DAI Davies never forgot his Amman Valley roots - and the former Wales international footballer, who was born in 1948 in Glanaman, spoke with great pride about where he was from.

Tributes have poured in for Davies, who has passed away at the age of 72 - who at one stage was Wales' most-capped keeper, with 52 caps for his country, in a career that spanned 17 years.

His time at Swansea City, Everton and Wrexham is well-documented, but the man himself was just as happy talking about his schoolboy years, growing up with a dream of being a footballer.

His coal-miner father William John was an amateur player of considerable ability, who had trials with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United, and his older brother Tommy also played.

His autobiography, first published in Welsh, bore the title ‘Hanner Cystal a’ Nhad’ (‘Half the Man my Father Was’) in tribute to him, and he spoke fondly of his years growing up in Glanaman.

He recalled the excitement at the formation of the Amman Valley and District League, and the role he had as a child in preparing the pitch and facilities for Glanaman Football Team to play.

Helping his father prepare the pitch, his tasks would be to clear water collected in the goalmouth with an old tin - and to carry water from the nearby River Aman to fill the bath containers.

“I could imitate my brother on my father’s field, and no one can doubt the pride I felt, and still feel, in that insignificant little playground on the banks of the Aman,” he wrote in his autobiography.

“After all, it was as big a part of the game to the boys of Glanaman as the streets of Belfast were to George Best, or the beaches of Rio to Pele,” added Davies, who had potential from the start.

A former pupil at Amman Valley Grammar School in the town, he played schoolboy and youth football for the local clubs at a time when 'soccer' was not allowed to be played at the school.

With rugby being the preferred sport, he also played second row for the school, being selected for West Wales Schools in that position - but his dream was always to represent Wales at football.

Showing his ability as a goalkeeper from an early age, he was picked for his home village under-18 team when only 12 years old - and played for Ammanford United’s adult team at just 15.

Playing rugby for Amman Valley School on Saturday mornings, and football for Ammanford United in the afternoons, he finally focused solely on football - and made his mark for Ammanford Town.

Just two miles up the valley is Gwaun Cae Gurwen, home of Welsh rugby legend Gareth Edwards, with whom he shared a flat in his student days in Cardiff - but Dai’s heart belonged to ‘soccer’.

Both men went on to be Welsh icons of their chosen sports, with Dai becoming a professional footballer at the age of 21, in 1969, after qualifying as a PE Teacher and signing for Swansea City.

A long and successful career as a goalkeeper lay ahead for the Glanaman boy, who had dared to followed his dream - but the Wales international star never forgot where he came from.