ROUGHYEDS are only too pleased to give as much support as they can to the family of the late Ben Heaton, who has died at the age of 33 after starting and finishing his pro career in Rugby League as a proud Roughyed.
His last game, back in amateur rugby, was with Higginshaw ARLFC and when Higgy’s social media manager Dan Garforth got in touch with us to tell us all about their GoFundMe initiative to raise funds for Ben’s family to meet funeral costs etc, we were only too pleased to help out.
Visit this Go Fund Me page to find out all you need to know about Higgy’s fund-raiser and to discover if there’s anything YOU can do to help his family and friends give him the best possible send-off and one he so richly deserves.
His stature in Rugby League was evident this week when news of his passing was featured on p2 of Monday’s League Express with picture and appropriate headline plus seven or eight pars in which the journalist concerned, Stephen Ibbetson, paid tribute to Ben’s 13-year professional career with Oldham, Halifax, Hunslet and then, at the end, Oldham again.
He was best known popularly as a Halifax utility back who could play equally well at full-back, centre or wing. He was tough, reliable, honest and determined and after seven years in the first team at The Shay, he was regarded as part of the furniture., having helped to get Fax to the Super 8s Qualifiers on three separate occasions.
After two seasons at Hunslet he was back to where it all began and although it wasn’t long before he said farewell to the pro game it was typical of him that he should want the opportunity to bow out on his ‘home’ ground and in front of fans who had regarded him as “one of our own”.
