Championship coach resigns hours after shock defeat

Swinton have announced the departure of head coach Alan Kilshaw, who resigned following Sunday night’s defeat to Hunslet which saw the Lions relegated to League 1.

Kilshaw, 41, only joined Swinton ahead of the 2024 campaign, coincidentally making the jump up to the Championship from Hunslet.

He guided the Lions to a 12th-place finish in the Championship, which would have been enough to ensure survival in recent years.

But this term, with the pyramid restructuring ahead of 2025, the 12th-placed team in the second tier entered into a ‘winner takes all’ one-off clash with the League 1 play-off winners, who turned out to be Hunslet.

Swinton had home advantage in that clash on Sunday evening at Heywood Road, but lost out 22-20 to the Parksiders, who won a thrilling encounter with a try from Harry Render in the 76th minute.

LRL RECOMMENDS: Likely Championship and League 1 line-ups for 2025 as restructure of pyramid begins

Championship coach resigns hours after shock defeat

And following that defeat, Kilshaw resigned from his role as Swinton‘s boss, with the club confirming the same in a statement released on Monday afternoon.

The statement reads: “Following last night’s defeat to Hunslet, which has come as a devastating blow to all of us at Swinton Lions, we can confirm head coach Alan Kilshaw offered his resignation and this was accepted unanimously by the Board of Directors.

“The board would however like to place on record its thanks to Alan for all of his hard work on behalf of the club.

“We will now look to announce a successor as soon as possible, and then take the opportunity to re-set, and look to plan towards a positive future.

“The club thanks loyal Lions fans for your outstanding and unstinting support, despite the huge disappointment brought upon us by relegation.

“The Board meets tomorrow (Tuesday, October 15), and further updates will follow this week.”

Despite his exit from Swinton, Kilshaw remains under investigation relating to an incident surrounding a home game against Widnes Vikings earlier this season.

The 41-year-old was subject to a formal complaint from Widnes after Vikings ace Nick Gregson alleged a photo of himself with a noose around his neck was put up in the Swinton dressing room prior to their Championship meeting in July.

Gregson, a former Swinton player, took to social media to reveal the allegation, as well as claiming Kilshaw had been directing his players to specifically target his shoulder. The forward was injured in the game and has not played since.

The Rugby Football League subsequently appointed an independent investigator to look into the allegations, after Widnes lodged a complaint with the governing body.

Swinton refuted the allegations at the time in a statement, but now, Kilshaw will have to appear at a tribunal.

LRL RECOMMENDS: 2024 Championship Grand Final line-up locked in following semi-final drama