Shaun Edwards pays tribute to Maurice Lindsay - "Rugby league owes him so much"

Wigan and Great Britain legend Shaun Edwards has paid tribute to Maurice Lindsay insisting: “The whole of rugby league owes him so much.”

The former RFL chief executive, who helped transform Wigan into one of the sport’s greatest sides in the 1980s, has died aged 81. One of rugby league's most colourful characters, Lindsay was a key driving force in starting Super League in 1996 where he also served as CEO as the game switched to a summer era. But it was at Wigan where he first made his name, joining the second division club as chairman in 1980 and revitalising them into modern greats.

The charismatic Lindsay helped attract brilliant overseas talent such as Brett Kenny, Gene Miles and Dean Bell plus Great Britain stars Ellery Hanley and Martin Offiah. They won the Challenge Cup eight years running between 1988 and 1995 and seven successive league titles in that golden period as well as becoming the first English side to lift the World Club Challenge in 1987. Lindsay left in 1992 to take over at the RFL, then moving to Super League as Rupert Murdoch's before returning to Wigan in 2000 for another seven-year stint.

Former Wigan and Lions stand-off Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history after being an integral part of those brilliant 80s/90s teams. He told the Mirror: “Maurice was a family friend long before I actually signed for Wigan. Him and my dad were good pals. I’ve known Maurice for most of my life really. There was a four-man board with four, fantastic visionary men that took on Wigan and Maurice was the driving force.

“What I remember most is all those victories at Wembley, where he led us out on a number of occasions, and just the competitive edge that Maurice had. But he was also a very