THOUSANDS gathered inside and outside of St Mary’s Lowe House Church for the funeral of Steve Prescott this morning.

More than 1,200 were present at the church and an estimated crowd of more than 1,000 stood on North Road to listen to the service via a public address system.

The crowds outside burst into applause as the coffin of the man who defied cancer for seven years arrived at the church before an immensely poignant mass followed.

Both Steve’s sons, 11-year-old Taylor and Koby, aged seven, took their places in church beside their mother, Linzi.

At one stage Taylor, showing the courage that came to define his father, rose to deliver an eulogy.

He said: “I want to say a few words about how proud I am of what may dad achieved. I have a lot of great memories of the time we had together – and I will remember them forever.

“When I was five and Dad became ill I made him a promise that I would always do my best and follow my dream of becoming a sportsman.

“I hope I can make him as proud of me as I am of him.

“Me and Koby will miss him but we will love him forever.”

Mike Denning, the chair of the Steve Prescott Foundation, then spoke, saying thousands had turned up to remember a “great, great person and a great man”.

He said there were three sides of Steve’s character – the son, the dad and the husband; Prekky the rugby league player; and Stephen Prescott MBE – the prolific fundraiser.

And for the first time, as Mike spoke on behalf of the family and the Steve Prescott Foundation, it was revealed publicly that Steve underwent a pioneering bowel transplant in the weeks before he died.

Surgeons at Churchhill Hospital in Oxford had removed 90 per cent of the pseudomyxoma peritonei tumours that were in his abdomen, however, several weeks later he died as a result of graft versus host disease, a complication that sometimes follows transplants.

Mike said: “The one in a million disease he had fought so hard for so long had all but gone.

“Steve always said to us that pseudomyxoma peritonei would never beat him and it didn’t. In the end it was complications that took Steve away from us.”

Mike stressed the immense gratitude that the family have for the team in Oxford, which was led by Mr Anil Vaidya, and that the lessons learned from the transplant would help others in the future.

Earlier, after setting off from Steve's home in Eccleston at about 10.20am, the cortege drove by Knowsley Road, where Saints' former ground once stood.

It then went by De La Salle, Steve's former school, where pupils formed a guard of honour and applauded.

At the church, hundreds had gathered an hour before the service and extra pews had been set out to increase capacity at the church to 1,200.

Many chose to simply stand outside to wait for the cortege and then listen to the service.

Steve's coffin was carried into church by his brother Neil and friends Paul Barrow, Mike Ford, Paul Wright, Peter Orford and Nicky Reid.

Flowers accompanying the coffin included decorations shaped as a rugby ball and a number one, to mark the position he played.

On the altar were two giant photographs, one of Steve receiving his MBE and the other, the iconic rugby league image of him - arms aloft in the red and white of Saints at Wembley in 1996 - celebrating one of his two tries that day.

Many of the players who were alongside Steve that famous day were present, including the likes of Keiron Cunningham, Chris Joynt, Alan Hunte, Dean Busby, Danny Arnold and Bobbie Goulding.

In fact, at every turn there were faces from the sport's past and present. An England bus arrived prior to the service carrying coach Steve McNamara, and players including skipper Kevin Sinfield, and the Burgess brothers.

Some of their team-mates, including Sam Tomkins, stood with the crowds outside.

A Saints contingent was headed by chairman Eamonn McManus, chief executive Mike Rush, skipper Paul Wellens and Jon Wilkin.

Lee Radford and Shaun Briscoe were among a considerable contingent who travelled from Humberside.

Prayers were delivered by Tommy Martyn, Steve Hall, Bernard Dwyer, McNamara - who played with Prescott at Wakefield - and Andrew Mikhail, boss of Solar King and long time friend.

And there were many, many more famous faces from the game present.

George Riley, of BBC Radio Five Live and an ambassador of the SPF, gave a reading. Young tenor Tom Loughlin, the son of ex-Saints centre Paul, led singing of hymns throughout the service.

Also there were many of the people who had spilled blood, sweat and tears with Steve on countless charity challenges.

Some wore black, others proudly showed shirts and colours of the Foundation.

Steve's coffin was carried from church by his secretary's foundation Martin Blondel, Mike Denning, Steve White, and ex-players Paul Sculthorpe, Maea David and Shaun Briscoe.

In the background the church bells chimed to O' When the Saints Go Marching In and the family headed to St Helens Crematorium for a private service.