When a well-known England international retired as a player, he memorably said: “I thought I would have a quiet pint…followed by about 17 noisy ones.”
No doubt Eddie Butler would have marked the end of his on-pitch days by partaking in the odd wine gum or two as well.
Most departing players do.
But in Butler’s case perhaps the event would have been in anticipation of what lay ahead as much as to mark the past.
Read more: My team-mate Eddie Butler, the posh teen we nicknamed Bamber who won the respect of Wales' hard men
For he always seemed destined to have a glowing post-playing career.
Entering journalism in 1988, Butler, who has passed away aged 65, quickly established himself as a high-quality writer, working for the Sunday Correspondent, The Observer and The Guardian. He became a world-class broadcaster, highly respected and known for his knowledge, delivery and fairness; he wrote three novels; he presented several history series on television; he was the voice behind so many sporting, political and historical montages and provided the words as well. Poetic words.
What a life, then.
Along the way, the Cambridge University graduate and former teacher became renowned for his personable demeanour: he never talked down to anyone and always wore his intelligence lightly.
Another trait was his kindness.
He was someone who enjoyed helping people, who didn’t like to see others going through hard times.
Some of the stories below illustrate as much.
Mark Ring made his Wales debut in a side captained by Butler and played alongside him in Pontypool’s Welsh title-winning season of 1987-88.
Here, he starts by saying how Butler contacted Pooler’s legendary scrum-half David Bishop, a key figure in that great club team of 35 years ago, after the Wales international suffered a stroke last year.
“Only recently, after Bish had his stroke, Eddie invited us both up to Rolls of Monmouth Golf course to get Bish out playing sport again and try to get him out walking,” said Ring.
“Eddie paid for our fees to play with him up in Rolls of Monmouth.
“He was like that.
“He got in touch with Bish and said: ‘Listen, you should come up. I’ll look after your fees. It’ll do you good.’
“We only played nine holes, but it was the gesture that mattered.
“Eddie was always thinking of others.”
When Ring made his Wales debut against England in 1983, many rugby captains still opted for a tub-thumping pre-match approach. Calm, considered leadership was still the exception rather than the rule.
But Butler, just 25 at the time, had a different way of doing things.
“I was a nervous 20-year-old playing against England when I won my first cap and he was Wales captain,” recalls Ring.
“It was Eddie's first Test as a skipper.
“A lot of people in rugby, then, would be screaming and balling and banging walls down.
“Eddie wasn’t like that.
“He was more of a thinking man’s captain, tactical and someone who worked with other leaders within the group. That kind of thing is popular today.
“But back then the coach and the captain just had to get on with it. Eddie was different, though.”
Ring added: “From a playing perspective, I got to be in his company when I played a full season with Pontypool in 1987-88.
“Our lock Kevin Moseley picked up an injury in the first home game and they called Eddie out of retirement. Despite having figured at No. 8 for most of his senior career, he played second row for us that season.
“We had a great campaign, losing just two games and were unbeaten away from home.
“Eddie played a full part in it, adding to our leadership.
“With Eddie as a player, people put two and two together and made too many.
"He went to Cambridge University and had a strong, affluent upbringing, but he was one of the boys and a tough player. If it all kicked off back in the day it was just the referee and your own linesman. Some games could be challenging, to say the least, but Eddie would stand toe to toe with anyone.”
Andy Nichol, ex-Scotland scrum-half who worked with Butler as part of the BBC’s commentary team
On BBC Radio Wales, Nichol said: “He was your Eddie, but he was our Eddie as well. He just transcended nationality.
“I took a similar path in many ways, from being an international rugby player to broadcasting, and Eddie was so attentive and so interested in what I was doing. He was brilliant at giving advice — not overtly, but with little comments..
“When you saw him the week after working together he’d just have a quiet word, not in front of anyone else, saying ‘you’re analysis of the Stuart Hogg try was really perceptive. I hadn’t seen what you were looking at’ . There were just little things like that.
“He was a wonderful man and we’ve been very lucky to work with him and listen to his intellect."
Ex-England hooker Brian Moore has paid a lovely tribute to Butler, the other half of a successful BBC commentary team, lamenting that he wished he’d told him he rated him as a broadcaster and as a man. Nichol said of Moore’s words: “It was a lovely sentiment from Brian and something we should all learn about after what we’ve been experiencing in the past few years. People should be a bit kinder to each other and say more things like that.
“That’s what Eddie did brilliantly. He would say it quietly. He would say ‘I really enjoyed your commentary last week’ or something like that. That separated him from many other people.
“He was a brilliant broadcaster but he was an even better man.” You can read about the real Eddie Butler and his fears for Wales here.
Nichol added: “I have a great memory of when I was in commentary analysis for a Wales-England game on a Friday night with the place rocking.
“Eddie and Brian were commentators, with Brian his brother in arms in those days.
“It was the contrast between the two of them. When the Welsh national anthem was on, Brian was almost breathing it in, almost like he was going to play. Just as the national anthem finished, he actually started punching himself to get psyched up for the commentary.
“I was at the other end of the commentary position.
“I looked around and there’s the contrast of Brian punching himself and Eddie opening a pack of Jelly Babies before he was about to start commentating.
“When we analyse players and talk about them, we say that for the very best players it looks effortless. It looks as if they’re not having to work hard.
“That was Eddie. He was just the supreme professional in everything he did.
“But he was so relaxed and laid back with it.”
Former Pontypool, Wales and Lions hooker Bobby Windsor played alongside Butler and coached him at Pontypool
He said: “People ask how the bloody hell did Eddie fit in at Pontypool back in the day?
“But he did.
“Educated Edward, as our coach Ray Prosser called him, came to us from Cambridge University but he was fearless on the pitch and someone you enjoyed playing alongside.
“What a back row we had, with the likes of Mark Brown, Jeff Squire, Brian Gregory.
“Eddie just slotted in, as he would slot in anywhere.
“In those days, when a side kicked off, the opposition would try to flatten you. But Eddie would call for the ball and stand his ground.
“He could drink a drop too, could Eddie, and mix with anyone.”
Windsor continued: “My thinking is he didn’t get the credit he deserved as a player.
“People were onto him when he was captain of Wales and the team went through a bit of a rough time. But it wasn’t Eddie’s fault.
“The team was changing at the time and a lot of players were coming and going and some big names had retired.
“But Eddie could play rugby. When you play for your country and are called up by the Lions, you fulfil everything as a player. You’ve got there.
“When I was a coach, he was good to have in the side.
“But 65 — it’s no age.”
Butler passed away in his sleep.
He had been in Peru trekking to raise money for charity.
“Eddie was a kind man,” said Windsor.
“You could see it from what he was doing when he left us, raising money for charity.
“That was Eddie.
“He did a lot of things to help others after he finished playing.”
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