John Virgo passes away (tributes) (1946 - 2026) (2) (UK) - UK News - 5/Feb/2026 скачать в хорошем качестве

John Virgo passes away (tributes) (1946 - 2026) (2) (UK) - UK News - 5/Feb/2026

John Virgo was old school. He had a string of one-liners down pat, a deep mine of anecdotes ready to roll out at any given moment, and a sureness of just how fortunate he had been to stumble on snooker. He died a month before his 80th birthday (4 March 1946 - 4 February 2026). Obituary report (1) yesterday here:    • John Virgo passes away (1946 - 2026) (1) (...   Born in Salford in March 1946 - just after World War Two - Virgo grew up with a passion for football, often playing with friends on bomb-hit wasteground. A Manchester United fan, he grew up adoring the Busby Babes, and the boyhood love for the Red Devils never left him. But Virgo's sporting future was not on the green grass. The green baize was where he would first make his mark. At the age of 12, Virgo stepped into a snooker club for the first time - seeking out a group of footballing friends. The mother of one of those boys - Alan 'Chinner' Heywood - had directed Virgo to the club off Trafford Road. Once there, Virgo's eyes lit up. His life would never quite be the same again. Despite his father, William, swiftly banning Virgo from the club, out of concerns for a boy so young treating such a venue of questionable repute as his playground, snooker had already won. "My father said it was a rat pen, a den of iniquity. I didn't even know those words," said Virgo, many years later. The ban didn't last long. Virgo, who has died at the age of 79, soon became the British Under-16 champion - a title future world champions Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams would later win. He became many things in life: a super snooker player by the standards of his day, an inveterate gambler whose habit almost destroyed him, a marvellous wit, a surprisingly excellent physical mimic who could send up a host of fellow cuemen, and a man who had a very firm grip on where the cue ball was going. There is an 'Obituaries' playlist on this channel under "People (& famous animals) - Obituaries (2016+)" & more information (description) here:    • People (& famous animals) - Obituaries (20...   #johnvirgo #RIP #Obituary Wikipedia: John Trevor Virgo was an English snooker player and commentator. Turning professional in 1976, Virgo won four professional titles, including the 1979 UK Championship, the 1980 Bombay International and the 1984 Professional Snooker League