Family pays tribute to St Helens legend Brian Leyland

Brian was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer in 2019, and died after suffering a pulmonary embolism on Wednesday, February 2, aged 67.

With a passion for the history and heritage of St Helens, the former West Park pupil was well known for the various community projects he was involved in.

Brian with the publication of his book

Frustrated at the lack of a book shop in the town centre, Brian was described as the "inspiration and driving force" in creating St Helens Book Stop - leading a crowdfunding campaign that saw the community raise £45,000 to back the independent business.

He was also involved in Hometown Plus; a project designed to regenerate poorer areas and improve life for communities across the North West.

And to ensure he eulogised his love for his hometown, he spent much of his retirement writing his own book 'St Helens: The Great and the Good (And a Few of the Not so Good)' - with all proceeds going towards the Steve Prescott Foundation.

Concluding that the town has "long punched above its weight", Brian researched 100 people with links to St Helens who have made their mark on a local, national, and in some cases, international stage.

Brian was well known for his various community projects in St Helens

Paying tribute to Brian, his wife Linsey said: "Brian was a real family man with his children and grandchildren meaning the world to him.

"He had a lot of interests and a big love of St Helens Rugby League - and he was generally passionate about promoting St Helens and doing his best for the town.

"He got involved in a lot of initiatives to try and regenerate St Helens and surrounding areas, and his main focus was to keep these towns alive and maintain this community spirit.

"We have had some amazing tributes from people and it just shows how many lives he has touched throughout the years."

Another one of Brian's passions was craft beer

Brian's brother John also added a tribute, stating: 

"Brian always had a fierce loyalty to St Helens as demonstrated by his book and his tireless work to get the community bookshop off the ground.

"He was interested in things which he thought would make a difference to ordinary people and their communities, and much of his retirement was spent involved in these projects bringing his experience in business and willingness to learn about new issues wherever relevant.

"I will greatly miss his common sense, his sense of decency and the confidence he was able to confer with an innate sense of how best to deal with any given situation.

"As I keep hearing from others paying tributes, he was, and always has been, one of the good guys." 

Brian (middle) with St Helens Book Stop manager Laura Goodchild, Steven Davies, Nigel Wimpenny and representatives from contractors HMS Works pictured in June last year

A further statement from St Helens Book Stop read: “Brian was delighted that the [BookStop] eventually opened and that it has been a great success in its first few months.

“The Trustees and staff now have the responsibility to honour Brian’s memory by achieving his goal of creating a ‘go to’ destination in St Helens for everyone with an interest in books (and indeed some who have not).

“We extend our deepest sympathy to Brian’s wife Linsey, children Vicci, Mark and Joe, and other members of the family.”