Former rugby league coach and player dies aged 69

Former rugby league coach and player Greg Ashcroft has died aged 69.

Ashcroft, who was born in Blackwood on Christmas Day in 1950, died on Saturday, August 29 from a rare form of cancer.

During his playing days, Ashcroft starred as a winger in the Dewsbury side that won the RFL Championship final in 1973, when he was just 22-years-old.

He scored 14 tries that season, which culminated in a 22-13 win over Leeds in the final, which was played in Bradford.

However, Ashcroft fractured his hand in training a year later, which cut short his playing career.

The injury came a year before the Welsh international rugby league team was reformed in 1975 – meaning he missed out on representing his country in rugby league.

However, he did represent Wales youth at rugby union, athletics and basketball, resulting in him earning the Welsh Youth Sportsman of the Year trophy as a teenager.

After his playing days, Ashcroft returned to Wales and worked in the building trade before setting up Ashcroft’s Building Contractors Ltd.

Despite work commitments, his involvement with rugby league continued, and in 2006 he became the first head coach of the newly-formed Blackwood Bulldogs.

He later went on to have two spells coaching Valley Cougars, who played their home matches in both Nelson and Treharris.

Ashcroft coached the Cougars to the 2008 Welsh Grand Final, where they beat Blackwood 26-12.

Former scrum-half Paul Emmanuelli, who played under Ashcroft at both Blackwood Bulldogs and Valley Cougars, paid tribute and said: “Greg was my first rugby league coach and he really knew his stuff.

“I had some really good times playing for and against his sides.”