COUGARS will begin their League 1 season with an exciting Yorkshire derby against Doncaster on May 9.

The fixtures were released yesterday afternoon, and that opener at Cougar Park is part of a tough start, which sees Keighley face 2019 Championship sides Barrow (away) and Rochdale (home) in their next two.

Hunslet (home) and Workington (away) are up after that, before West Wales (home), Coventry (away), London Skolars (home) and North Wales (away) take Cougars to the halfway point of the season.

Barrow are the first team that Keighley play twice, with that reverse fixture taking place on Sunday, July 11 at Cougar Park.

Then come two away games in a row against Hunslet and Rochdale, before home clashes against Workington and Coventry.

Two long away trips to London and West Wales round off August.

Cougars' final home game is against North Wales on September 5, before they finally get to play Doncaster again, rounding off the season with an away game in South Yorkshire on September 12.