Des Drummond (1958-2022) *63

was an England and Great Britain international rugby league footballer who played on the wing in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Drummond won 24 Great Britain caps, the first against New Zealand in 1980, the last against France in 1988. He signed for Leigh almost by accident, having travelled to watch his older brother Alva Drummond play for the reserve team. Leigh found themselves a player short due to injury, and he was persuaded to play. He made such an impact that he was offered a professional contract within the week. He quickly became a star player at the Lancashire club, particularly after a series of televised appearances during the run to Leigh's 4-12 defeat by Castleford in the 1976 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final at Hilton Park, Leigh on Tuesday 14 December 1976.

The arrival of Alex Murphy as coach in 1980 marked an upturn in fortunes for the club. Drummond played right wing in Leigh's 8–3 victory over Widnes in the 1981 Lancashire Cup Final at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 26 September 1981. Then, as the weather-disrupted season reached its end, Leigh needed only to defeat already-relegated Whitehaven to win their first league title since 1907. Despite trailing at half-time, he scored a try in a second half revival which made the unfashionable Lancashire club the National Champions, with 26-tries he was the top-try scorer in the Championship during the 1981–82 season. Within three years, however, Leigh found themselves in a more familiar relegation battle, and were severely hampered when he badly broke an ankle in an away fixture against Barrow. Although he recovered to return to the Great Britain team, he lost a little of his devastating speed. Even so, he recovered enough to score the BBC TV 'Try of the season' as a losing semi-finalist for Leigh against Leeds in the 1985 John Player Special Trophy semi-final. He left Leigh to join Warrington in 1987. He scored 141 tries in his 280 appearances for Leigh.