RICHARD Peel, the 'Gentle Giant' of Bankfoot, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday morning - just hours after watching his beloved club play for the last time.

He was at Wickets Close to see Bankfoot strengthen their Division One promotion push with a 93-run win over Hanging Heaton.

Club chairman Greg Colehan said: "It was devastating news when I learned of his death. Richard was a giant in every sense of the word for Bankfoot.

"He was at the ground on Saturday chatting away and then hours later we were told he had died. Richard was loved by all who knew him.

"He never had a bad word for anybody and I have never heard anybody say a bad word about him. I cannot put into words just what Richard meant to Bankfoot.

"He has done every possible role for this club and at times kept it afloat with his own money. To say he will be missed is an understatement. Richard Peel was Bankfoot and will never be forgotten."

He is the only person ever to have won the league's two top accolades, The Unsung Hero (2011) and the Sir Leonard Hutton Trophy in 2017.

Both were deserved acknowledgements of his dedication to his club and the league. Bankfoot was a huge piece of his life. It was his club and he would do anything for it.

Richard, 62, lived a six hit from his club, which was an advantage for such a tireless worker who has been a big hit in every sense of the word in an association which spans 60 years.

He has been an outstanding player, captain, official, scorer, teas person and decorator at his club, as well as chairman, secretary treasurer and league representative.

He loved his club and everybody who played for them has always had the very greatest respect and affection for him.

Quite simply, his club may not have survived without his hard work and at times his readiness to pay for things from his own pocket so not to put a strain on the coffers. This has been done without ever seeking praise or recompense.

Even when he suffered from ill health, he battled on never wavering in devotion to his duties. He was a true giant of his club. A man with a kind heart and someone who deserved to have his name engraved alongside so many great servants of our league on its top accolades.

As a boy he would go to matches with his father Russell who was Bankfoot's scorer and helped out as tin boy before a job swap in 1972 saw him become scorer aged 11 and dad aged 37 take over as the oldest tin boy in the league.

Richard's own son Dylan also served as club scorer which enabled dad to get on with the job of making teas, one of the many tasks he is happy to take on, like being woken up at 4am to go to club when the burglar alarm went off.

As a player Richard scored 7,517 first team runs and was a big-hitter capable of tearing into any attack and turning a game. He hit 37 fifties and had a highest score of 89 in 1998. His beat season was 1988 when he scored 594 runs.

He twice won the league’s fastest 50 trophy. in 1992 when he played just two first team games he hammered 50 in 20 minutes. In 1997 he won it again with 50 from just 16 balls.

Although he never had the good fortune to play in a Division One championship winning team or a Priestley Cup winning team he did feature in successful sides.

In 1990 he was in a promotion-winning team alongside the former England and Kent spin bowler Derek Underwood, and in 1991 he featured alongside a promising 15-year old who went on to captain Yorkshire, and play for England, Anthony McGrath.

In 1992 he was captain of a Priestley Shield winning team but even in his playing days he was already a key worker for his club.

He also served the league management committee as a records secretary, but it his contribution to his club, one of the founder members of the Bradford League from 1903, that made him so special.

He was the club’s league representative for more than 20 years and held a number of key positions at his club including secretary, treasurer and chairman. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his club. He did at times almost single handedly steer his club away from choppy waters.

It is a mark of the respect in which Richard was held that his club honoured his service with a Benefit match which saw Yorkshire and England bowler Ryan Sidebottom join a star-studded line-up of former Bradford League players who wanted to say a big thank you to the man they owed so much to.

When he won the league’s Unsung Hero award in 2011 he said:” I don’t do things to win awards like this and I could name some people at my club who are equally worthy.”

And tellingly he added: “It is my club and if Bankfoot Cricket Club went out of existence I don’t know what I would do with myself."

The question now is how do Bankfoot carry on without Richard? His are big shoes to fill and at this incredibly sad time the thoughts of the league community are with Richard's sons Dylan and Brandon, his elderly mother and family, plus all at Bankfoot.

Richard's funeral service is set to take place at Huddersfield Crematorium on Monday, September 9 (2pm) with a celebration of his life following at Bankfoot Cricket Club.