They are the club that built many of the foundations that professional rugby league enjoys today. They were the club that worked hard, creatively and efficiently to build an off-field machine to match their ever-improving on field product.

Unfortunately for Keighley, they were left unable to reap the rewards of their work. Instead, for the past decade or so they have been forced to live in the shadows and look on as their more illustrious rivals have made a great success out of things born out of Cougar-mania. Local rivals Bradford enjoyed great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s as Keighley fans watched in envy with the thought "it could have been us."

But after a difficult period, Barry Eaton's side find themselves just 80 minutes from the Championship 1 Grand Final and the opportunity to earn promotion to the second tier. The Cougars finished second behind runaway champions Dewsbury and host York City Knights at the weekend with the winner going straight through to the final - and the loser handed a second chance to progress against the winner of the Oldham-Hunslet tie.

Promotion would mean a return to the second tier after a six year absence, with their last appearance in National League 1 coming back in 2004, when they were relegated just a year after winning National League 2.

But 2009 appears to have been a break through year. Eaton has had his troops ticking all season, and the club are one of the most media-savvy clubs in the lower leagues, courtesy of former RFL man, John Huxley.

Helen Carter, the Keighley Cougars General Manager, said: “Having a winning team has clearly encouraged many more people to come to Cougar Park.

"Besides the excellent results posted by the team, they’ve also been producing an attractive brand of football and that too has brought people through the gates in bigger numbers. It’s something that we can build on in this year’s play-off series and in the 2010 season.

"The club is emerging from a very difficult spell in its history and all the hard work that is being put into rebuilding the club, as well as improving our facilities, is beginning to show some dividend for the Cougars.

"Our Community programmes such as ‘Sporting Chance’ and the highly successful Street Academies have also helped improve the public’s perception of the club.

"Now we have a platform from which to build for the future and while we realise that there is still a great deal more to do we’ve made an encouraging start to that challenge."

Keighley's attendances at Cougar Park in 2009 have totalled 13,187, giving a respectable average of 1,014 - a 28% increase on the previous season.

While it is a far cry from the 4,000 average back in 1995, it represents a step in the right direction. Back in those days, Keighley were attributed with introducing music, lively PA announcements, mascots and community work to the sport of rugby league.

Rob Wilkinson, who is now associated with conference side Bramley Buffaloes, says it was thanks to the Cougars that he fell in love with rugby league.

"In the early 90s the Keighley Cougars were the pioneers of a brand new approach to professional sport in the UK. It borrowed much from US sports marketing and wasn’t to everyone’s liking at the time. It ruffled a few feathers but look where we are now! The crowds flocked to Cougar Park not just for the quality rugby on show but for the atmosphere generated by the likes of Mike Smith, Mike O’Neill and the army of enthusiasts who operated behind the scenes. The club represented a blueprint for the future that was subsequently adopted, directly or indirectly, by almost every other professional club in football, rugby union and league despite not taking their rightful place in Super League.

"The subsequent fall from grace can be traced back to this decision but now the club is very much on the up and progressing in the right direction with the outstanding approach to marketing and communication once again coming to the fore. The crowds may not be what they were but if the momentum continues then the people of Keighley will return in their numbers without a doubt.

"Keighley converted me into a fan of rugby league and I copied many of their ideas, especially the brilliant approach to community and educational development led by Mary Calvert and her team, when I was marketing manager of Leigh Centurions in the mid 90s. My experiences and memories of Leigh and its people will always be a great part of my life but it was the Cougars who set the ball rolling for me personally."

Cruelly denied promotion back in 1995, the Cougars are once again not in control of their Super League destiny, with the licensing system now firmly in place. As second division champions on the eve of Super League, they felt they had earned their place in the top flight, only for it to be denied. Instead now, if they have Super League aspirations, they must appear in a Championship Grand Final or win the Northern Rail Cup before being able to apply for inclusion in the game's elite.

The 2012 applications might come too soon for the Cougars, but promotion this year would give them four seasons in the second tier to get things right on and off the field, and maybe prove to people in the game just what they missed when Keighley weren't included for Super League's debut season in 1996.

Whether the days of Cougar Mania can be rekindled even in part remains to be seen. But Keighley don't look likely to shirk the challenge any time soon, and Eaton's men will know that the next two games they play could well have a decisive impact on the future of the West Yorkshire club.