A FORMER Great Britain rugby league player has lost his battle against cancer.
Norman Field, who used to live in Meltham, once played for his country at Wembley Stadium.
He was a Batley club regular and also played for Featherstone and Lockwood.
He was selected to play for Great Britain and played at Wembley in the first match against Australia in 1963.
Mr Field sadly lost his battle against cancer on January 13, aged 71.
His cousin-in-law, Wright Eastwood, who lives in Marsden, said: “Rugby was his life.
“When he was in the Duke of Wellington Regiment in the Army he played rugby and he never lost a match.
“Even though he achieved a lot he never used to talk about it.”
Mr Field was selected to play for Yorkshire, which led to his international call-up.
The cap made him the third Batley player to play at international level.
The father-of-three also ran a motorcycle business on Bradford Road throughout his rugby days.
He retired from the sport in March, 1964, saying he felt he had no alternative because of the amount of time he had to give to his business.
Weeks before he retired Huddersfield made an attempt to sign him, but Batley put his transfer fee at £6,000 and the two clubs could not reach an agreement.
Mr Field moved to Torquay with his wife, Susan, more than 25years ago.
They opened a hotel which they ran until 18 months ago, when they converted it into flats.
The couple have three sons, Christopher, Daryl and Jonathan, who also plays rugby.
Mr Field’s funeral will take place in Torquay next Wednesday.
