Born and bred in Neath, he went on to play more than 450 games for his home town club and helped them to win both the Western Mail Welsh Championship (1967) and WRU Challenge Cup (1972) as a player.
He enjoyed even more success as a coach.
A strong defensive centre who was a brilliant timer of a pass, he graduated into the Neath side after cutting his teeth with Neath Schools and Neath Athletic Colts. He made his senior debut for the Welsh All Blacks against London Welsh in an 8-8 draw in January, 1961.
He went on to become one of only five players to top 400 matches for the club between then and his final appearance in 1975 against Pontypool. He also played for the combined Neath & Aberavon side that went down to a 9-3 defeat to the 1966 Wallabies at The Gnoll.
He was selected for the Wales XV tour to Argentina in 1968 and played in all six games, including the two uncapped internationals against the Pumas. In 2013, he was one of seven players from that tour who received WRU President’s Caps.
On his return from Argentina Ball took over the captaincy at Neath and the following season helped them to win the Snelling Sevens title. He retired at the end of the 1972/73 season and went to coach at Ystalyfera, before playing one final game for Pontypool three years later.
He returned to The Gnoll as part of the management team put together by Brian Thomas in 1982 and helped to establish Neath as the best team in the UK. During his time as a coach the Welsh All Blacks won league titles in 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1991 and captured the Welsh Cup in 1989 and 1990.
Ball was inducted into the Neath Supporters’ Club “Hall of Fame” in 2017, along with Elgan Rees, Phil Pugh, Roy John and Dai Parker. His son, Jason, played for Neath, Aberavon, Bridgend and Wales Under-21’s, while his daughter, Joanne, played hockey for Wales.
The Welsh Rugby Union would like to pass on its deepest sympathies to Glen’s wife, Eve, Jason, Joanne and the rest of his family and friends.
