RONNIE WATTS, who died on Sunday 8 March at the age of 77, was a scrum-half who spent four years with his local club Hunslet before moving to Batley, for whom he played two games before sustaining a career-ending head injury.

Watts put pen to paper with Hunslet on 31 May 1961 for a fee of £250 (five times the Parksiders’ usual `going rate’ for youngsters) having impressed with Hunslet Juniors.

He made his first-team debut against Halifax at Thrum Hall on 4 April 1962 and went on to make 40 appearances, scoring four tries.

He moved to Mount Pleasant on 17 August 1965 for a fee of £650.00 (reduced to £400), making his debut in a home game against Whitehaven a few days later.

His funeral will be held at Rawdon Crematorium, Leeds Road, Leeds, LS19 6JP on Friday (20 March) at 11.00am. Proceeds from a collection will be passed on to the Gary Chappelow Fund.

Ronnie Watts’ life will be celebrated afterwards at East End Park Working Men’s Club, Vinery View, Leeds LS9 9LX.