by elliott west
Before the known faces of the modern game, one of the trailblazers of Irish snooker was Jackie Rea. The man from Dungannon held the Irish national title for twenty years between 1952 and 1972 and also reached the 1957 World Championship final where he was he was beaten by the victor, John Pulman, 39-34. These were the days when snooker finals lasted for weeks with many frames and little money and applause for the champion. Jackie was amongst a band of brothers who pushed snooker out of the wilderness and showcased the merit of this game of brinkmanship and mental aptitude. This point was proved when Rea competed in the 1957 World Championship when he was only one of four entries for the tournament.
Rea, like so many other players never quite made it in snooker on English soil but did grasp one piece of silverware when he won the News of the World Championship in 1954 and 1955, winning £500. Ironically his twenty year reign in 1972 was ended by Alex Higgins, the same year he won the World Championship for the first time. This win was in my opinion significant because it passed the mantle of modernisation from Rea to Higgins. We all know what Alex did for the game and moved it from a game of continuous safety to one of attacking play and “naughty snooker “. Jackie was also considered by many to be seen as a father figure to Higgins, encouraging this Irish firebrand and persuading him to travel to England in order to pursue a career as a professional player. Higgins was always grateful for Rea’s wisdom and this be seen when Jackie was invited to Alex’s wedding in Manchester in 1980.
Rea played in an era where little money grew on the snooker tree and so he and others had to graft with their cues. The tournaments in these days were a small part of a snooker player’s daily crust and so it was crucial if they wanted to earn more that they showed their faces and pressed the flesh in exhibitions in working mens’ clubs and holiday camps. Aside from playing other players, the exhibition was also a perfect opportunity to show their own brand of trick shots to an enthralled audience. Like John Virgo and Dennis Taylor, Rea combined trick shots with humour and this perfect combination worked so well for him when his professional career ended and kept his cue out of the case until he finally closed it for good and retired in 1990.
Rea was one of the last players to have been there when the final match was played in the iconic Leicester Square Hall in 1955 before the doors were closed for the final time. A protege of Joe Davis, Davis always kept Rea under his wing and never forgot the moment when a young Jackie presented Davis with a silver cigarette stand when he made his 500th century break at Leicester Square in 1953. Rea was also one of the original players invited by Ted Lowe to compete in the first series of Pot Black in 1969 and went on to play in the second series. After retirement, Rea went on to be a coach in his local club, Hazelgrove Snooker Club where he coached the youngsters. Jackie passed away in 2013, aged 92 in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester.
