Welsh rugby legend Geoff Wheel dies aged 73 after battle with Motor Neurone disease
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WELSH rugby legend Geoff Wheel has died aged 73 after a battle with Motor Neurone disease. Wheel was an iconic figure of the 1970s and early 1980s and won 32 caps for his country. In a touching message to one of their great former players, Swansea RFC stated that Wheel passed away in the early hours of Boxing Day.
![[Geoff Wheel of Wales in action back in 1980]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/geoff-wheel-wales-action-overseas-959932717.jpg)
The statement claimed that Wheel's motor neurone disease (MND) had "not prevented him attending matches" until this season. A full statement from Swansea RFC read: "Geoff was a player and man loved and respected by all who knew him. "A fearsome competitor on the field of play, Geoff was a mild mannered, shy and thoughtful person in private,committed to the club he served from 1970 to 1983, twice as captain, as a player and for many years on the All Whites Former Players Association (AWFPA) committee, being at the time of his passing the President of the AWFPA.".
![[The rugby legend passed away after a battle with motor neurone disease]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/00318d1a-df86-457b-addc-1164015de798.jpg?strip=all&w=641)
The statement added: "Geoff’s two seasons as captain of Swansea marked a hugely successful period for the club. In 1979-80 they won the Western Mail Championship, Sunday Telegraph Anglo-Welsh Championship, Daily Mail Anglo-Welsh Championship, Sunday Telegraph Team of the Season and were WRU National Sevens winners.
![[Geoff Wheel (centre) of Swansea during a match against the Barbarians]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/swansea-match-barbarians-circa-1978-959932670.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"In the following season under Geoff’s captaincy Swansea retained the Sunday Telegraph title and were also winners of the Whitbread Merit Table. "Typically, Geoff remained the modest man he always had been and the whole team were the beneficiaries of this approach.".
