\n Kevin Whittle, an ex-Pilkington Recs Swinton Lions player in the 1960s and 70s, has died.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was also well known for running the bars at Saints’ Knowsley Road in the 1980s.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Swinton Lions described Kevin as an “iconic Lion” who gave “the 100% total commitment he gave throughout every eighty minutes and indeed throughout his career.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Originally from the Pilkington Recs amateur club in St Helens, Kevin made his debut for the Lions on March 15, 1969, coming off the bench in a victory against Whitehaven.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kevin Whittle ran the bars at Knowsley Road in the 1980s (Image: Swinton Lions)\n<\/p>\n
\n He soon secured a regular place in the first team and was first reserve for the Lions’ Lancashire Cup Final win over Leigh in 1969.\n<\/p>\n
\n A career highlight came in 1975 when he helped Swinton secure promotion to the top division.\n<\/p>\n
\n Over the course of his career, Kevin made 180 first-team appearances for the Lions, becoming a firm fan favourite in the number 11 shirt.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a statement, Swinton Lions said: “It wasn\u2019t just the 18 tries he scored or the many he prevented, but the 100% total commitment he gave throughout every eighty minutes and indeed throughout his career.\n<\/p>\n
\n “At Swinton Lions we are deeply saddened to announce the passing of iconic Lion, Kevin Whittle.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Thank you for being you, Kevin.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Our thanks go to Steve Moyse for pulling these fine words together.”\n<\/p>\n
\n His final match came in August 1977 during a Lancashire Cup tie at Knowsley Road against his hometown club, Saints.\n<\/p>\n
\n A broken arm in that game ended his playing career, but he remained involved in the sport by moving into coaching with Pilkington Recs, at a time when the red, amber and blacks were one of the strongest amateur teams in the country.\n<\/p>\n
\n In their post, the Lions cited veteran rugby league journalist David Burke, describing Kevin as “the hardest man on the field, and the kindest man off it.\n<\/p>\n
\n The post, which the Lions said had been put together by Steve Moyse, added: “On a personal note, Kevin was part of my growing up for more than 50 years, family, friendship, rugby, and not all in that sequence.\n<\/p>\n
\n “A good man, a treasured friend.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I shall never forget him.\n<\/p>\n
\n “RIP old friend, it has been a true privilege to have shared a part of your life.”\n<\/p>\n
\n There will be a minute\u2019s silence ahead of kick-off today’s Lions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin Whittle, an ex-Pilkington Recs Swinton Lions player in the 1960s and 70s, has died. He was also…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-439985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}