A RUGBY club has paid tribute to one of its players following his death this week.

Keighley RUFC issued a statement paying tribute to Sam Walker.

In it, the club said its thoughts were with his friends and family.

The statement said: “Sam came up through the junior ranks at Keighley RUFC and progressed to the 1st team between 2007 and 2017; playing on the wing, he scored 43 tries in 127 appearances winning the Gary Farr Trophy with 18 tries in 2007.

“He played in the 2012 promotion game at Alnwick, where he sustained a broken leg; many will remember that Sam managed to party the night away in K2 on crutches.

“Sam then stepped up to National League rugby with Huddersfield, where he had a successful spell with them.

“He later took some time away from rugby to return in 2021 to take up the captaincy of our thirds, where he inspired many players.”

Chairman Graeme Sheffield said Sam got his chance in the first team when he was around the age of 19/20 and “ran like the wind”.

He said: “Sam developed in the team quickly and soon became an integral part and was always one of the first names on the team sheet, scoring plenty of tries to boot.”

Mr Sheffield said that outside of rugby “Sam was an outstanding plumber/gas fitter who did work for several years for all my family”.

He added: “He was a conscientious operator and always put himself out to get the job done.”

Allan Hobson-Sheriff, head coach of the thirds, added: “When Sam returned to Keighley to play rugby a couple of seasons ago, he asked me if it would be ok to play for the thirds.

"Even though his skill set made him more than capable of playing for teams that were better than ours, he wanted to play for the thirds.

"He was humble with the team, as a player and always led by example. This earned Sam the captaincy of the thirds for the season.

“With his experience and buoyancy, he always led the rest of the lads on the field and off. He would help the players improve their skills and make it enjoyable for us all.

“Sam will be sadly missed by all of his brothers in arms of the third team. RIP, Sam.”

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