By Elliott West
Introduction
The bedrock of any snooker player has to be his wife. They are the ones that are often the unrecognised people who are there for their loved ones through the highs and lows, the victories and defeats. Some choose to watch their man on the big stage from the shadows of the auditorium, picked out by a cameraman during the heat of battle while others avoid the ferocity of the media glare, preferring to stay at home, supporting them from afar.
It is a role that is not gone into likely and involves large periods of time away from their snooker partners. Unlike most relationships, your love has to be slightly stronger and be prepared to endure the eye of the snooker storm. Whether waiting patiently at home for your loved one to return or sitting perched on the edge of your seat, frame after frame, this crucial partnership between wife and player is self-evident. Every player needs a support mechanism and the person closest to your heart is usually the one that is the best to make this work.
The True Success
Behind every great man is a great woman and in this piece, I will try to open your eyes to some of the great wives and girlfriends we have in snooker. A very poignant relationship for me has to be the one between Neil Robertson and his wife Millie. Unknown to many, Neil’s wife suffered from a very bout of depression in 2017. This left her husband helpless and often struggling to cope with the day to day life of being a father and a snooker player.
Neil and Millie Robertson
Having suffered from anxiety and depression for several years, Millie’s plight led to Neil dropping down to 20th in the rankings and missing the Masters, the first occasion in ten years. Mental illness is often seen as a stigma, the unmentioned illness but Neil and Millie had to go back to basics and Neil was the support for his wife when he began to understand the reasoning for her anguish. It was only then that help could be sought and a slow recovery achieved. A process where Neil attended his wife’s counselling sessions to learn more and to support her through the process. Thankfully she is now fully recovered and the couple recently had a stunning wedding day.
“It took two or three years to actually work out what was going on, what is anxiety? First of all, learning that Mille did have anxiety, then working out what it is and how to treat it. So we went through some really tough times, especially when I was away for long periods of time. There was a time when I was only practising 45 minutes a day, that’s all I could really manage before I came home to help her through the day.”
Neil Robertson
Mark and Sally King
Mark King has had some dark days during his time as a professional snooker player. A battle with a gambling addiction put a huge strain on his relationship with his wife Sally and led him to later say that he treated her like “absolute crap” during this period of their relationship. King had accumulated over £1 million pounds since he first turned professional in 1991 but sadly this money gradually diminished through his addiction.
However, King had an epiphany moment in snooker when he won his first title in 2016, winning his first title in a 25-year drought, the Northern Ireland Open. Coming to Belfast with a loan from his guiding light in life, Dad Bill, Mark went on to win the title and the £70,000 winner’s prize, a complete reversal of his fortunes that had previously left him “without a tenner in the bank”.
This led to fans witnessing probably one of the most emotional winners’ “ speeches that have occurred in snooker history, up there with Alex Higgins winning his second World Championship title in 1982. A fitting one to Alex to a tournament and trophy that is dedicated to his memory. A victory that came from the love and strength of his wife Sally, his renewed dedication to the practice table, the constant support of his Dad, Bill and weekly visits to Gamblers Anonymous.
“My wife’s been unbelievable. (The) last few years, I used to (do) compulsive gambling, treated her like absolute c**p and she stuck with me. She’s been an absolute rock. I looked at them and said ‘am I dreaming?”‘
Mark King
Mark and Vikki Selby
Cue sports run through this dedicated relationship with Mark and Vicki previously having been pool players. One poignant moment came in 2011 when the couple were due to get married. However, at the time of this important life moment, Mark was due to compete in the World Championship. Realising the importance of this moment for her fiancé, she agreed to postpone the planning of the wedding until after the tournament. Ironically Mark only made the second round.
John and Denise Higgins
Denise has been by her husband’s side throughout his snooker career, having been married for 21 years. To this day, when John travels to tournaments, Denise always packs his suitcase. A task that was previously undertaken by his mother. His wife gets everything ready on the bed and irons his clothes, even to the point of getting it ready for the next time he goes away.
“I put everything on the bed and say, ‘Can you put that in for me?”
John Higgins
The couple know each other so well that they once won the top prize of £30,000 for Denise answering four questions about John in a celebrity edition of Mr and Mrs in 2012. John blindfolded and with headphones, sat in a concealed booth while his wife answered the questions that Philip Scofield and Fern Britton posed to her and John matched them when out of isolation, even answering the tricky last question of Denise’s shoe size that he usually gets wrong by thinking it is a size 5 when it is actually a 6.
Mark and Joanne Williams
If it hadn’t been for Joanne, Mark would have definitely put his cue away for good by now. The pair who married in 2011, persuaded her husband not to give up and it was largely due to this tactic that Mark went on to win the 2018 World Championship, defeating John Higgins 18-16 in the final. A man who loves nothing more than a game of golf or time away in his caravan with his family, Joanne warned him prior to this victory, when retirement thoughts were in his head:
“Last year I was seriously thinking of giving up, she (wife Joanne) said I can’t sleep in the house 24 hours a day”.
Mark Williams
Afterthought
Some have failed over the years but the majority of snooker marriages have managed to last the course of time, weathering the bad times and embracing all the good ones. Snooker can be a very ferocious game that spits out its losers to lick their wounds and regroup before the next tournament. Through these times, a snooker player’s wife is their rock, their reality beyond the game and the vital support and love needed when it is needed most. They are the hidden heroes of snooker and should be recognised and praised for their constant efforts. Without them, snooker wouldn’t be such a colourful place and the players would definitely struggle more on this arduous journey on the main snooker tour.
