Ray Reardon: Goodbye old friend

It’s with immense disappointment that we study snooker legend Ray Reardon has handed away on the age of 91 after a battle with most cancers.

Ray was a six-time World champion and made Torbay his house, spending a lot of his last years on the greens of Churston Golf Membership.

We thank-you Ray for the wonderful sporting reminiscences and beneath is his last ever interview with the Torbay Weekly’s David Fitzgerald:

I received a textual content a couple of days in the past from an outdated good friend of mine.

It merely learn: “I’ve at all times wished to beat my age on the snooker desk, and I’ve executed it, simply had a 100 break on the age of 91. Hope you’re nicely. All one of the best, Ray.”

The person who despatched this message has been an expensive good friend of mine for a few years, Ray Reardon, snooker ace, world champion, sensible golfer, however above all an absolute gentleman.

It dawned on me that now we have not seen one another for over 5 years, and we determined to satisfy up at Churston Golf Membership for a a lot overdue lunch.

“I’ve been President of Churston since 2001 and was the captain earlier than that,” he advised me, sat in what has change into generally known as ‘Ray’s Room’.  What are you taking part in off today? “The women tees!” He descends into giggles. His sense of humour is infectious.

“Truly, I don’t have a handicap any extra as I haven’t performed for over 18 months. Once I completed, I was off 10.6.”

However you could have performed snooker and with ‘some’ success! “Completely, a 100 break, couldn’t consider it. I at all times wished to beat my age… received a few 70s a while again and was pleased with that. “Then abruptly I did it … 100. Couldn’t consider it,” he repeats, clearly revelling within the achievement.

“There can’t be many, if any, individuals of their 90s which have had a 100 break, I have to be the one one on this planet. Sadly, there’s no one left from my snooker circuit who remains to be taking part in, come to think about it. I’ve outlived all people from my previous. All my faculty mates… everybody, seen all of them off.”

Ray has had an unimaginable previous profession and never simply on this planet of snooker. He has been a miner and a policeman however above all a champion. 

“Welsh novice champion six years operating from 1949-55 however I couldn’t defend it as a result of the mines have been expired, and we moved to Staffordshire.”

What number of occasions have been you World Champion? “Six occasions and earlier than you ask … no I didn’t win a fortune. The primary purse I picked up was £1,250 and in the direction of the tip, it was within the area of round £5,000. Nice cash for the time however nothing in comparison with as we speak. It wasn’t till the tv protection and the sponsorship got here in that the cash began to return in however that was after my time.”

Devon has been your house for a while?  “I had been dwelling in Brixham for 18 years after which moved over to Torquay and have been there for about the identical size of time. I got here down right here on tour and fell in love with the place. It’s magic and standing on that golf course you may be anyplace on this planet.”

Simply has he spoke the solar got here out over the bay. “Take a look at that, that may very well be Monte Carlo… lovely.”

Very totally different out of your days down the mines. “Completely! I received trapped underneath a roof cave-in. I used to be there for 3 hours, couldn’t open my eyes, needed to breathe via my nostril and all I did was play marbles with my brother … over and over … in my thoughts. Should have performed a thousand video games ready to be dug out.”

I left the champion with a promise that we might have a sport of snooker in 9 years’ time and see one other 100 break, this time from a 100 yr outdated. He accepted the problem.

RIP Ray Reardon.