A lifelong fan of Keighley Cougars is helping the Royal Navy play rugby league.

Chief Petty Officer Keith Humpleby, 43, based in the naval careers office at Portsmouth, has the job of promoting rugby league in the Senior Service and uses his contacts throughout the service to find players for the squad.

He also makes prospective recruits aware that the navy offers the chance to play the sport.

Born in Halifax, Keith became a Cougars fan when he moved to the town with his parents in the mid-sixties. His father was a policeman who patrolled the Lawkholme Lane ground on match days and would take Keith along.

Keith attended Riddlesden Juniors and Swire Smith School before his family moved to Pudsey

Watching the club in those days was not rewarding in terms of trophies but Keith has fond memories of many matches and recalls seeing great players such as Bev Risman and Mal Reilly. Although the family moved when his father was transferred, Keith remained a Keighley supporter, although he rarely got to see the team.

Having joined the navy since 1975, Keith trained as a marine engineer and served on HMS Hermes, Matapan, Intrepid and Fearless, and was onboard Intrepid workign with the Royalk Marines during the Falklands conflict.

When not as sea he served as an instructor at the Royal Navy Firefighting school in Portsmouth and is now a Chief Petty officer with the Directorate of Naval Recruiting.

His work with the navy means he is only able to visit the area at Christmas or during the summer and last saw Cougars play three years ago.

The Royal Navy started playing rugby league four years ago after a group of players tried to enter a 9-a-side Rugby League competition organised by the Army. They were told that, due to regulations, they could not enter a team under the name of the Royal Navy.

The players persevered and, with the support of their commanding officer, Admiral John Chadwick, rugby league arrived in the navy. Keith said the team owed a great debt to the man who became their inaugural president. "If it wasn't for him we wouldn't be here today," he said

The faith shown by Chadwick has been more than justified as 2001 saw the Royal Navy team achieve its biggest success so far with victory over Hull Dockers of the National Conference League to reach the second round of the Challenge Cup.

They then pushed Eccles all the way holding them level at full time and after 20 minutes of extra time, before succumbing to a drop goal in sudden death overtime.

The Rugby Football League assists development of the sport in the Armed Forces by allowing teams to enter the Challenge Cup at a later stage. However, finance comes solely from within the service.

The team use the Combined Services ground at Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, a facility that puts many Super League grounds to shame.

Although at present they take part in various cup competitions, Keith's dream is to see the navy team enter a regular league. But, service commitments, especially at times of international tension, make it difficult to form a regular squad.

"The problem is getting the guys together and keeping them together, said Keith.

There is no lack of enthusiasm in the service for rugby league. Both 9-a-side and 13-a-side tournaments are held with the most recent attracting more than 100 players.

Keith said the rugby league team had raised the profile of the service.

"We have taken the Royal Navy to places where they wouldn't normally appear," Keith said.