“WHERE’s the cue-ball going?!”
It is a phrase that John Virgo probably said a million times into a microphone whenever he was covering a snooker match.
But while it was an often-repeated refrain that everyone knew was coming whenever the white was flying towards a pocket, it was something we all wanted to hear as TV viewers.
At a time when television bosses have this strange obsession in appealing to the youth, or persist with annoying, talkative commentators, Virgo – still sharp as a tack until his dying day – chose the right words at the right times, giving snooker fans that audio comfort blanket which they had heard for decades.
Virgo, who was still working until his death, passed away peacefully overnight aged 79 at his home near Malaga, Spain – he is survived by his wife and two children, a daughter and son.
Only last month, as Kyren Wilson became a maiden Masters champion, Virgo was still working for the BBC, reassuring everybody that they fully knew where the cue-ball was going.
There was a time a few years ago when the Beeb tried to retire him and Dennis Taylor, too, but there was a strong fans’ backlash that reserved the decision.
He had the best seat in the house when it came to the top-class action and everyone wanted him there.
Only last week, he was working with Steve Davis and Taylor on a 1985 Black Ball reunion.
This spring, he was planning to fly to Ireland for an event and then it was the huge stint in Sheffield for the back-to-back World Championship and the World Seniors at the Crucible.
Virgo, who would have turned 80 on March 4, wanted to carry on commentating into his ninth decade and had no intentions to hang up the mic.
As a player, his best year on the table came in 1979 when he made the semi-finals of the World Championship but his path was blocked 19-12 by Taylor – that was the closest he got in 14 visits to the Crucible.
His crowning moment came a few months later when he lifted the UK Championship at the Preston Guild Hall – he beat world champion Terry Griffiths 14-13 in the final – which means he is a Triple Crown winner.
However, he arrived late for the final session – it had been brought forward by an hour without his knowledge to be shown on BBC Grandstand.
And the final frames, the pinnacle of his playing days, were never broadcast anywhere due to industrial strike by the then TV crew.
Though he did not win as much as his contemporaries – the likes of Ray Reardon, his close pal Alex Higgins or Davis, his legacy far outreaches numbers and trophies.
Virgo was the first cueist to branch out into entertainment, something he did to enormous success.
Though he would jokily paint himself as a “dour northern socialist”, Virgo loved nothing more than entertaining the masses with his words and trick-shot skills.
Your correspondent fell in love with snooker by watching the popular Big Break quiz show in the 1990s, which Virgo co-hosted with wise-cracking comedian Jim Davidson – I was one of 14 million Brits that tuned in every Saturday night.
Born in Salford, less than six months after the end of the Second World War, Virgo lived a colourful life, which saw him mix with showbiz pals.
His recollections would go back as far as October 1955 when he first stood in the stands of Old Trafford, watching the formation of the Busby Babes.
A Manchester United starting XI this proud son of a Salford docks crane driver could still recount with 100% accuracy when he sat down with SunSport for a chat in April 2023.
His was a journey that encompassed the smoky snooker halls of Greater Manchester and Lancashire in the 60s and 70s.
Days when he would knock in some balls while being watched quietly by close friend George Best, fresh from United training at The Cliff.
It was a career that saw him play over a 12×6-foot table against icons Davis, Higgins and Jimmy White.
Three years ago, when it was announced he was going to be inducted into the World Snooker Tour’s Hall of Fame, Virgo talked about his amazing life and how he never took it for granted.
He said: “Listen, I’m never going to complain about the way it has turned out. Because I always feel I’m very lucky.
“I do these exhibition evenings with Steve and Dennis.
“We all say this as the bottom line – we feel lucky we walked into a snooker club with our ripped trousers and we managed to be good at a game that took us all around the world.
“Particularly as someone coming from Salford – I consider that to be a right result.”
On the theme of his comms world, Virgo added at the time: “A good friend of mine, the late golf commentator Peter Alliss, said to me: ‘I love the commentary John but don’t you think you’re getting a bit too excited?’
“I said it adds to the theatre. I want to get the viewers involved and enjoying it. If I do that, I feel I’ve done my job.
“When I commentate I do so for the people at home. But because of the earpieces, it’s upon us that when players actually go down for a shot, we don’t say a word.
“Then there’s no chance the players are going to hear it via the earpieces. A few of the new guys, they’re talking while they’re playing the shot.
“They’ll learn. I had to learn with these earpieces. And I try to be disciplined.
“I’d love to carry on as long as I can but I’m not a fool.
“I don’t want to wish my life away. As Dennis Taylor says: ‘We’ll keep talking until someone tells us to stop!’”
