Barry John - Personal History

Personal History

John was born at Low-land, a smallholding at Cefneithin. He was the second child of William and Vimy John, his brother Delville was three years his senior. John had a further four siblings, Alan, Clive, Madora and Diane. All three of his brothers played rugby. Delville played for Cefneithin, captaining them for two seasons; Alan progressed from the local club to Llanelli and also toured Argentina with Wales; while Clive was a Llanelli wing forward who was selected for Wales 'B'. The family went to live at Foelgastell, staying with an uncle and aunt, shortly after John's birth but returned to Cefneithin when John was two. His early schooling was at Cefneithin Primary, and after failing his 11-plus he spent a year at Cross Hands senior centre. He passed the entrance exam and was accepted into Gwendraeth Grammar School at Drefach.

At eighteen he left grammar school, and was awarded a place at Trinity College, Carmarthen, with ambitions of becoming a teacher. He studied physical education, junior science and horticulture. He left Trinity in the summer of 1967, and took up a post as a physical education teacher at Monkton House School in Cardiff, a private school for boys between the ages of eight and sixteen. John moved to Cardiff and shared a house with several other rugby players, including former Llanelli team mate Gerald Davies. John quit his position at Monkton House when he toured South Africa in 1968 and never taught again. On his return from Africa, John moved back to his family home at Cefneithin. He spent six weeks unemployed and during this period he considered turning to professional rugby league, almost signing for St Helens RLFC. Following an interview with David Coleman for the BBC programme, Sportsnight, in which his jobless situation was discussed, John was offered a job working for Forward Trust, a finance company in Cardiff. When John quit playing rugby in 1972 he also left his job as a finance representative, signing a contract to write a weekly column and cover important matches for the Daily Express. He was also signed to take part in sport programmes presented by HTV, the Wales and West of England commercial television company.

In September 1969 John married Janet Talfan Davies, daughter of Alun Davies QC, a leading Welsh lawyer. John and Jan had four children and as of 2009, nine grandchildren, though the couple have now separated.

In 2009 he decided to sell his rugby memorabilia, including his Wales caps, stating that he felt no nostalgia towards the items and the honour of playing for Wales was all that mattered.