MUCH-RESPECTED Rugby League reporter Ian Laybourn has died at the age of 67.
He covered the sport for the majority of his career, first at the Batley News in his home town, then the Huddersfield Examiner and then the Press Association news agency, which he joined as a sports sub-editor in 1994 before becoming Rugby League correspondent two years later.
Laybourn, who lived in Holmfirth, near Huddersfield, retired after last year’s World Cup, having remained in journalism for a further year in order to cover the tournament after it was postponed in 2021.
He was added to the RFL Roll of Honour in October, when then-RFL chief executive Ralph Rimmer thanked him for covering the sport “with diligence, wisdom and care for almost five decades”.
RLWC2021 chief executive Jon Dutton said: “This is so sad. Ian was a thoroughly good human being who cared deeply about the sport.”
PA sports editor Ashley Broadley said: “Ian was an outstanding reporter, with a deep understanding and love for the sport of Rugby League.
“We are all devastated at the news and are thinking of Ian’s family and friends at this sad time.”
Huddersfield Giants, whom he covered while at the Examiner, last month made him a life member for his contribution to Rugby League media.
Club managing director Richard Thewlis said: “It was only last week that we shared Ian’s company and the news has come as a terrible shock to us all.
“Ian was a Rugby League man through and through, hugely respected in all spheres of the game, and had rightly been recognised for his contribution to the sport over many years by the RFL and most recently ourselves.
“We send our deepest sympathies to his wife Susan and all his family and friends.”
