Former Haven star Harry Hughes, who also played for Barrow in the 1967 Challenge Cup final against Featherstone, has died aged 79.

A top-class centre, Hughes had the distinction of playing for all three Cumbria clubs in a career spanning more than 11 years.

A popular guy in the local rugby league scene, he had several trial games for Barrow at the start of his career, who hesitated over whether to sign him.

As a result, Hughes was snapped up by Whitehaven, where he spent five seasons before moving to arch-rivals Workington Town, then coming back to his roots and finally pulling on a Barrow jersey.

Half-back Alf Hadley, who featured alongside him at Whitehaven, paid tribute.

He said: “Harry was a brilliant centre with a brilliant side-step.

“The crowd at Whitehaven loved him. He was very well liked up in the west of Cumbria. I don’t know what Barrow were playing at, they missed out on a very good player.”

He added: “We once played a star-studded Wakefield team at Whitehaven in the second round of the Challenge Cup. There were more than 18,000, which Wakefield won.

“We had a reunion three years ago for that occasion and Harry and myself attended.

“He was also very good at football, a very nice bloke and friend. And when he moved to Workington it didn’t go down well, as the rivalry between the two clubs is massive.”

Born in Barrow in 1937, Hughes played locally for Corporation Combine (now under the banner of Hindpool) before taking the professional ticket with Haven, where he broke into the first team soon after his arrival in 1958. He stayed until 1963.

He played more than 179 times for the club, scoring 57 tries and kicked four goals.

Haven were having a good spell, but financial problems arose in the early 1960s and Town swooped for his signature.

After three seasons, the travelling took its toll and he requested a move to Barrow. He came for a £2,000 fee and made his debut at Wigan in 1965 and his last game was at home to Bradford in 1969.

In 1967 they went to Wembley, where they were beaten 17-12 by Featherstone. He went on to make 135 appearances for his hometown club, scoring 26 tries and kicking one goal before injury forced him into retirement.