KEIGHLEY have had a major changing of the guard off the pitch.

Director of rugby Graeme Sheffield and head coach Kevin Young have stepped down to be replaced by Russell Gibson and Danny McGee respectively.

Meanwhile, Heath's Hamish Pratt has taken over as forwards' coach at Rose Cottage, Scott Dyson will be strength and conditioning coach and Michael Feather has been promoted from the second team to be another pair of eyes on the sideline as former Ilkley player-coach Pratt intends to continue playing.

Reliable centre McGee, however, is not intending to play, and the first-team backroom staff will be completed by Robin Hebden and Chris Leach in their support roles.

Sheffield, who will continue in his role of sponsorship recruitment and liaising with the press, said: "Sometimes there just needs to be a new voice.

"Kevin has done a superb job over eight years, including the last 18 months as head coach, and every Sunday all the coaches at the club received a clear plan of what was expected of them in the coming week, and that is an incredible thing for an amateur club.

"Hamish is not expecting to play for 80 minutes every Saturday but his involvement on the pitch means us promoting Michael from the second team, where he has done a great job with Andy Marklew, and for which you need a certain mindset due to the constant changing of player availability.

"The idea is that Danny can then bounce ideas off Michael."

Sheffield added: "Scott, who had that terrible injury which brought on his epilepsy and stopped him from playing, can make use of our newly built and fully refurbished gym, of which we are very proud.

"There are rowing and cycling machines and treadmills in changing room six, while the weight machines in the gym can accommodate between 12 and 25 people.

"It is a big room, and not something which has just been stuck on the end of the clubhouse."

Maybe in these two rooms will be found the solution to Keighley's perennial poor early-season form which hampers their promotion bid.

This season they flirted with relegation before Christmas before winning nine of their last 13 matches to finish in sixth place in SSE Yorkshire Division Two with 66 points, just five behind fourth-placed Moortown.