LONG-SERVING Press Association rugby league correspondent Ian Laybourn has died at the age of 67.

Ian, a well-liked and diligent professional with a passion for the 13-man code,  covered the sport for the vast majority of his working life, initially for the Batley News, then the Huddersfield Examiner, before joining PA as a sub-editor in 1994.

He became PA correspondent two years later – a position he held for more than a quarter of a century until retiring following the Rugby League World Cup last November.

It is estimated he had covered 2,440 matches for PA.

PA sports editor Ashley Broadley said: “Ian was an outstanding reporter, with a deep understanding and love for the sport of rugby league.

“We are all devastated at the news and are thinking of Ian’s family and friends at this sad time.”

He was added to the RFL Roll of Honour last year when Ralph Rimmer, then the RFL Chief Executive, thanked him for covering the sport “with diligence, wisdom and care for almost five decades”.

Jon Dutton, the Chief Executive of RLWC2021, said: “This is so sad. Ian was a thoroughly good human being who cared deeply about the sport.”