superleague teams. Seems the only way as expansion hasn’t worked over the years.
So many teams have come and gone some lasting no more than a couple of seasons.
Don’t they see after all this time trying it’s a mainly northern game.
Keep banging you heads on the brick wall you self interested superleague.
Once again we see clubs outside super League shafted by the few SL clubs.the RFL and their latest defence took IMG. They need to wake up remember 1895 st George hotel Huddersfield and the start of our game,the northern union ? Is time for championship and league 1 clubs to consider a break away and start a new era as the NRL
The people at Rugby League Headquarters keep banging on about the game being the best in the world, no it isn’t not while you lot are in charge you are deluded, your discisions are ruining the game. You even had to get IMG to do your dirty work due to the fact you are incapable of making any meaningful decisions
RL the clubs want to clear the present management before it’s too late