John Virgo was described as “part of snooker’s furniture and history” as many of the sport’s greats descended on Sheffield Cathedral for a memorial service for the former player, commentator and Salford success story.
Virgo, who died in February aged 79, won the 1979 UK Championship a few months after reaching the World Championship semi-finals, but he was perhaps more well-known for his broadcasting career.
Six-time world champion Steve Davis was among those in attendance at the memorial, alongside Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White, John Parrott, Dennis Taylor, Ken Doherty and Virgo’s widow Rosie Ries.
Davis told the Press Association: “We’re going to miss him dearly. A great commentator but a good friend to us all, he made you feel very special.
“We all thought we were friends with John because he had a great heart and he was funny, sometimes cantankerous but we loved him for that.
“All in all, he was part of snooker’s furniture, he was part of snooker’s history and a wonderful commentator. He got the best out of every match.”
Born in Salford March 4, 1946, the youngest of five siblings, to William, a crane driver in the docks, and his wife Florence, a shop assistant, Virgo began to practise the trick shots he would become renowned for on a table he was bought at eight years old, in the two-up two-down terraced house on Robertson Street, off Eccles New Road.
As a youngster, Virgo attended Trafford Road Boys School and then Ordsall Secondary Modern School. Despite his protests, he was forbidden by his parents from attending the local billiards club on Small Street, affectionately dubbed ‘Pill Hall’ by locals. When Virgo left education to begin work as a runner at engineering firm Bannister Walton, the ban was lifted and his ascent to the upper echelons of the sport began.
Instead, the snooker ace realised he could supplement his day job earnings by gambling on games played in the evenings, such was his skill that Virgo often bet he could beat opponents while restricted to potting only the yellow when they were on a colour. He regularly played frames for cash against punters in Broughton’s famous Potters Snooker Club, competing alongside the best players the country had to offer.
Virgo honed his craft in those humble surroundings and won the 1979 UK Championship final against reigning world champion Terry Griffiths, despite being docked two frames.
Current players on the tour turned out to celebrate the life of the Salford snooker star, including John Higgins, Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson.
After retiring from snooker, Virgo went on to present the popular BBC show Big Break alongside comedian Jim Davidson, which introduced the sport to younger audiences on primetime Saturday night television when it aired between 1991 and 2002.
Virgo was also a renowned commentator with the BBC and while his oft-repeated catchphrase ‘where’s the cue ball going?’ became synonymous with viewers, his passion for the sport also shone through.
Davis said: “John said that was his biggest moment in his career, not winning the 79 UK Championship but getting the phone call to go on Big Break.
“I think it helped another generation to appreciate snooker and he used that as a springboard to (a) wonderful commentary (career).
“As Stephen Hendry said in the memorial service, when you looked at the rota and saw you were commentating with John, you were delighted because you knew it was going to be a fun day and a good day.”
As for his standout memory of his former colleague, Davis drew attention to Virgo trying to console him after he famously lost the ‘black ball final’ to Taylor at the 1985 World Championship.
Davis added: “I was crying my eyes out in the dressing room and the one person who knocked on the door to commiserate with me was John Virgo. He had a big heart.”
Parrott, the 1991 world champion, said Virgo left an indelible mark on the sport.
“If you mentioned John Virgo you knew it was snooker, simple as that,” he said. “People were comforted to listen to that same distinctive voice for all those years.
“Snooker is never quite going to be the same again I’m afraid.”
Virgo was also well-loved for his impressions of his fellow pros, which he would perform for the crowd at the Crucible if a match ended early.
“He was just a born entertainer,” said Taylor. “Everyone remembers his impersonations of all the players.
“His impersonation of me was fairly easy to do, he had the biggest pair of glasses he could find anywhere and he’d turn the cue upside down and chalk the butt end. People found that very funny.”
This article includes additional reporting from David Charlesworth and Richard McCarthy of the Press Association.
