Fylde’s highly popular, talented prop forward, Peter Altham, has announced his retirement from rugby after suffering injury earlier this season. He has graced Wharfedale, Fylde, Preston Grasshoppers and then back to Fylde in 2022, running up 363 club appearances as well as representing Lancashire, England Deaf and the Barbarians, in an amazing rugby career running between 2007 and 2026. He’ll be much missed by team mates and spectators in Lancashire, Yorkshire and beyond.
Firstly, we have a statement by Peter and then a tribute by Fylde’s Chairman of Rugby Mark Nelson. Finally, we reproduce an article on him written by Sports Journalist Elliot Burrow and originally appearing in a match programme in 2023.
—————- ——–
Peter Altham says: “Walking away from rugby is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. After months of reflection, countless conversations with the people closest to me, and facing the reality of ongoing concussion issues, I’ve reached the point where retiring is the right choice for my health, my future, and my family. It’s not how I imagined this chapter ending and accepting that has taken time. But I make this decision with clarity, peace, and deep gratitude for everything the game has given me.
Rugby has been woven into my life for as long as I can remember. I picked up a ball at four years old at Northallerton, just a kid who loved the feeling of being part of a team. I never could have imagined then how far the sport would take me or how much it would shape the person I became.
Moving to Wharfedale at ten opened a door to a world I didn’t yet understand but instantly felt part of. It was there that my National League journey began. It was where I grew up, where I learned resilience, discipline, and what it meant to commit yourself fully to something bigger than you. Those early years taught me lessons that stayed with me long after the final whistle of any match.
At twenty, I went on loan to Fylde—a move that quickly became permanent and one that played a major role in my development. Fylde challenged me, pushed me, and helped me grow both as a player and as a person. In January 2014, I moved to Preston Grasshoppers, stepping into another chapter filled with new friendships, new challenges, and memories I’ll always carry with me.
In 2022, I returned to Fylde for the final stage of my playing career. It allowed me to reconnect with people and places that had shaped so much of my rugby journey, and I’m grateful I was able to finish my time in the sport surrounded by familiar faces and a club that had played such a significant role in my development.
I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve been able to experience in the game. Representing Lancashire RFU 33 times and Yorkshire U20—including nine appearances at Twickenham—was a privilege I’ll never forget. Standing on that pitch, wearing that jersey, knowing what it meant to so many people, is something I’ll always treasure. Being invited to play for the Barbarians was one of the greatest honours of my career. It’s a club built on tradition, respect, and the purest values of the sport—creativity, enjoyment, and camaraderie. To receive that call, to be told that I was considered worthy of wearing that famous black-and-white jersey, was something I never took lightly.
None of this would have been possible without the people who stood beside me every step of the way. To my parents, John and Amanda—thank you for everything. The early mornings, the long drives, the muddy boots, the encouragement after tough games, and the grounding after good ones. You supported not just me, but all of us—me and my brothers—through every stage of our childhood and adulthood. You gave us the foundation to chase our dreams, and I’ll never be able to thank you enough for that.
To my wife, Saoirse, and our children, Daithi and Caoimhe—your support has meant more than I can ever put into words. You’ve lived every high and every low with me. You’ve made sacrifices that most people will never see, and you’ve done it with love, patience, and belief. You’ve been my anchor, my motivation, and my safe place. I’m looking forward to being there for you now in the way you’ve always been there for me, especially as the kids begin their own rugby journeys. Watching them fall in love with the game is something I’m excited to be fully present for.
To every coach who believed in me, challenged me, and helped shape my career—thank you. You pushed me to be better, held me to high standards, and taught me lessons that extended far beyond the pitch.
To every teammate I’ve shared a pitch, a changing room, or a bus journey with—thank you. The graft, the laughs, the dark humour on long away days, the shared battles, the moments of pure joy and pure exhaustion… those are the things I’ll miss the most. The bonds built in this sport last long after the final whistle, and I’m grateful for every single one of them.
Rugby has given me friendships, purpose, identity, and a lifetime of memories. Letting go is difficult, but I leave with pride, gratitude, and a heart full of moments I’ll carry with me forever. While this chapter closes, the values, relationships, and experiences the game has given me will stay with me for the rest of my life. I may be stepping away from playing, but rugby will always be part of who I am.
——————————–
Fylde’s Chairman of Rugby and previously Head Coach & Director of Rugby, Mark Nelson, said: “Pete is one of those rare rugby players who was a genuine joy to coach. He constantly sought to develop his game both as a prop and in general play and was always a wholehearted player a loyal and brilliant team member in every side he represented. A Yorkshire lad who excelled for Lancashire, Pete gave his all every time he took to the field and I was delighted that this dedication was rewarded by his selection for the Barbarians. Above all his rugby qualities, he is a brilliant lad.” Mark Nelson
—————————————-
PETE ALTHAM: FYLDE’S DEAF RUGBY PLAYER, BY ELLIOT BURROW
[Reprinted from the Fylde v Sedgley Park match programme, 4th March 2023]
Meet Pete Altham, a deaf PE teacher who is not letting his condition stop him from playing the sport he loves here at Fylde Rugby Club. Diagnosed with deafness aged 18-months old, Pete wears hearing aids to help but his condition has never stopped him from playing the game he loves – rugby union. You may be wondering then just how does he manage to do it?
“I just play what’s in front of me,” Pete said. “It’s all about the visual aspects of the game and that’s why I always say to the players to look at what is in front of you and play with your eyes open.”
Pete, who is a PE teacher at Myerscough College, has never seen it as a negative though. Instead he believes it is more of an advantage. His prop position means he is involved in scrums – a way of restarting play that involves players packing closely together with their heads down and attempting to gain possession of the ball all on the instructions of the referee – something Pete cannot hear.
The 33-year-old said: “I get the people behind me in the scrum to hold my shorts and then slap my leg when it’s time to go. Ten years ago I struggled because the rules were different but I benefit more with the news rules and still carry out the roles that a prop forward needs to do.”
Born in Skipton, his dad John was a farmer and moved the family to France for work when Pete was only one. It was there they realised an issue with his hearing.
“We were in the countryside so I was pretty much free to roam anywhere and that’s just what I did,” Pete said. “My dad would be calling me, trying to shout me to come back but he never got a response so he said to mum something wasn’t right. We came back to England for tests and it was there we found out I had been profoundly deaf since birth.”
Pete and his family returned to Yorkshire which is where at an early age he first picked up a rugby ball. Surrounded by the sport through his dad’s links as a player with Skipton, Pete began his career aged four with nearby club Northallerton – as he took his first step in not letting deafness define him.
Pete had already made his mind up about which code he was going to play as well. “It’s always been union for me,” Pete said with a wide smile when asked if he ever considered playing rugby league. “My first memory of rugby was when I went to watch Newcastle Falcons in the 1990’s and New Zealand loose forward Pat Lam was running riot all over the pitch. I was only 14 when Johnny Wilkinson slotted that drop goal over to win England the Rugby World Cup and I thought I want do something like that.”
After moving through the junior ranks, Pete started his senior career at Wharfedale – North Yorkshire – where his two brothers George and Joe currently play. Mum Amanda was not particularly keen on the trio playing at first, however, those worries were soon erased.
Eldest Pete, alongside youngest brother George – who is also deaf – have both gone on to represent their country on the international stage having ran out for the England Deaf side. Soon Pete swapped the White Rose of Yorkshire for a Lancashire Red Rose to play for Fylde where he joined on an initial loan before making the move permanent. It was here where he met his wife Saoirse, with whom he now has two children, and rubbed shoulders with a member of the 2003 World Cup winning squad, Jason Robinson. Robinson, or ‘Robbo’, who scored a try in the 20-17 World Cup triumph over Australia, played alongside Pete at Fylde when he joined for a season in 2010 as a 36-year-old.
Robinson, who also played for Sale Sharks in union and Wigan Warriors in rugby league, helped Fylde gain promotion back to the National League One before he retired from the sport at the end of the campaign following knee surgery. “It was just unbelievable,” Pete said when he found out Robinson had joined. “I was 21-year-old at the time and this guy played at the highest level in both codes of rugby and won almost everything there was to win – then he went to sharing a changing room with me. He just treated you like a normal person and was really down to earth. He’s from Yorkshire which made it even better!”
Despite not playing with his hearing aids in, Pete has represented the England deaf team and both Lancashire and Yorkshire at county level. He’s played at the home of English rugby union, Twickenham, and returned to Fylde at the start of the season after spending time at neighbours Preston Grasshoppers where he helped the club gain promotion back to the National League Division Two North.
Fylde captain Ben Gregory, who played alongside Pete in the front row, says he still can’t get his head around how his teammate does it. He said: “It amazes me. Luckily for us Pete is really good at lip reading, so during the game you are able to pull him to one side and give him the message you want and he takes it on well and reacts. If you are trying to communicate with him as the ball is live it’s just a case of getting his attention, which isn’t difficult as he is great at being aware of who’s around him and always looking for messages.”
[Elliot Burrow was Fylde’s match reporter in the 2021-22 & 2022-23 seasons. At that time he was a student at the University of Central Lancashire on its degree in Sports Journalism. He graduated with a 1st class degree in the summer of 2023 and is now the Multimedia Reporter at the Bauer Media Group covering the Hereford & Worcester area in the West Midlands. Reproduced with Elliot’s permission]
In conclusion, everyone at Fylde wishes Pete and his family all the very best for the future and hope they remain an integral part of the Club over the coming years. Thanks Pete!