Words matter. These are the best John Virgo Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
The game really started in 1969 with Pot Black, but in 1970, along came Alex Higgins and the game took off.
I never sat any exams at school. Our family situation meant that as soon as I was able to go out and get a job, I got one.
I was doing commentary for the BBC and had exhibition work but if you’re not winning you are not earning as much. And when you’re seen as a successful sportsman, people assume you’re earning a good living. There was pressure on me to have the newest car, a more expensive holiday. It was all about keeping up appearances.
Particularly now with social media, you only need to turn round and someone will have a camera in your face and occasionally someone will be talking to you at the bar, asking you to pose for a picture, and someone will say, ‘They’re videoing this.’ They’re videoing you at the bar!
You can’t be giggling and joking when you miss a shot in the modern game – not like the way when Ray Reardon used to do.
I like ‘Frasier,’ I find it very funny.
At the end of the day, life is a gamble, isn’t it? A lot of it is sheer luck.
I don’t mind cheese with a nice glass of port, but I prefer chocolate.
I have never invested directly in stocks and shares. That’s never been my type of speculation.
I don’t like tea that’s too sweet.
People often talk about George Best and Alex Higgins as two similar personalities… but the truth is that Best did not like Alex.
I went through a period when I was addicted to gambling. It was a compulsion that I struggled to get to grips with. By 1990, it was in danger of ruining my life.
In 1983, I played in a new tournament called the Professional Snooker League. I won eight of my 11 matches, beating Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and Dennis Taylor, among others.
I remember that if you went down to the Crucible or other snooker tournaments it was all the snooker writers, and then all of a sudden when the game became popular on television it wasn’t only snooker writers: it was what we called special correspondents.
I get the ‘Daily Mirror,’ purely and simply because they put the Racing Post prices in.
When the results weren’t coming on the snooker table, I tried to supplement things by gambling on horses even more.
When I started playing all the players were trying to sell the game of snooker. Nowadays the prize money is so great, competing in tournaments is no laughing matter.
Cricket had John Arlott, Wimbledon had Dan Maskell, we had Ted Lowe. He was great.
