Steve Ford fought a two-year battle to play Union again
Steve Ford is a legend in Cardiff Rugby who represented Wales eight times. However, at the tender age of twenty-one, he was actually banned for life from playing rugby union.
His “crime” was participating in a rugby league trial, which made him appear more professional to the WRU, who suspended him indefinitely. Going north meant you were shunned by the Union game, that was the way of the old amateur world.
What transpired afterward makes Ford’s story even more amazing. He was allowed to return to the WRU after a protracted two-year battle, and he went on to set a record for Cardiff’s try scorer and represent his nation.
Ford had made his Cardiff debut against South Wales Police in April 1985, the same match that Mike Rayer had made his debut, following his graduation from Rumney RFC. Then, after what he calls his “little walkabout up north” the next year, everything in his life was turned upside down.
He remembers, “I went for a trial with Leeds in 1986.”
“I don’t recall the location precisely. Somewhere, I know, it was an away game. They asked to see me again after I did okay.
However, it happened at Headingley during a Yorkshire Cup second-round match this time. With a crowd of about 8,000, it was a proper match. I did quite well in the game, and thereafter, I was surrounded.
“I wondered, ‘What have I done here?'” Because it wasn’t appropriate for you to be up there, I became a little afraid. I was fairly impressionable and gullible. I suppose I believed no one would learn.
but as it turns out, they did.
“A week after I returned, I was sitting on Cardiff’s bench,” he remarked.
“I went in the changing room and people were saying ‘Where have you been?’ and this, that and the other.
“Then, a week later, the WRU stepped in and said they were going to have to ban me because it was classed as professional.
“So I was 21 and found myself out in the cold. After I got caught, I thought what the hell have I done. Sine die then was life. I thought that was it. There was no coming back.”
Ford dabbled with a bit of football for a while, until rugby league came knocking once more.
“Salford came in for me and wanted me to play for them,” he said.
“I was banned anyway and I wasn’t doing anything, so I spent a season up there. That was a great experience.
“My elder brother Phil was playing for Warrington and I was living with him. I really enjoyed my time up there. The rugby league people are really passionate about the sport.
“But I was still missing home. I was missing family and I was missing rugby union. Even though it was lovely up there, it was nagging away at me that I wanted to come back.”
So home he headed and it was then that salvation arrived in the shape of Rumney RFC official Dave Escott.
“He virtually single-handedly got me back into rugby union,” he said. “He took my case to the WRU and did everything for me. He didn’t want me to miss out.
“The Union were really dead against it, but he battled and battled and battled. Finally then, the ban got overturned and I could play again.
“They couldn’t prove that I got paid up north. I had to swear on oath that I only got expenses.”
So did he get paid?
“Of course I did!” he replied. “They can’t really ban me again now, can they?”
Ford still clearly remembers the moment when he heard he had been reinstated.
“When Dave rang me to say we’d won the case, I was hugely surprised,” he admits.
“I thought that was it and there was no coming back from it.”
After almost three years in the wilderness, Ford made his comeback appearance for Cardiff against Aberavon in September 1988.
He marked the occasion with a try and from that point on he just couldn’t stop scoring.
“I was always a slight player and never weighed more than 12 stone. I had to use my speed and my sidestep as my point of difference. I felt my job in that team was to score tries and I couldn’t think of anything better to do.”
Ford swiftly became a fans’ favourite at the Arms Park, playing alongside the likes of Rayer, Cordle, Mark Ring, Richie Collins and Bob Norster.
Ford’s elusive running and his predatory performances earned him eight caps in the early 1990s, but he never really felt established in the Wales set-up.
“I felt more at home playing for Cardiff if you want my honest answer,” he said.
“I never felt settled with Wales. It was a totally different environment. At Cardiff I was playing well, I was around my friends.
“I am really proud that I played for Wales, but I felt a little bit out of my comfort zone there. I was happier and more settled in the club environment.”
Ford also has the unique and unwanted distinction of having been selected for two World Cup squads without playing a single game in the tournament
“In 1991, it was hard because it was in Cardiff and all my family and friends were there,” he said.
“Mind you, I was on the bench against Samoa and thinking I’m glad I’m in the north stand here!
“But the 1995 World Cup in South Africa was horrible.
“The season leading up to it, I had scored 39 tries. I was flying. I was working so hard in training in the lead up to the opening game against Japan.”
Then came the despair of being omitted, which was all the more painful as his Cardiff coach Alec Evans was at the helm.
“It was horrible how they did the selection. It still bugs me to this day,” he revealed.
“He made us all go downstairs to this bar area in the hotel in Johannesburg.
“I was feeling fine, fairly confident because I knew Alec. He trusted me and I trusted him. We had a fantastic relationship.
“How selection was done was you had this old phone in the bar and Robin McBryde was the secretary.
“When the phone rang, Robin would answer it, say, ‘That’s okay,’ and then mention which player needed to go meet the coaches.
“You were aware that you weren’t participating if your name was called. They would tell you, “You’re not doing this, you’re not doing that,” as you went up.
“I still clearly recall the instant my name was announced. The walk up to that chamber was somewhat lengthy. The way they went about that was just terrible.
“The World Cup was held here. How did you be chosen while waiting for your name to be announced while seated in a room?
“After Alfie (Gareth Thomas) scored his first three tries against Japan, history was written.”
“It was not a good place for me the 1995 World Cup.
“It was disappointing because I had a coach who I thought very highly of, who knew me. We trusted one another.
“I ended up as a dirt tracker and I was sent to do all this PR work.
“I remember getting sent to this supermarket to do an autograph session and it was embarrassing because nobody knew me.
“I am sat in the middle of Lidl in South Africa for two hours with placards around me and nobody coming up. I felt like an idiot.
“I wanted to come home at that point. The way I got treated was soul destroying.
“I did lose a bit of respect for Alec on that tour. I still thought highly of him, but just lost that edge with him.
“It was the worst three weeks I have ever had as a player.”
Ford continued to score goals for Cardiff despite never playing for Wales again.
Additionally, in February 1997, he broke Bleddyn Williams’ 42-year-old club record by touching down five times against Dinas Powys.
He remarked, “It was an extremely memorable occasion, particularly since Bleddyn was among the first to congratulate me following the game.”
Ford, who later founded his own flooring business, played 234 games for the team and finished with an incredible 198 tries.
For a man whose Union career appeared to be gone at age 21, that is quite an accomplishment.
