By Elliott West
“I have arthritis in both knees and my neck, pins in knees in my hands and a frozen shoulder and I nearly forgot I take tablets for a heart condition. Apart from all that, I am fit as a fiddle”.
Cliff Wilson
Introduction
1994 was a poignant year in the snooker diary because it was the year we lost one of the Welsh greats, Cliff Wilson. Despite having written several pieces about this Welsh snooker player, I never get tired of him because he just was a class act. Yes, he could be blunt and straight-talking but he was also enigmatic and you could pick him out in any room from his infectious laugh. Originally from Tredegar, South Wales, Cliff never lost his roots and was very proud of the coal mining and steelworks community he grew up in.
Wilson represents a classic example of how snooker used to be played, the chatter of Welsh voices, the spluttering gas lamps over the snooker table and dank smells of cigarette smoke and beer combined. This was snooker in its infancy and its rawest, where players scratched around for a few quid in money games and worried about where the next meal would come from.
Comedy at its Best
Cliff was always best known for entertaining a crowd and this was apparent in his public and personal life. Wilson was a keen angler and back in 1989, he was playing in the Dubai Classic when in between matches, he was offered the chance to go on a fishing trip in a boat out in the Persian Gulf. You must already be thinking, when is the punchline coming? Well, it’s coming now, they went out on the boat and it broke down in the middle of the Gulf. In the middle of the confusion, they only caught one fish and in the heat of soaring temperatures of over 100 degrees, not knowing how long they would be there? Cliff entertained the party with his brand of Welsh humour despite several being Arabic speakers, an example of how laughter and body language can overcome any language barrier.
Throughout his career, Wilson was plagued with poor eyesight and had to wear glasses with thick lenses to see. However, he always made light of the situation, once saying:
“My left eye is no good under 20 yards and my right eye is useless over 12 inches”.
Cliff Wilson
So it is a wonder that he could produce the quality brand of snooker that he was known for, fast, attacking, high scoring and producing long pots that the snooker gods would be envious of. Speak to any snooker player or fan, who spent time with him or watched him and the first thing you will notice is that their faces will light up and a broad grin will appear. He was just instantly likeable and played a style of snooker that drew in the crowds and ultimately put bums on seats.
Cliff’s most memorable victory as a professional came in 1991 when he claimed the £16,000 prize in the World Seniors Championship in Stoke-on-Trent with a 5-4 win over Eddie Charlton in the final. A match where at one point, it looked like Wilson lose at 4-2 down to the Australian. However, a miss on the blue in the seventh frame, led to Cliff clearing up and winning the frame 69-65 followed by two half-centuries to claim the title.
As he was famed for, the media interview after was never shy of a laugh with the wisecracks flowing throughout the episode. When probed on the win by journalists, Wilson replied:
“My last amateur title was the Christmas Handicap at my local club in 1961. This victory was my season, perhaps now I will get a few more bookings from the nursing homes in my area”.
Cliff Wilson
The Welshman lived out his later years in Portskewett, near Caldicot, Gwent with his devoted wife Val. Cliff often spoke to his wife of retiring and spending more time holidaying and fishing in the Canary Islands but sadly it never came to pass. Instead, Wilson passed his time drinking tea and getting up early to watch breakfast television in his Welsh home. A player who will always be dearly remembered and taken from this earth far too soon but wherever he is now, you can bet your bottom dollar that he is making an angel laugh!
