Barry John was a rugby player who made his first top-flight rugby appearance for Llanelli in 1964. He gained fame as a kicking fly-half with a penchant for putting over dropped goals. In the 1964/65 season, John began to make an impact on the Welsh club scene, scoring his 11th goal against Aberavon.
The following season, he gained more attention, scoring two dropped goals in a win over Swansea. Barry John almost missed the second away encounter of the season with Swansea when he was held to ransom by his fellow students at Trinity College. However, he was released when Llanelli’s club chairman, Elvet Jones, promised to donate to the college “rag.”
Barry John was chosen to play in trial matches for the Wales national team in the 1965/66 season. During the 1966/67 season, John was again chosen to trial for Wales but was not picked. His place in the Llanelli team was given to a youth debutant from the Felinfoel club, Phil Bennett. Bennett became one of the greatest fly-halves produced by Wales, but John was kept from the Wales squad in his early career by the presence of John.
In 1966, John was awarded his first international cap for Wales, taking Watkins’ place at fly-half for the match against the touring Australia team. Wales lost to Australia 11–4, the first time the Welsh had been beaten by the ‘Wallabies’ due to poor form in the midfield. John managed to gain revenge over Australia just over a month later when the same team faced Llanelli at Stradey Park. Llanelli beat the Wallabies 11–0 after a bruising forward contest.
John himself scored a try and then added to his tally with a dropped goal.
Despite the Wales loss against Australia, the selectors kept faith with John, and he retained his place for the next Wales international. In the 1967 Five Nations Championship against Scotland, John played badly while carrying a leg injury, and in the next match, he was dropped, and replaced by the more experienced Watkins. John’s final season with Wales ended disappointingly as both Scotland and Wales refused to travel to Ireland due to increased violence in Northern Ireland and the events of Bloody Sunday.
In 1972, at 27, with 25 Wales caps and five British Lions caps, Barry John retired from the game.
He cited media attention and unfair expectations of his country as reasons, believing he was “living in a goldfish bowl.” His 25 caps for Wales resulted in 90 points scored, 5 tries, 9 conversions, 13 penalties, and 8 dropped goals.
His British Lions career added a further 30 international points, with a single try, 3 conversions, 5 penalties, and 2 dropped goals. For Cardiff, he played 5 seasons, playing 93 matches, during which he scored 24 tries and 30 dropped goals.
Barry John’s Net Worth
One of the greatest players of all time, Barry John, dubbed “The King” of rugby, amassed a significant fortune from his career. At his time of passing his estimated net worth was between $1-$5 million.
Source: Dklassgh.net