‘True sporting hero’ Ben Westwood honoured

The popular forward retired at the end of last season after starring for the Wire since 2002.

And he was honoured with the honorary citizen title at the Town Hall on Monday following unanimous support from councillors, after a proposal by former deputy leader Cllr Mike Hannon, which was seconded by Cllr Pauline Nelson.

Cllr Hannon hailed Westwood’s bravery and remarkable achievements in a career boasting ‘staggering’ statistics.

He said: “You have given 110 per cent on each occasion, you really have.”

Cllr Nelson praised his efforts of the field, including his work in the community and, specifically, with the sick and elderly.

Cllr Ian Marks said Westwood has done ‘incredible work’ for the town and the game.

Ben Westwood

Westwood thanked members for their words with his family watching on in the chamber.

He said: “First of all, thank you for the lovely comments.

“This is a great honour, it’s probably the greatest honour I’ve achieved in my career.

“I’ve received a lot of accolades and a lot of honours through playing rugby and being a half decent rugby player.

“There have been some times where I thought nothing gets much better than playing for your country on the biggest stages against some of the best in the world.

“But all them pats on the back and all them accolades came through being a good rugby player, I think today, listening to some of your comments, this is for being myself.

“It’s really humbling and really nice that you get recognised for some of the stuff that you do away or off the field.

“I don’t do the stuff off the field for stuff like this, I do it because I care and because I’m a good person and I believe that good things happen to good people and that’s the way that I am.”

Ahead of the meeting, Mayor of Warrington Cllr Wendy Johnson described Westwood as one of Warrington’s true sporting heroes and a fantastic ambassador for the borough.