Howard Parr has achieved much in his rugby career.

The 37-year-old has played for the Combined Services, for the Barbarians and for Rotherham in the Premiership, as well as in the Help For Heroes match at Twickenham.

But the second row rates helping to keep Otley in National League One this season as “quite high” in his honours list.

Otley, who had won their four previous league matches to massively boost their hopes of staying up, survived last weekend despite losing 35-18 at home to Wharfedale because Sedgley Park were beaten and therefore relegated.

Parr said: “After what happened last season, both on and off the field, we were written off by some people within the club and by people externally.

“In fact, there were even people who wanted us to do a Manchester and drop through the leagues.

“But I have always had a soft spot for Otley and a high regard for them and I wanted to stay.

“We had an influx of players from Leeds Academy who were used to playing at that level but not the hard, physical game that is National League One.

“However, we learnt during the season and, from having played what some people may regard as boring rugby in the past by keeping it in the pack, we had to adapt our style to a more expansive game.

“And that helped us when the weather improved and the grounds became drier, rather than playing against a heavy pack on softer ground that would boss us about.”

Parr added: “We had a contingency plan if we were relegated and a contingency plan if we stayed up, and I was talking to our director of rugby Gary Walker for an hour this week about next season.

“We have had plans in place since February about who to approach depending on what league we were in, and the good thing now is that players are approaching us because we have stayed up.

“I injured my knee against Blaydon so I am going to take a few weeks off from rugby and have a holiday - my wife is a physio so she can help me there but she would kill me if we didn’t take a holiday! - but I have to keep up my exercise as far as my job with the RAF is concerned.”

More good news for Otley concerns their players’ player of the year Stephen Depledge.

The scrum half, who has played for all but 69 minutes of Otley’s season, was accidentally injured at a line-out late in Saturday’s Wharfedale derby and was treated by both Otley’s and Wharfedale’s physios before being taken to hospital.

However, he was released on the middle of Saturday evening, X-rays proving that there were no breaks and is therefore available for Yorkshire’s Bill Beaumont Cup County Championship opener tomorrow against Northumberland at Tynedale.