Ray Reardon RIP

Offset · July 20

Absolutely top bloke. Part of my childhood. Very sad.

tone1 · July 20

I played Ray back in the 80’s as he lived near me in Brixham, and I took him to the pink ball (he won)….then he had a 120 break in the next frame. Absolute Gentleman RIP

Dodge · July 20

Just saw this - one of the greats.

Kittyfrisk · July 20

One of the old school greats. RIP Dracula.

Funkfingers · July 20

Legend.

guitars4you · July 20

Offset said:

Absolutely top bloke. Part of my childhood. Very sad.

I'm pretty certain that my earliest memories of snooker were from Pot Black - As such Ray was part n parcel of such a show - This would be way before we got blanket covering via TV then Sky - Not sure when the World Championship first appeared on TV, so not sure when I first watched it - Earliest memory was when they broke in to the TV coverage in 1980 for the Iran Embassy Siege, but can't recall to much before then

So yes Pot Black and Ray was part of my childhood - RIP Ray

sev112 · July 20

They all looked so old, even in the 70s

DiscoStu · July 20

Top bloke. RIP

Jfingers · July 20

Another one who remembers him from childhood and thought of him as Dracula. RIP Ray.

Jonathangus · July 20

Great player who didn't take himself too seriously. RIP, Ray.

Offset · July 20

guitars4you said:

Earliest memory was when they broke in to the TV coverage in 1980 for the Iran Embassy Siege, but can't recall to much before then

Bloody hell Mark!!! Just remembered where I was (my local pub) and what I was doing (drinking!)

Kebabkid · July 20

Ah, that's sad and I'm another with childhood memories of RR but also because my dear late dad looked like him, Dracula/Christopher Lee and everyone used to say that.
RIP

swiller · July 20

Pure gentleman of snooker and very funny. And a welshman, what more do you want. Hope to see some tributes to him on tv etc. Sure he was the goat before the likes of hendry/davis.
RIP

Blaendulais · July 20

Such a class man with such poise. A great player

Bellycaster · July 20

Very sad, I loved those days of Snooker back then. He had a bloody good innings though, old lad!

guitars4you · July 20

Offset said:

guitars4you said:

Earliest memory was when they broke in to the TV coverage in 1980 for the Iran Embassy Siege, but can't recall to much before then

Bloody hell Mark!!! Just remembered where I was (my local pub) and what I was doing (drinking!)

Just looked at world champion winners in the 70's and I can't recall watching any of them win - Don't recall what TV coverage we had then - But can recall that year (1980) and Cliff Thorburn beating Alex - It was certainly a 'where were you when ' moment in time because of that 'interruption' and the SAS knock at the door and can we come in

hollywoodrox · July 20

R.i.p Ray , wasn’t a snooker fan but remember him being on something like bbc2 on Saturday night before a horror film came on when I was about 8 & at my friends house . A very sad loss

Philly_Q · July 21

He wasn't immortal after all then?

guitars4you said:
Just looked at world champion winners in the 70's and I can't recall watching any of them win - Don't recall what TV coverage we had then - But can recall that year (1980) and Cliff Thorburn beating Alex - It was certainly a 'where were you when ' moment in time because of that 'interruption' and the SAS knock at the door and can we come in

I don't think there was really any significant TV coverage of snooker in the 1970s, other than Pot Black. When Terry Griffiths won the world championship, as a qualifier, in 1979 (the year I did my O Levels) it was big news in South Wales but I didn't see any of it on TV. However, Wikipedia tells me that by that time the BBC had daily highlights programmes and limited coverage of the final.

Still remember old Ray as a familiar figure in the 1980s though, and John Virgo's impressions of him.

RIP

Offset · July 21

hollywoodrox said:

R.i.p Ray , wasn’t a snooker fan but remember him being on something like bbc2 on Saturday night before a horror film came on

He wasn't on before the horror film - he was in it :-)

EricTheWeary · July 21

Philly_Q said:

He wasn't immortal after all then?
guitars4you said:
Just looked at world champion winners in the 70's and I can't recall watching any of them win - Don't recall what TV coverage we had then - But can recall that year (1980) and Cliff Thorburn beating Alex - It was certainly a 'where were you when ' moment in time because of that 'interruption' and the SAS knock at the door and can we come in

I don't think there was really any significant TV coverage of snooker in the 1970s, other than Pot Black. When Terry Griffiths won the world championship, as a qualifier, in 1979 (the year I did my O Levels) it was big news in South Wales but I didn't see any of it on TV. However, Wikipedia tells me that by that time the BBC had daily highlights programmes and limited coverage of the final.

Still remember old Ray as a familiar figure in the 1980s though, and John Virgo's impressions of him.

RIP

I’m fairly sure Pot Black was designed as a fairly cheap way to show off/ create colour television and accidentally made household names out of snooker players and the game moved from pubs to halls. Ray was one of that generation when we all knew the names of about five snooker players. I’m sure I remember him on Parkinson armed with many anecdotes.

RIP.

thermionic · July 22

Absolute legend. Watch this short clip.

https://youtu.be/qM68LB2c9No?si=4m6-XLCM1Fo2wcFq

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Ray Reardon RIP

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