People who spoke about Glen Ball tended to say at least two things.
One, they let it be known that he was a lovely man. This usually came before anything else, for Ball, who has passed away after a lengthy illness, made a favourable impression on pretty much everyone he came across.
Secondly came the point about the former centre being an excellent rugby coach.
Perhaps his zenith in that regard came during his stint in charge of Neath’s backs during a golden period for the club in the 1980s and early 1990s. Ball teamed up with Ron Waldron and Brian Thomas to oversee the building of one of the most formidable club teams the Welsh game had seen.
The trio put a huge emphasis on fitness, giving Neath an advantage over rival sides. Training was hard and unrelenting, seeing players running up hills and attaining levels of conditioning that were hardly commonplace during the amateur era. In his book, Getting Physical, Scott Gibbs remembers his early days at Neath as being a “real eye-opener...because they were really into fitness at that time and were gradually building themselves up into a great club.
“They were a very fit bunch of lads — in fact, I remember my dad threatening to take me to hospital because he felt I was wasting away with all the work.
“Glen Ball was coaching Neath when I joined, and training was tough.”
Neath were renowned for their forward play but during Ball’s time at the club they also boasted backs of the calibre of Jonathan Davies, Allan Bateman, Gibbs and Paul Thorburn and in 1988-89 they posted a world record 1,917 points and 345 tries, with touchdowns being run in from all angles.
Ball, a beautiful passer of a ball in his day, was a key figure in developing the Welsh All Blacks as a team.
“He was a wonderful coach,” said Neath secretary and club historian Mike Price.
“Not only did he have the knowledge, having been an excellent player himself, he also had the ability to put his ideas across in plain terms that players understood. Coaching is about communicating and Glen did that particularly well.
“He was a Neath man through and through and made a huge contribution as a player and as a coach.”
Outside of Neath, he didn’t have the high media profile of the other members of club’s holy trinity of team bosses, with Waldron going on to coach Wales and the larger-than-life Thomas known throughout the game.
But at Neath no one was in any doubt about Ball’s standing. “On and off the field he was an exceptional person, a man of absolute integrity,” said Price.
“The management-team concept was revolutionary in rugby at the time. First Gareth Thomas and then Dai Shaw filled the team secretary role, working with Ron, Brian and Glen. All were dynamic personalities who got things done.
"In Glen, Neath have lost a true legend."
Ball, whose time as a coach also included spells at Ystalyfera, Bonymaen, Aberavon and Maesteg, was happy enough to go about his work without banner headlines.
Cutting his teeth at Neath Athletic as a player, he had joined Neath in his teens and quickly began to build a reputation for skilful and intelligent midfield play.
He figured for Wales alongside John Dawes in the two-match away series against Argentina in 1968, but the Welsh Rugby Union declined to recognise the games as Tests. Forty-five years later, Ball was among 25 players who received president’s caps for playing in non-Test matches for Wales.
That he was a deserving case was never in doubt. His Neath team-mate Dai Morris described him as a complete footballer, part of a “superb centre pairing of guile and speed” with Brian Davies.
He played in Neath’s Welsh title-winning side of 1967 and their cup-winning team of 1972, highlights in a distinguished on-pitch career.
But the silverware really started to stack up during his time as a coach as the Welsh All Blacks banked league titles in 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1991 and Welsh cup final triumphs in 1989 and 1990. They also gave Wayne Shelford’s New Zealand a hurry-up before succumbing 26-15 at The Gnoll.
Ball may have hit the heights with Neath as a coach but he never looked down on anyone.
Players could approach him if they had issues and he was happy to talk to supporters and journalists, too.
A “lovely man” Jonathan Davies called him. Few would disagree.
