EAST Lancashire-born hockey legend Val Robinson who won more than 150 international caps has died at the age of 80.

Tributes from the hockey world have poured in for the former Accrington, Great Harwood and Blackburn Northern player whose career extended well into her fifties.

Val amassed a then-world record number of caps, playing 149 times for England and 21 times for Great Britain in an international career that stretched 21 years from 1963 to 1984. She scored 38 times for England, with a further eight goals for Great Britain.

She helped England win the 1975 IFWHA World Cup in a historic moment for the women’s team.

She missed out on playing in an Olympics when hockey was one of the few federations to boycott the Moscow games in 1980.

A natural all-round sportswoman, she first picked up a stick at age 14 when she joined Accrington Hockey Club.

An England Hockey spokesperson said: "She also played football, and having seen her play for Preston Ladies, legendary Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby proclaimed that she was the best female player he had ever seen and if he could, he would have signed her up there and then.

"In an era when international hockey matches were less frequent, she still amassed an amazing amount of games for her country. Incredibly, she played in 19 of the Wembley internationals and missed just one between 1966 and 1984."

Val also found national fame on television, winning the BBC’s Superstars show in both 1979 and 1981 taking on female sporting icons such as Olympic javelin gold medal winner Tessa Sanderson and swimmer Sharron Davies.

An England Hockey spokesperson said: "She faced fierce competition from the likes of Tessa Sanderson in ’79, with Val winning five of the six events. Having not been invited back in ’80 for winning rather too easily, the BBC saw sense and brought her back in ’81.

"She could not eat for three days prior to the event, having been exposed to poisoning from an industrial explosion, but took on Suzanne Dando, Sharron Davies et al in fine style.

"After winning she famously celebrated with a pint of beer and a cigarette! A sign of the times and also of Val’s unmistakeable personality."

She continued to stay within sport, running a residential sports centre with her husband Gwyn in her native Lancashire, as well as making sports equipment. In 1985 she was awarded an OBE for services to hockey.

Olympic gold medal-winning women’s team captain Kate Richardson-Walsh said: “Val was a legend who blazed a trail for so many people in our sport.

“With her ability in both hockey and football, today she would have been a professional sportswoman and it’s because of people like Val that I got to play hockey full-time at the end of my career.

“She was well known not just for her hockey ability but also for winning Superstars twice which is no mean feat!

“We stand on her shoulders. What Val stood for and what she achieved as a sportswoman is an inspiration to me. Her name and her legacy will live on forever.”