“Give up that game Doherty, there’s no future in snooker, you’ll need an education to get a real job”.
Ken Doherty’s teacher
Introduction
To celebrate St Patrick’s Day, I thought it would be fitting to take a nostalgic stroll down Ken Doherty’s life path. Anyone who knows Ken will tell you that he is one of the most friendly and genuine people you could meet and I have been lucky enough to have been a friend of his for several years, a man who I can vouch is the life and soul of any party. His laugh is instantly recognisable and he probably has more colourful socks than anyone else I know. So let’s rewind the clock and take a look at one of the true characters of snooker, a player who is so Irish that he could be found floating in a pint of Guinness and someone that has more snooker stories that could fill the pages of an old telephone directory.
The Joys of Youth
Ken’s love for snooker can be traced back to when he was eight years old. The spark that ignited his flame for snooker was, of course, the iconic BBC programme, Pot Black. Ken used to sit in front of the television with his Dad, the days when there were only three television channels and you had to get up and change the channel by pressing one of the three buttons. It gave a new meaning to couch hopping. Ken’s Dad, like so many at the time, was a massive Ray Reardon fan. Ray, of course, came from Tredegar in South Wales, a land sprinkled with coal dust and working-class culture. However, Reardon had that prowess and swagger of his Cork ancestral name, a magical touch that the Doherty household loved. He was the Ying to Alex Higgins’ Yang, a snooker symphony when they played each other. They created the chemical formula that caused Ken Doherty to fall in love with snooker.
After this Road to Damascus moment, Father Christmas brought him a small snooker table in the dying hours of Christmas Eve to the bottom of his bunk bed, a table that was two feet by one in dimensions. It was a table that would bring him and his brothers many hours of joy, positioned on the kitchen table after his Mum had cleared the dinner plates away. Ken never won those early games, it was always his brothers who had the upper hand. He just couldn’t get the hang of the game, a learning curve that took several years to master.
So enamoured was Ken with snooker that he begged his brother Seamus to take him to the local snooker club, Jason’s in Raleigh, a club that was famous locally and first opened in 1976. This snooker club had only just opened and was an Aladdin’s cave of gaming activities. As well as having a snooker table and a pool table, it had a jukebox, space invaders’ machines and an Evil Knievel pinball machine. The club was a hub of the community and had a magnetic force that many were drawn to. However, Ken was only allowed to go there on a Sunday afternoon for an hour-long treat.
Ken was vertically challenged at the time and a full-sized snooker table must have looked the size of a football pitch at the time for this young boy. He had to stand on an old metal biscuit tin to play a shot and kick it across the floor to play his next. This love for snooker and this glorious Irish snooker club would just go from strength to strength. So much so that when he got off the bus from school, he would run to Jason’s and throw his school bag under the snooker table. However, to be able to play, he had to earn the privilege, of emptying the ashtrays, sweeping the floor or emptying the bins. It was worth it just to get a free game of snooker or a go on the space invaders’ machine.
The Golden Opportunity
These were fond and magical days for Ken. In Jason’s, Doherty started beating the older lads who played there. So much so that his battered biscuit tin was often hidden to try and put him off. By chance, someone left their snooker cue at the club one day in the cue rack. Ken knew every cue in the club like the back of his hand and instantly knew that this one was lonely and out of place with the rest. Ken was even crafty then and decided to pick it up and have a go with it and of course, it was perfect, it fitted like a glove. Doherty cheekily went up to the bar and asked the manager if no one claimed it, could he have it? The manager replied yes and that he could have it for the princely sum of five pounds. This was his snooker epiphany, Ken ran home and begged his Mum to give him the fiver required. His Mum knew how badly her son wanted a cue so he succumbed.
Doherty thanked his Mum and went to the local post office, going to the counter and changing the note for five smaller one-pound notes. He put three in his pocket and kept two in his hand. He then returned to the club to buy his beloved cue. Ken cheekily explained to the manager that he didn’t have five pounds, explaining that his Mam could only afford two pounds. The manager agreed and so fell for the ploy, hook, line and sinker. This second-hand cue, slightly warped and battered, would go on to be Ken’s winning hand for his entire career, from junior to world champion. A burning desire that was first fueled by his Dad’s love of snooker.
Tragedy Strikes
One day when Ken was playing in Jason’s, a childhood period where his Mum literally had to come to the club and prise him off the table, chasing him home like something out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon with a wooden spoon, he received the devastating news that his beloved Dad had a heart attack. His Father had been walking back home from his sister’s school play and collapsed in the street. He was rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital but died two days later. A tragic loss for someone who was only thirteen years old at the time. Anyone who has lost a parent will know how difficult the grief of loss is to bear. His Dad never got to see Ken play as an amateur professional and missed out on the chance to meet the game’s legends such as Alex Higgins, Jimmy White of his hero Ray Reardon.
Help at Hand
Ken’s Mum literally had to pick up the pieces after losing her beloved husband and raise four children single-handedly. Thankfully, the Cosgrove family who owned Jason’s Snooker Club helped the young Ken, giving him free practice sessions and later sponsorship in local tournaments. This support was vital and help that Doherty is eternally thankful for. Without them, he may not have even continued on his snooker journey and may have had to abandon his dream. This support also came from his school but it wasn’t clearly apparent. His teacher would constantly mither him for his school absences, 25 days in one term on one occasion. Ken cheekily replied:
“Funny you should say that sir, I’m off to New Zealand to play in the World Amateur Championships. I’ll be back in three weeks.”
Ken Doherty
It would be inadvertent help that he would remember in later years, donating two snooker tables to his old school and helping them fundraise for school equipment. These school days helped him gain the courage to travel to the city centre with just five pounds in his pocket and play the older lads for cash in clubs such as the Cosmo, the Home of Billiards and the Pierrot. Fond memories and a crucial part of his early snooker career. A journey that would go on to see him leave school and travel to England with just five hundred pounds in his back pocket to pursue his snooker dream.
Afterthoughts
Ken Doherty would go on to win six ranking titles including becoming world champion in 1997. Still a professional today, Ken is loved by his fans and is a true survivor of the game. A proud Father, he still remains a valued ambassador for snooker as a player and commentator. He has his finger on the pulse of the game and works tirelessly throughout the year, doing a number of exhibitions across the UK and Ireland. A true gem to know and someone whose friendship is cherished.
