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Just like lots of snooker fans, I was watching the Masters final from Alexandra Palace on the evening of Sunday 18th January, finally finishing off the McVities biscuit selection that I got for Christmas from the family. The final actually saw my one of my favourites: Northamptonshire's very own Kyren Wilson play John Higgins, and good old Kyren won just like I wanted him to. When it was on, I was actually wondering why we haven't heard of Dennis Taylor doing the commentary in January, and it made me wonder whether he was alright. One of the commentators who oversaw the final was John Virgo, and I was so shocked to find that he has died aged 79 in Spain - in fact, I didn't realise he was that old as I always think of him as always being in his fifties. I thought that Taylor was older than him but Virgo was three years older than him. What a shocking piece of news, especially so soon after his commentary from the Masters just two-and-a-half weeks ago.
Born in March 1946 in Salford (a place where I stayed last year in order to afford me a visit to The Lowry Theatre for my birthday), Virgo was the token Salfordian if not Mancunian - probably the most famous person or object to come from there since the 1978 number one his Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs. With his grey hair and same colour "wire wool" facial fuzz (a beard for anyone still reading this), he was a familiar face on our TV screens, espcially from mid-April up to the May Day Bank Holiday where he had the famous World Snooker Championship from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, mostly doing commentary being a microphone out of shot. Back in the day (just before Taylor started to wear the "upside-down" spectacles), Virgo won the UK Championship in 1979 where he beat Terry Griffiths 14 frames to an unlucky for some 13. A year later he beat the then Crucible champion Cliff Thorburn at the Bombay International a more luckier 13 frames to 7. He defeated Ray Reardon in the same year at the Pontins International, and did the same to Dennis Taylor in the Professional Snooker League. His professional career lasted from 1976 to 1994 while he was doing Big Break, although the year before he turned professional he became runner-up to Ray Reardon at the Pontins Spring Open.
I always thought of Virgo as someone who was in a neutral capacity in snooker, or even an ambassador for the sport rather than an actual player, probably because his playing days were more or less during the early 1980s in which my memory doesn't quite go back that far. The neutral capacity I think was not only as a commentator, but as the referee in residence just outside the sport; such an example was his portrayal as the straight-man and stooge to funnyman [sic] Jim Davidson on the 1990s sports show Big Break which was influenced by shows such as Bullseye. Here, Virgo invited his snooker colleagues which he had played with on the professional circuit to "pot as many balls as you can", (the plural of the word "ball" was supposed to raise a slight amount humour in true Davidson level, almost). In response we would see incumbents and veterans such as Jimmy White, Tony Meo or Joe Johnson break a triangle of 10 reds and pot them within 40 seconds - the record was that only nine of them was potted in that time. John Virgo was to Big Break what the late Tony Green was to Bullseye - part of a double act especially during the opening gambits in most episodes.
Aside from "pot as many balls..." Virgo's other man catchphrase was "where's the cue ball going?" with colour variations for other snooker balls, usually reds, but it was mostly the cue ball, for a four-point foul beckoned had it had gone in the net pocket. His Manchester accent was vulnerable for the impersonators to tackle, and even Jim Davidson frequently attempted it, false stubble as well just like he did in one of the Snooker Scrapbook episodes made in around 1996. He was someone who could be serious but at the same time, could take humour from anyone, especially those from within the professional snooker circuit. The 1986 novelty hit Snooker Loopy gave a chance for Virgo to team up with his professional colleagues, not to mention Chas and Dave (who, the deceased one, I started an obituary on here in 2018). I even managed to get a signed photograph of Virgo around 20 years ago. During the midst of Big Break in the mid 1990s, I do remember that when I did work experience, the Managing Director of the organisation I was at looked quite like John Virgo! I never mentioned this at the time, of course...
It is a shock when I saw this news mentioned on another forum. My sympathies go to Virgo's family, friends and his snooker colleagues. He certainly potted as many balls as he could during his professional career in snooker.
Born in March 1946 in Salford (a place where I stayed last year in order to afford me a visit to The Lowry Theatre for my birthday), Virgo was the token Salfordian if not Mancunian - probably the most famous person or object to come from there since the 1978 number one his Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs. With his grey hair and same colour "wire wool" facial fuzz (a beard for anyone still reading this), he was a familiar face on our TV screens, espcially from mid-April up to the May Day Bank Holiday where he had the famous World Snooker Championship from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, mostly doing commentary being a microphone out of shot. Back in the day (just before Taylor started to wear the "upside-down" spectacles), Virgo won the UK Championship in 1979 where he beat Terry Griffiths 14 frames to an unlucky for some 13. A year later he beat the then Crucible champion Cliff Thorburn at the Bombay International a more luckier 13 frames to 7. He defeated Ray Reardon in the same year at the Pontins International, and did the same to Dennis Taylor in the Professional Snooker League. His professional career lasted from 1976 to 1994 while he was doing Big Break, although the year before he turned professional he became runner-up to Ray Reardon at the Pontins Spring Open.
I always thought of Virgo as someone who was in a neutral capacity in snooker, or even an ambassador for the sport rather than an actual player, probably because his playing days were more or less during the early 1980s in which my memory doesn't quite go back that far. The neutral capacity I think was not only as a commentator, but as the referee in residence just outside the sport; such an example was his portrayal as the straight-man and stooge to funnyman [sic] Jim Davidson on the 1990s sports show Big Break which was influenced by shows such as Bullseye. Here, Virgo invited his snooker colleagues which he had played with on the professional circuit to "pot as many balls as you can", (the plural of the word "ball" was supposed to raise a slight amount humour in true Davidson level, almost). In response we would see incumbents and veterans such as Jimmy White, Tony Meo or Joe Johnson break a triangle of 10 reds and pot them within 40 seconds - the record was that only nine of them was potted in that time. John Virgo was to Big Break what the late Tony Green was to Bullseye - part of a double act especially during the opening gambits in most episodes.
Aside from "pot as many balls..." Virgo's other man catchphrase was "where's the cue ball going?" with colour variations for other snooker balls, usually reds, but it was mostly the cue ball, for a four-point foul beckoned had it had gone in the net pocket. His Manchester accent was vulnerable for the impersonators to tackle, and even Jim Davidson frequently attempted it, false stubble as well just like he did in one of the Snooker Scrapbook episodes made in around 1996. He was someone who could be serious but at the same time, could take humour from anyone, especially those from within the professional snooker circuit. The 1986 novelty hit Snooker Loopy gave a chance for Virgo to team up with his professional colleagues, not to mention Chas and Dave (who, the deceased one, I started an obituary on here in 2018). I even managed to get a signed photograph of Virgo around 20 years ago. During the midst of Big Break in the mid 1990s, I do remember that when I did work experience, the Managing Director of the organisation I was at looked quite like John Virgo! I never mentioned this at the time, of course...
It is a shock when I saw this news mentioned on another forum. My sympathies go to Virgo's family, friends and his snooker colleagues. He certainly potted as many balls as he could during his professional career in snooker.
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