NORTH Yorkshire's Jon Sleightholme is retiring from rugby union on December 31.

The Northampton winger, who first experienced the sport as a junior with Malton and Norton RUFC, made it all the way to the top, being first capped by England in 1996 against France in Paris.

The former Bath and Wakefield player joined Northampton the following year and scored 22 tries in 85 appearances, his time at Franklin Gardens punctuated by some bad injuries

Sleightholme, 31, was born in Malton and attended Norton Primary School.

After first learning the rudiments of the game with his local club, he began playing more seriuously as a 15-year-old with Hull Ionians, being capped for England Under-19s.

He then moved on to Wakefield before joining Bath, where he was a physical education teacher at Culverhay School.

For the past two-and-a-half years, Sleightholme has held a dual role at Northampton as the club's sponsorship manager, as well as training and playing alongside the professional squad.

Northampton's operations director John Steele said: "Jon has been a loyal and committed Saint, and both Jon and his wife Julie have contributed hugely to club life and we wish them all the best of luck."

Sleightholme will begin a job with the Cauldwell Group, based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the New Year. Jon and his family - including Northampton-born sons Oliver and Frankie - intend to remain living in the town. He will also remain registered with the club so Saints could call on him in an emergency.

He told the club's website: "This was a difficult decision to make, particularly during the middle of the season. However, I have reached a time in my career when I could not afford to turn down an opportunity like this one."

He added: "I have had a wonderful career spanning 13 seasons and I will take away lifelong memories and friends from Wakefield, Bath and, primarily, Saints.

"The support I have had from the players, management and fans during the last six years at Saints has been second to none in my career, which has made the decision to retire even harder.

"But I fought back from injury two years ago to give myself the opportunity to be able to sign off my career in the way that I wanted. I wanted it to be my decision to retire rather than a decision that was forced upon me through injury."

Among his team-mates at Northampton is York-born full-back Nick Beal, another former England player.

Updated: 10:45 Friday, December 19, 2003