Ray Cheney
Encyclopedia
Early years
Ray was born in PorthPorth
Porth is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Valley and is regarded as the gateway to the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach valleys because both valleys meet at Porth...
in the Rhondda
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
. He showed exceptional all round sporting abilities and played football at Ton Pentre
Ton Pentre
Ton Pentre is a village in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the community of Pentre. The old district of Ystradyfodwg was named after the church at Ton Pentre...
for Ton Pentre F.C.
Ton Pentre F.C.
Ton Pentre Football Club is a football team based in Ton Pentre, Wales, which plays in the Welsh Football League Division Two.Nicknamed the "Rhondda Bulldogs", the team plays at Ynys Park, Ton Pentre, Rhondda Cynon Taff, which once accommodated 2700 seated spectators...
. He also played Welsh Youth soccer, winning an international youth cap at centre forward and attracted the attention of Tottenham Hotspur FC.
National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
was spent in the RAF, where he was able to represent the RAF at rugby.
Rugby career
On return to civilian life Ray joined Pontypool RFCPontypool RFC
Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool. Pontypool RFC has a long history within Welsh rugby and is one of the most notable clubs, being present at the formation of the Welsh Rugby Union in 1881, but disbanding before the turn of the 19th century...
in Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
, setting a club record at the time of 169 points and playing against a touring Springboks and maintained a position within the Welsh Reserves.
Moving to local rivals Newport RFC during the 1962/3 season and making his club debut against Llanelli RFC
Llanelli RFC
Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 and its senior team is one of the leading club sides in Wales. The club began the 2008-09 season at their historic home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli, but moved in November 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent...
in March '63 he was soon scoring heavily again and amassed 40 points in 11 games. The visiting 1963 All Blacks side was beaten by Newport with Ray hitting the cross bar with an attempted dropgoal. By the end of his first full season at the club Ray again set a club record, amassing 171 points during the 63/4 season. In the 64/5 season he surpassed that, attaining 224 points, passing his century in just 15 games.
Ray developed a 'round the corner' deadball kicking style for placekicks, one of the pioneers of this new style at the time.
Ray was in the Welsh Reserves, at full back, some 23 times.
He joined Cardiff RFC
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...
, running out 69 times and playing in the side that beat Australia in 1966.
He also represented both Crawshays RFC
Crawshays RFC
Crawshays Welsh RFC is an invitational rugby union team.In 1922 Captain Geoffrey Crawshay was invited by the Engineer Commander of Devonport Services, SF Cooper, to bring a team of Welsh rugby union players to play Devonport Services RFC...
and Monmouthshire.
He also played cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
for Monmouthshire County Cricket Club
Monmouthshire County Cricket Club
Monmouthshire County Cricket Club was a cricket team that represented the county of Monmouthshire in the Minor Counties Championship competition from 1901 to 1934....
.