Eorl Crabtree to leave Huddersfield Giants after 25 years
The 42 year old is taking up a new opportunity within Rugby League
Eorl Crabtree, the man affectionately known to Huddersfield Giants fans as 'Big Eorl', is leaving the club after 25 years.
The 42 year old, who joined back in 1999, is taking up a new opportunity within Rugby League.
He's made over 400 appearance for Giants' during his career, helping them to Super League promotion and two Challenge Cup finals.
He retired from playing in 2016 and has worked as a club ambassador since.
In a statement on the club's website, Eorl wrote: "To the fans, thank you for your unwavering support and for making the Giants such a unique and inspiring place to be. "
"To my teammates, coaches and colleagues over the years, I am deeply grateful for your guidance, camaraderie and belief in me—it has been an honor to share this journey with you all.
"While it’s difficult to say goodbye, I am excited to embrace this new challenge within Rugby League and bring the lessons I’ve learned at the Giants into this next chapter.
"Huddersfield will always be in my heart and I will forever be proud to call myself a Giant. I look forward to staying connected with the club and its amazing supporters in the years to come.”
Giants' Chairman Ken Davy said: “It was with sadness yet a degree of excitement that Eorl informed me personally that he was going to accept a new challenge in the game."
"He knows that he could have remained a Giant for the foreseeable future but opportunities in life sometimes appear when least expected and I wish him every success.
"I well recall seeing one his early academy appearances up at Fartown and to watch his career flourish both on the field as player and off the field as a personality synonymous with the club has been a delight.
"There is no doubt in my mind that over the past 20 plus years he has been the most recognizable face of the Giants and has forged a magnificent reputation for himself as firstly a player of International quality and latterly an ambassador and salesman of the Club."