A FUNDRAISING campaign is being mounted for a local rugby league legend who has motor neurone disease.

Phil Stephenson, 45, a former captain of Keighley Cougars, has been diagnosed with the condition.

He holds the record for the most number of appearances for Keighley in the summer-game era.

The long-serving prop, who lives in Cowling, near Keighley, played 343 games for the club in a 15-year spell.

He retired at the age of 34 at the end of the 2006 season, having been part of the successful ‘Cougarmania’ period during the 1990s.

His wife Karen is running the Manchester Half Marathon on October 15 to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association.

She said her husband’s diagnosis had come after a year in which he had been struggling to use his arms, with the problem getting steadily worse over the past few months.

She said: “Being an ex-rugby league player and an active person, this has been tough for him.

“Although he can no longer play rugby he still coaches rugby league to children under 12, including our own son.

“The road ahead is going to be really tough for us all, as this disease progresses to the rest of his body.

“But the MND Association will be there for us every step of the way to ensure he achieves the best quality of life. They can only do that through people’s generous contributions and fundraising.”

Messages of support for ‘Stepho’ and his family have flooded in to the Cougars Facebook site following confirmation of the news.

Former Keighley head coach Gary Moorby, whom Stephenson played under, wrote: “I was made aware of this sad news fairly recently and was shocked and upset to hear it.

“Phil is a top bloke and was, as we know, a great player for the club and our game in general.

“He had an outstanding career and was a coach’s dream.

“You just knew what you would get from Phil, never less than 110 per cent effort and no backward steps.

“Selecting the team was not always a straightforward job, however there was rarely any issue when putting a name against the number eight.

“If fit, that was Stepho’s shirt – and he was hardly ever not fit.

“Phil will no doubt deal with this news as he sees fit “I am sure he will receive great support from his family and friends.

“But also he can rest assured that the RL family in our community will also be there to offer our support.”

Club captain James Feather, who became only the second player after Stephenson to reach 300 appearances in the summer era for Cougars this month, wrote: “Let’s raise some money and support this hero and his family.”

Motor neurone disease is a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system.

People can visit justgiving.com/fundraising/karenstephenson10?utm_id=13 to donate to Karen’s fundraising drive.