Hunslet RLFC are delighted to announce the appointment of experienced Rugby League journalist Phil Hodgson to the role of Press Officer.

Phil has a wealth of experience as a journalist with specialist Rugby League newspapers, having worked for the Rugby Leaguer from 1993 to 2002, for League Weekly from 2002 to 2007, and for League Express & Rugby Leaguer for the last twelve years. He also has experience as Media Manager at Castleford Tigers in the early seasons of Super League.

He said: “I am delighted to have been appointed Press Officer of Hunslet RLFC. The first point to stress is that I am not to be confused with Hunslet’s long-serving and excellent Community Director Phil Hodgson who, happily for him, is an entirely different person; hopefully there won’t be too much confusion on that score over the coming years!

“As part of my new role I will be working closely with the Media and Content Manager Gareth Evans and issuing regular news stories and features highlighting the on- and off-field achievements and progress of a great club that I have supported since 1963 and for which I played (for Hunslet Juniors Under 17s).

“In addition to supplying the general media with regular copy I will do my utmost to make players and coaches available for interviews as Hunslet enters what is perhaps one of the most important phases in our rich 136-year history, with the club poised to enter a hybrid form of ownership in which it will remain supporter-owned, but with Jason Peterkin and Damian Irvine working alongside the fans as non-executive directors. And I’m looking forward to working with Gareth Evans who continues to do great work for the club on all our social media platforms.”

He continued: “Our indefatigable Chairman Neil Hampshire, is – as the club advised last week – stepping down after have served the club superbly for eight years, but he will remain in post for the next three months or so as Mr Peterkin and Mr Irvine (the latter a former chairman of Australian club Cronulla Sharks) complete a routine process of due diligence.”

The appointment of Phil to the media team follows on from a month of good progress in increasing awareness and interest in the various membership packages available. A strong take up of new members has been seen since the recent meeting and new packages have been created in response to supporter requests and suggestions.