Hull Daily Mail

Lakin - KR at a pivotal moment

NEW CHIEF EXEC WRITES TO SUPPORTERS

- By JAMES SMAILES james.smailes@reachplc.com @James_smailes

HULL KR’S new CEO Paul Lakin has penned a letter to the club’s supporters following confirmati­on of his return to the club.

Lakin, who was part of Rovers promotion to Super League during his four-year tenure at the Robins between 2004-08, will return next month to take over the running of the club from departing chairman Neil Hudgell.

In his letter to fans, Lakin promises there will be no grand vision or mission statement about what Rovers will achieve, just a promise of hard work to try and break the cycle the club have found themselves in over the past few years.

Lakin will take over from Mike Smith on November 1 and will face the tough challenge of leading the club through the current uncertaint­y brought on by the coronaviru­s pandemic.

Here’s what the new CEO had to say to supporters.

“Some of you may remember me but for those who don’t my name is Paul Lakin and, as a loyal member, I wanted you to be one of the first to learn that I will be the club’s new CEO from November 1. Having previously been so proud to be the Chief Executive from 2004 -2008, I am absolutely delighted to be back having spent the last 12 years working in football across the Premier League and Championsh­ip. Our club and our sport faces unpreceden­ted challenges with Covid-19 at present and I’ve no doubts you will have some questions about the future. I will do my best to explain...

“We face the most pivotal moment in our history. I see that as a challenge and opportunit­y in equal measures, but it needs us all to unite and move onwards together.

“Throughout my time in sport, I’ve never experience­d a more dedicated and committed fan base and everyone involved in the club will match your desire to be successful, we will work passionate­ly month on month to continue to get better at what we do.

“No grand visons and statements, simply hard work knowing if we all come together we will create new positive momentum and break the cycle we find ourselves in. We need to respect our past, but it’s time to kick on and create some new history.

“My belief is the club has all the right ingredient­s to not only progress through, what will be a very difficult and financiall­y challengin­g 2021, but also to head into our 140th anniversar­y year in 2022 stronger and ready to kick on.

“We will spend the year diligently looking for new investment but we have Chairman Neil Hudgell’s incredible commitment to the club and that gives us some immediate stability.

“In Tony Smith we have an outstandin­g and vastly experience­d Head Coach who in many ways is so much more than his title suggests.

“He has immersed himself in the club’s culture, he understand­s the work involved in all department­s and understand­s what wearing the crest means to you as supporters.

“Our on field strategy is clear, we want to build a core team around the talent we develop through our Academy, complement­ed with smart external recruitmen­t.

“We have already seen several first team debuts this season as a result of the great work John Bastian and his coaching staff are doing and continued progress will be crucial to our success.

“The loyalty of our fan base is unrivalled but we do need to ask you to come through for us one more time.

“Please keep supporting us throughout 2021 so we can prepare to push on in 2022 and beyond.

“We know it’s a big ask in such difficult times but I truly believe we can all play our part in steering the club through uncharted territory, in the belief that better times will come.”

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