I could not agree more.

Everything he stated was absolutely spot on, and I recall all the transformation well when wearing the Royal Blue of Leigh Juniors on Marshall St to wearing the red and black as an under 14 thinking 'what the hell is going on ?'

Leigh East was a fabulous club, and I still doubt that any under 16 team was as good as ours. I still remember eating our half time orange getting an absolute rollocking off Alan Rowley to beat Blackbrook in front of around 1000 speccies. Happy, Happy days.

then on to the acadamy (which was a shambles at first) to play and beat some right monsters. Almost Beating Hull in the quarter final of the challenge cup almost would have been the icing on the cake !! Some great young players and to be honest, some better players who never played professionally.

It was great to see Keith in good health and an absolute pleasure to know and play for him.

Keith moved a few doors down from us when I was 7 years old, he talked mine and my cousins parents into him taking us down to Leigh Juniors which was no mean feat as our family, my uncles in particular are staunch miners men (Rod "Podge" Lewis & Rod Raines), I have some great memories of my time there and it's mainly all down to Keith doing that 28 years ago, he used to treat us as his sons, looking out for us, taking us training and to matches. When Keith asked me to help him on the Leigh east committee 8 years ago I jumped at the chance. KL is the sort of person you want to be around, very knowledgeable, wise and has an ability to get things done!
A few years ago a few of us at the club decided to run the manchester 10k, we decided to raise money for leukemia research as at the time Keith was poorly and receiving treatment, we informed Keith about the run and declared the charity we were running for, to which he replied I'll do it with you! At the time he wasn't well and all our attempts to talk him out of it failed, Keith decided he would walk the course and I said I would walk with him, when the starters gun went off he was faster than Linford Christie and I spent the next 9k trying to catch up!we all completed the run and it was a great feeling and a very proud day.

Keith is a great bloke and someone I speak to regular about life's challenges and hurdles. Even 2 years on when he walks in Leigh East you can see the respect the players and parents have for him from 8year olds right through to open age, he is a special bloke for what he has done for this town and deserves more recognition than he gets but it isn't about that for him. Great bloke.

Wes

Thing with keith is hes passionate about rugby in general and if hes doing anything he goes into it fully committed, look at the time east was looking at losing the club and he got involved in their fight with the council, I dont think they'd have won if he wasn't driving the fight, same when he helped Dale Allred organise the boxing night for Micky Reynolds it was a massive success, some people dont like it with keith because he says things people dont want to hear but at least he says it to their faces and not behind their back and its a shame hes not involved at east in some sort of capacity because he would definitely help what the new open age coaches are trying to do in getting east back with up with the elite

It was an honour and a pleasure having you in 'the studio' (dont tell them what it is really like) Keith Dave has said it was his best Interview to date and you made it so, gotta get the two Pendlebury brothers in there Keith smooth the path for us ehh.

Twas nice that you gave Kev Anderton a mention Keith. His enthusiasm as a nine year old bounced off the kids.

I never thought I would like Rugby. Always preferred golf and cricket, but with people like Kev and Lloyd Pugsley (bless his soul), you could not help but prioritise and put 100% in.

I always remember Lloyd saying to me that I was a better hooker than Paul Rowley as he badly broke his ankle. Reason ? Being 6"3, I had longer legs and won more against the head !! PMSL