Farewell Dracula! Ray Reardon was snooker’s bon vivant who dodged death down the pits to dominate the Seventies

Ray Reardon was fortunate that his peak as a snooker player coincided with the advent of colour television. And snooker was fortunate that as its star it had a champion with such an easy-going charisma.

Reardon won the world title six times and dominated the 1970s. With his sleek hair and fangs, he was famous as ‘Dracula’, one of the most recognisable characters in the larger-than-life cast that transcended snooker during its cultural heyday.

Reardon, one of the greatest talents of all time and later mentor to Ronnie O’Sullivan, died of cancer on Friday at the age of 91.

Nowadays players appear unshaven and without a tie, but the old cueman was always impeccably dressed. He was known as a man of wit, words, warmth and wisdom. There was much laughter wherever he went.

This uncle-like image helped to make the 1984 revelation of his eight-year affair with Carol Covington, who later became his second wife, a major scandal.

Reardon, one of the greatest talents of all time and later mentor to Ronnie O’Sullivan, died of cancer on Friday at the age of 91.

Born in Tredegar, high in the Welsh valleys, he followed his father, Ben, down the pits. An accident a mile underground nearly cost him his life. A roof collapsed. He first felt a trickle of earth on his helmet. Alert to the danger, he threw himself to the ground. A 12ft beam fell, trapping him in a pile of rubble.

He recalls: ‘My ordeal left me feeling a bit like a dirty dishcloth and as the blood began to rush through my numb legs I screamed in pain.’ To get through the three hours he had to wait for rescue, he played imaginary marbles with his brother Ron.

Experience taught him that throwing 21 balls on a green table never created pressure. By the time he turned professional in 1969 at the age of 35, he had also spent some time in the police force, PC 184 in Stoke-on-Trent.

He received two awards for bravery: one for climbing onto a roof to apprehend a burglar, and the other for approaching an armed man who was planning to kill his daughter’s boyfriend, who had gotten her pregnant and refused to fulfill his responsibilities.

A sea of ​​shoppers was outside when the radio message came in that the shooter was approaching. Reardon told everyone to get out of the way. When he saw the suspect approaching, he realized he knew him, took off his helmet and said, “Jack, it’s me. Ray. I live on Bath Street, around the corner from you. Don’t do it, Jack.” Reardon walked with him to the police station.

Reardon was born in Tredegar, at the top of the Welsh valleys, and began his career as a coal miner

Reardon first built his snooker reputation in the amateur world before becoming a star of the sport

There were few professional players at the time and Reardon first built his snooker reputation on the amateur scene. Colour television brought him wider exposure when Pot Black was launched on the BBC in 1969. He was the first winner of the tournament. The snooker boom had begun.

World Championship successes came in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, aged 45 and 203 days. It was the first World Championship to be televised daily and his only victory at the Crucible. Reardon was the oldest champion until O’Sullivan took the title in 2022, aged 46 years and 148 days.

It was fitting that the tactically astute Reardon would coach the tear-jerking, brilliant Ronnie. He had known more unpredictable characters, mind you. One of them, Alex Higgins. ‘Jekyll and Hyde,’ Reardon said of the volatile Irishman. ‘One minute as good as pie; the next minute as bad as you can get.’

Reardon, a father of two by his first wife Sue, remained with Carol, spending his last 40 years in Devon. A bon vivant, whose tastes were not diminished by an embolism five years ago, he continued to play snooker and golf, becoming president of Churston Golf Club. He carried a competitive spirit to the end.