Tributes have been paid to a well-respected and loved rugby coach and player after a charity match was played in his memory.

Long-time member of Gravesend Rugby Football Club, Brian Rayner died in a motorbike crash in Eltham on March 2 at the age of 57.

A memorial rugby match was played in his honour at the weekend, which saw his former team come together and win 26-22.

His son Aaron Rayner, who lived in Gravesend before moving to Orpington, played for his dad's squad from under 12s to under 17s.

The 25-year-old said: "It was our weekends. My dad came to watch me play and then he started playing. He was a big character at the club.

"He just spent a lot of his time down there when he was not working or watching me.

"Some of the boys had not played since my dad stopped coaching. It was good to get the boys back together in his memory.

"He was a family man first and was always helping anyone he could. There is a lot I could say about him."

Brian lived in Welling but was well-known at the sports club in Donald Biggs Drive and played a part in setting up the rugby academy which has been running for around eight years.

His wife Ann Rayner, 56, said: "He started out playing at school because he got detention with the PE teacher who was playing rugby that evening. Instead of doing lines, he had to run down the rugby field.

"Aaron started playing so he started training with the lads and dads, and it went from there. It was a big part of his life.

"He had such a good way with the boys and a good relationship with them. They really did respect him and speak to him about absolutely everything.

"When he was coaching them they listened but it was out of love and respect."

The pair had been together for around 13 years and between them had five children – Jamie and Aaron Rayner and Megan, Sam and Evie Jordan.

She added: "He was a father of two boys who he absolutely adored. I do not like to use the word step-father as he was a father to my children too.

"As my youngest described him, he was a five-year-old in a man's body. He was always playing tricks on the kids and being there for them and me."

Brian played for the Gravesend Rugby Club too, from around 2008 up until his passing. When he was not playing, he was a manger at Allied Bakeries.

His family would like the weekend's charity match to become an annual occasion to come together and play the sport the coach loved.