A Chester rugby union player has been nominated for his work as a rugby volunteer and his dedication to the game.

Steve Lloyd of Christleton RUFC has been put forward in the Mitsubishi Motors Volunteer of the Year Awards.

The awards are part of a volunteer recognition programme which provides grassroots rugby clubs and the rugby world with opportunities to recognise and reward the volunteers who are said to make up ‘such an integral part of the game’.

Steve said: “I am chuffed to be nominated for Volunteer of the Year, Christleton has been a great club to play for.

“After hanging up my boots last season I wanted to stay involved as rugby is a brilliant game that gets under your skin.

“I also have to pay credit to the regional RFU development team, namely Dave Westhead and Simon Verbickas, who have both helped us with training sessions, recruitment ideas and ongoing advice.”

The club’s committee put Steve’s name forward ‘for a variety of reasons’ which include paying for a scrum machine and renovating it last summer.

He also funded himself to attend an RFU coaching course and purchased equipment for use in training sessions.

In addition, after being appointed the clubs training co-ordinator, he personally called over 100 players listed on the club’s old database to try and draw in more players as the club experienced a dip in numbers at the start of the season.

This is not all as outside of the club Steve has been working on a rugby project promoting a rugby festival.

He is now one of a select group of rugby volunteers in the area who are invited to attend the Cheshire President’s Volunteer Award event to be held at Bowden Rugby Club in Greater Manchester on April 24.

At this event one volunteer will be announced as a volunteer of the year finalist earning them a place at the Mitsubishi awards night at the famous Twickenham stadium in London on Friday, September 7.

Three overall winners will be announced on that evening and each will receive a Mitsubishi car for a year as a thank you for their continued support of the game.

Club chairman Lloyd Stradling said: “Steve, aka Lloydie, deserves this accolade for his relentless efforts to keep training sessions interesting and encouraging player involvement not to mention putting his hand in his own pocket.

“Christleton RUFC is a friendly club and is always looking for new players. So anyone who may be interested in joining a truly social rugby club please get in touch by email on christleton.rugby@gmail.com.

“Old players looking to dust off their boots or anyone that wants to give this great sport a try for the first time join us at training, currently Thursday nights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm at Christleton High School 3G until the end of April.

“However we are moving to a far more convenient time of 7pm at Chester Rugby Club’s new 3G pitch for pre-season training in the summer.”

Mr Stradling continued; “We have an exciting 2018/19 season ahead of us as we join a new league and will be one of the first teams to benefit from the state-of-the-art 1st team pitch at Chester.”

Christleton RUFC was initially created 25 years ago to provide a social outlet for ageing players. The 1st team has the enviable record of achieving six promotions in the last 10 years.