A RUGBY coach and ex-professional player was left fighting for his life after an incident outside a town centre night club.

Leigh Centurions reserve team coach Mark Bailey, 33, was left in intensive care with severe head injuries after leaving Ruebens Nite Spot, in Leigh's Lord Street.

He had earlier been partying with 700 others in the popular dance hall with his wife, Angela, who suffered a black eye and a broken tooth outside the club.

This week, Mr Bailey's mother, Kathleen, appealed for witnesses to the incident in which her son received serious injuries to contact police.

She said: "To be told at 2.30am that your son is in intensive care is such a shock.

"We had to wait a whole day before he came around. I was devastated, as you can imagine. Being a mother, it's the worst possible thing you can hear -- it was my worst nightmare.

"He looked like he had been boxing, with his face all swelled and bruised."

Mr Bailey had been to a Leigh Centurions club dinner to celebrate winning the double -- the Northern Ford Premiership League Title and Trans-Pennine Cup.

He and his wife were with a group of players travelling home when they stopped at the nightclub to continue partying.

After being rushed to hospital following the incident, Mr Bailey spent 24 hours in intensive care. His daughters Hanna, six, and Eleanor, three, went to see their father in hospital. He returned home on Wednesday.

His mum told the Journal : "It was awful having to take them. I hope they never have to go through that again."

The following day, Leigh Centurions received a telephone call from a local amateur club, apologising for the incident.

Kevin Ashcroft, commercial manager of the Centurions, said: "We were shocked to hear of what happened and our thoughts immediately went out to Mark's family. We don't know too much about the detail and we're very much on the outside looking in. All we can do is wish Mark well. He's a fit lad and hopefully that will stand him in good stead."

Mr Bailey has played professionally for St Helens and Halifax.

A Ruebens staff member told the Leigh Journal: "The club is not a rough place but like in any spot where alcohol is served, a few scuffles are inevitable. We wish the injured man a speedy recovery."

Det Chief Inspector Ian Hilton, head of Leigh CID, said a man had been arrested in connection with the incident. Mr Bailey's condition was described as "comfortable".