Former Castleford and Great Britain legend Kevin Beardmore passes away

Castleford Tigers have announced the sad passing of legendary player Kevin Beardmore, aged 62.

One-half of the iconic Beardmore Twins alongside brother Bob, Kevin was an uncompromising front-rower, plying his trade in the hooker position.

With his signature taped-up headband, ‘Gripper’ was an all-action style player who always caught the eye and will be fondly remembered as one of Castleford’s greatest number nines.

A proud local player, Kevin joined Cas from a strong Fryston community team in 1977 before making his senior debut against York in January 1980. Over the next twelve years, he would go on to make 247 club appearances, scoring 80 tries in the process.

As part of one of the most famous Castleford teams of all time in 1986, Kevin has etched his name in the club’s history winning the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley, but also in that memorable year he was the Man of the Match in the Yorkshire Cup Final too.

As an outstanding talent Kevin represented Great Britain fourteen times from 1984 through to 1990, he also picked up one cap for England and played for Yorkshire on three occasions. In their infancy, NRL side Canberra Raiders were impressed by what they saw of Beardmore during the 1984 Britain tour and invited the hooker to play during the 1985 season.

Everyone at Serious About Rugby League sends their deepest condolences to the Beardmore family at this sad time.