Ricky Bibey (22 September 1981 – 16 July 2022) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played as a or . He made his professional debut in 2001 for

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

, and went on to play for

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

, St Helens,

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

and

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

before being forced to retire in 2012 due to injury. He also represented England A, making three appearances for the team in 2002.

Background

Bibey was born in

Leigh, Greater Manchester Leigh is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, on low-lying land northwest of Chat Moss. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, Leigh was originally the cen ...

, England. He played junior

Leigh East Leigh East ARLFC is an amateur rugby league team from Leigh, a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. They play in the National Conference League The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone ...

, and in 1999, he was selected in the Young Lions squad that played a Test series against Australia Schoolboys.

Playing career

Bibey made his professional debut for

in May 2001 against

. However, he was then sent off in his second appearance for the club in a 30–31 defeat against

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

. Following the sacking of Wigan coach

Frank Endacott Frank Morris Endacott , also known by the nickname of "Happy Frank", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and coach. Background His son, Shane, also played rugby league. Playing career Endacott played for Addington and ...

, he struggled to regain his place in the team, and made just four appearances during the 2001 season. In 2002, Bibey featured more regularly in the first team, playing 26 games for Wigan during the season, including a substitute appearance in the 21–12 win against St Helens in the 2002 Challenge Cup final. Shortly after the cup final, Bibey was involved in a car crash, but was not seriously injured. At the end of the season, he was selected in the England A squad which toured the Southern Hemisphere, and played in matches against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. In July 2003, Bibey joined his hometown club

on a one-month loan, which was later extended until the end of the season. Bibey is one of the few players to win a Challenge Cup as both a Wigan Warriors and a St. Helens player as part of Wigan Warriors' 2002 Challenge Cup-winning squad and then in St Helens' 2004 squad. Bibey was also a member of the Leigh Centurions side that won the Northern Rail Cup in 2006 but was injured when the Leigh Centurions won the same competition again in 2011. He was forced to retire in May 2012 as a result of an

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

injury. After hanging up his boots, Bibey coached junior sides at Oldham St Anne's ARLFC.

Death

On the morning of 16 July 2022, Bibey was found dead in a hotel room in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. He was aged 40. A seriously injured 43-year-old woman, thought to be his partner, was also found at the scene. The cause of death is attributable to the intake of cocaine which would have caused a heart attack. Bibey reportedly suffered the heart attack while beating his partner.

References

External links

Profile at leighcenturions.com

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.comProfile at saints.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bibey, Ricky 1981 births 2022 deaths English rugby league players Rugby league players from Leigh, Greater Manchester Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Wigan Warriors players Leigh Leopards players St Helens R.F.C. players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Wakefield Trinity players