Popular rugby player died after falling down flight of stairs at club

A ‘well-regarded’ former rugby player from Trafford died after falling down a flight of stairs at his local rugby club, an inquest has heard.

Philip Lamb, 70, from Sale, had been watching a rugby game at Sale Rugby Club's Corpacq Stadium on Heywood Road on the afternoon of December 18, 2021. An inquest into Philip’s death at South Manchester Coroner’s Court on Thursday (March 31) heard how he had been at the club’s first floor bar for more than four hours drinking with friends and his son, Chris.

Philip’s daughter-in-law Emma Woods arrived at the club at around 6.45pm that evening to pick Phil and Chris up. As they began walking down the stairs to leave the premises, Philip lost his footing and fell down the flight of stairs.

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The inquest heard how dad-of-three Philip fell ‘around four or five steps’ and landed face down on the floor. Son Chris was behind him at the time and witnessed the fall. Philip was found unresponsive and paramedics were called to the scene.

Former landscape gardener Philip had type 2 diabetes, hypertension and a history of gout. However, his daughter-in-law described him as having ‘generally good health for his age’ and had lost two stone in weight during 2021.

In a statement read out by police coroners officer Alison Catlow, Mrs Woods said: “He was the healthiest he had been for some time.” The inquest, led by assistant coroner Adrian Farrow, heard that Philip had booked himself in for a colonoscopy appointment to investigate possible bowel cancer just three days prior to his death.

When paramedics arrived at the scene, members of staff at the rugby club had already performed CPR on Philip and an