Months of uncertainty ended yesterday when both clubs were granted a Super League licence for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons, despite concerns over the state of their ground facilities, which are described in the RFL's summary of their applications as "limited and old fashioned".

The RFL were today set to confirm which grade of licence – A, B or C – the 14 successful clubs have been granted and the sport's chief executive Nigel Wood said all 19 applicants will be receiving a "detailed response" to their bid.

Wood told the YEP: "The ground criteria is a quarter of the things we looked at.

"Clearly there are deficiencies in those grounds, but we will be taking that up with the clubs over the course of the next week or so, so they can be in no doubt what they need to achieve before the next licensing round comes around."

Poor recent performances on the field and problems with facilities at the Jungle had raised doubts over Tigers' continued place in Super League, but chief executive Richard Wright was delighted to be given the green light.

"The licence is fabulous news for the club and the fans and it's just what we have been waiting to hear," said Wright.

"The fans are the true strength of the Tigers and their support over the last few years is undoubtedly the primary reason we have been successful."

Wright added: "I would like to thank everyone at the club who has helped to make this happen and they can rightly celebrate our achievement and feel proud of their efforts.

"The last few years have been tough ones for everyone, but there are much brighter times ahead for the Tigers and we can now move ahead with confidence to bring our very ambitious plans to fruition.

"Our vision is very clear – a top class team performing in a state of the art stadium – and we have taken a huge step forward.