Keighley Cougars owners to stay on after 'extraordinary outpouring of support'
Ryan O'Neill and Kaue Garcia have released a new statement on social media
The owners of Keighley Cougars have decided to retain ownership of the club, after a big reaction to plans to sell the club which emerged last week.
Ryan O'Neill and Kaue Garcia have been involved in the club since 2019, when a consortium led by Ryan's dad Mick O'Neill took over at Cougar Park.
The couple said they'd decided to move on in part because of homophobic abuse on social media.
In a fresh statement, Ryan O’Neill said: “Over the last few weeks, we’ve felt the attacks harder than ever before."
"What we hadn’t realised was that we have an army of kindness within our club. People who share our values. People who didn’t just stand beside us—they stood up and fought for us.
"The days leading up to Sunday’s game were truly humbling. We saw the supporters of Keighley Cougars rally together in a way we never expected.
"The messages, the phone calls, the conversations on Sunday, reminded us exactly why this club is so special.
In today’s world, negativity often shouts the loudest. It can sometimes make you believe that hate has won. What we’ve learned over the last week is that loyalty and decency are far stronger—they’re just sometimes quieter until they need to be heard.”
Kaue Garcia added: “During an interview with ITV Calendar we were asked whether we had let hate win. That question really stayed with us because, perhaps without realising it, maybe we had."
"What the supporters of Keighley Cougars have shown us is that they simply weren’t prepared to let that happen. They reminded us what this club stands for. They reminded us why we started this journey in the first place.
"We’ve always believed Keighley Cougars should be about much more than rugby.
"It should be about bringing people together, creating opportunities and making our town proud. The incredible support has given us renewed energy and belief to continue building that vision.”