John Virgo, Much-Loved Snooker Icon, Dies Age 79
John Virgo, a former UK Championship winner who was loved throughout the snooker world as a personality and commentator, has sadly passed away at the age of 79.
Just a few weeks ago Virgo was in his favourite position in the commentary box, at the Masters working for the BBC with typical sharpness and humour. However this morning it was confirmed that ‘JV’ had died in Spain, where he had lived in recent years. He is survived by his wife Rosie and children Gary and Brook-Leah.
Mark Selby wrote on X: “So sad to hear the news of the passing of John Virgo!!! Such a great guy and a huge character!! He Will be greatly missed! RIP JV.”
Neil Robertson added: “He was a great character and an amazing pundit and commentator. I had the pleasure of sharing the booth with him during the World Championship a couple of years ago in which I got a huge appreciation for how good he was. We’ve lost some great people of our game just recently which is incredibly sad.”
Born in Salford in 1946, Virgo turned pro in 1976 at a time when Ray Reardon, John Spencer and Alex Higgins were the dominant players. Just a year later he reached the semi-finals of the inaugural UK Championship, beaten narrowly 9-8 by eventual champion Patsy Fagan.
At the 1979 UK Championship, staged at the Guild Hall in Preston, Virgo knocked out Tony Meo, Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor to set up a final meeting with Terry Griffiths. He led 11-7 going into the second day of the final, but then arrived late at the venue due to a misunderstanding about the start time and was docked two frames. Griffiths battled back to lead 13-12, but Virgo was determined not to crumble and won the last two frames for a 14-13 victory. It proved the biggest moment of his playing career.
He also won the 1979 Bombay International, 1980 Pontins Professional and 1984 Professional Snooker League. He was in the field when the World Championship was first staged at the Crucible in 1977, losing 13-9 to Spencer in the opening round. Two years later he enjoyed a run to the semi-finals in Sheffield, beating Cliff Thorburn and Bill Werbeniuk before losing to Dennis Taylor. After that, he never made it past the last 16, beaten at that stage again in 1980, 1982, 1989 and 1990. He achieved his higest ranking of tenth in 1978 and eventually retired from the pro game in 1994.
It was away from the table that Virgo gained real celebrity. In 1991 he was asked to be the sidekick of host Jim Davison on the new snooker-themed quiz show Big Break, in which leading players took on a series of challenges, overseen by Virgo. “Pot as many balls as you can” became one of his catchphrases and the show gained huge popularity, screened in prime time on Saturday evenings on BBC One for 11 years until 2002. Virgo was also renowned for his trick shot routines and fantastic impressions of players such as Higgins, Reardon and Griffiths.
He began commentary for BBC in 1985, working alongside legends of the mic Ted Lowe and Clive Everton, and proved a natural in the role with a knack for adding drama to a big moment. His most famous catchphrase “where’s the cue ball going?” will surely be repeated by fans young and old for many years to come. That fact that he was commentating on the final of the Masters last month at the age of 79 underlines how highly rated he was as one of the great voices of snooker on television.
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