Former Keighley Cougars chairman Mick O’Neill may have officially become an Australian — but he still loves British rugby.

Mick and his wife, Jackie, have celebrated gaining Australian citizenship after living on the Gold Coast for the last ten years.

Mick, who chaired the Cougars during the 1990s, said he and his wife loved Australia but would never give up their British identity. The pair originally bought a holiday home on the Gold Coast but ended up living there and owning a shop, which integrated them into the community.

Mick, who has Irish roots as his parents were from Ballina, in County Mayo, said: “As a host country, being alien-citizens, Australia has been good to us — welcoming and friendly. After ten years we felt we should repay that hospitality by immersing ourselves fully in Australian life and becoming Australians and contributing fully as a citizen because it also means we get a vote.

“I think it is probably a requirement of becoming an Aussie citizen that you swear blind loyalty to the cricket team but as much as I will be berated by my Aussie friends over here, I could never not support England.”

Mick said he missed his involvement with the Cougars and had very fond memories of those years.

He has since got involved in his local rugby team, The Gold Coast Titans, and amazingly has met up with former Cougar players based in the area, such as Mat Foster, Greg Hiley and Ian Gaitly.

He has a daughter, son-in-law and 18-month-old granddaughter living near him, though his son is still based in the UK.

Mick said: “We return every year to Keighley. How could anyone survive a year without a beer in The Vine or the King’s Head, the wind blowing on the Keighley hills, the mushy peas, but most of all the wonderful Keighley people, the best people in the world?”