KEITH WILLIAMS was a versatile back who played for Halifax, Huddersfield and Bradford Northern before moving from the pitch to the pulpit via various business operational roles.
Originally a draughtsman, then an IT, operations and human resources specialist, he went on to become an Anglican clergyman, serving as curate of Holbeck and rector of Swillington (both in Leeds), before becoming the vicar of Batley.
A regular churchgoer since growing up in Castleford, he had trained at theological college in Nottingham in the early 1980s.