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Rugby League

Wigan legend Bell quits

24/01/2007

Long-serving Wigan Warriors coach, youth development executive and former player Dean Bell has announced that he is to end his association with the club after 15 years.

The former New Zealand rugby league international played for Warriors for eight seasons starting in 1986 and returned to the north-west after a spell as coach and youth development officer at Leeds in the late 1990s.

He has been working for Wigan as a rugby executive since the turn of the century and has finally called it quits more than 20 years after he first joined the club.

"I have spent 15 years at Wigan and it has been a fantastic period in my life," Bell said.

"My time as a player was something special and I will treasure those memories forever. It has also been a great joy to continue my association with Wigan following my playing career and working with the club's young talent has been a different but most satisfying experience."

Bell added that he is considering a move back to his home country with his family, and Wigan chairman Maurice Lindsey was the first to wish him well.

"Dean has been one of the most important signings the club has ever made," he said.

"He was our captain in the halcyon days and his influence has carried on after his retirement through our junior development scheme where he is so admired by the young players and their families.

"Dean is famous for his honesty and integrity which makes him so trusted by the Wigan community."

Bell played 253 times for the JJB Stadium club in the late 1980s and early 1990s and also captained his hometown Auckland Warriors as well as the New Zealand Kiwis.

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