Keighley have lost one of their amateur rugby league sons with the passing of Alan Winterbottom at the the age of 78.

Alan was a member of the original Worth Village ARLF team and then joined the newly-formed NSF club which had been set up by Stuart Kennedy, Alan Bancroft and Derek Constantine and coached by Vinny Jackson, writes David Ingham.

Alan started out as a winger with blistering pace but eventually moved up into the forwards.

He was an outstanding athlete and was almost invincible as a sprinter in the many local works competitions of the day, until the much younger former England 200 yards schools champion Mel Smith appeared on the scene.

When the NSF team changed its name and formed the new Worth Village ARLFC, Alan stayed on as a player and later served the club as secretary and committee member.

Alan was certainly one of the stars of the Keighley and district amateur rugby league scene of the ’50s and ’60s and contributed a great deal to the game.”