Matt Hampson and John Duggan were among the Leicester Tigers names honoured at the annual Leicester Mercury Sports Awards at Welford Road stadium.
The inspirational Hampson received the Neville Hamilton Award for his work with the Foundation which carries his name.
Selected by the judging panel, the award is named after former footballer and coach Neville Hamilton and recognises sporting stories worthy of special praise in the county.
As another former Tigers player, Duggan received the Lifetime Achievement.
As a wing, he played more than 300 times for the Tigers, scoring 158 tries, and has been a prominent figure in the county’s sporting landscape for 50 years, working particularly with young people.
Receiving the award, Duggan said: “This is a bit of a shock. When awards come your way, it is not what you set out to do. You just do what you enjoy doing and what you are passionate about and expect no further reward than that.
“It is an honour and I’m grateful to everybody who put anything into nominating me for it.
“When we played in the amateur era it was a passionate hobby you fitted in alongside your full-time job. Rugby is a fantastic community, the camaraderie and the enjoyment you get from playing in teams and for your club is as rewarding and as enjoyable a thing as you can do in your spare time.”
Tigers club captain Tom Youngs presented the Sportsman of the Year Award sponsored by the club, with City and England full-back Ben Chilwell named as this year’s winner.
Addressing the Awards audience, Youngs said: “It is a huge honour to be here and to celebrate the sporting talent in Leicestershire here at the home of the Tigers.
“We talk about team sport and it is all about the team, but to win the big games and the big trophies it is also about individuals and the x-factor, and that is what our finalists have in abundance.”
Tigers fly-half Sam Costelow was a finalist in the Young Sportsman of the Year category in a season which featured a call-up for Wales Under-20s after graduating from the club’s successful academy. The academy side were also finalists in the award for Under-19/School Team of the Year after a second successive Under-18 League title in 2018/19.
County rugby player Emily Scarratt was named Sportswoman of the Year.
