By Elliott West
“Without Frank Callan I am nothing. He has given me back my game. I can never repay Frank for what he has done for me. It is difficult on your own to find out what you have been doing wrong so I went to Frank Callan. He has helped me so much, he must be sick of seeing me. He should have the trophy; I owe it all to Frank.”
Doug Mountjoy praising Frank Callan after his 1988 UK Championship victory.
Introduction
I have written about the inspirational snooker coach Frank Callan before but feel the need to say something more about him. I can’t begin to explain what a pivotal figure was in the history of snooker. This former fishmonger who passed away in 2016 at the grand old age of 93, helped boost the careers of many snooker players including Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Terry Griffiths, John Parrott and Alison Fisher. However, the player that I want to concentrate on and the one that Frank certainly worked his magic on was the Welsh legend, the late and great Doug Mountjoy.
The Magic of Frank
Terry Griffiths once described Callan as “the father of coaching” and how right he was. Frank could be compared to a car mechanic who literally broke a player’s game down, looking at the very mechanics of their game and rebuilding it. Callan was a disciple of the Joe Davis school but reinvented his ideology and tailored it for the modern game, putting his own unique stamp on it. This Lancastrian whose amateur snooker career had been cut short by a back injury, tinkered first with golfing technique but then firmly settled on snooker, giving back some of the vast knowledge that he had acquired over his long and illustrious life.
Rebuilding a Giant
Doug Mountjoy was at the point of no return when he worked with Frank and was at the point in his career where it seemed no brakes would stop Mountjoy from slipping down the slope. This Welsh snooker icon who had dominated snooker as an amateur and in his early days as a professional, spending eleven consecutive years in the top 16 and having a treasure trove of titles to his name including the 1977 Masters and 1978 UK Championship and a multiple winner of the Welsh Professional Championship, looked, pardon the pun, frankly spent at the age of 46 in 1988 and seemed doubtful to make an impression when he entered the UK Championship of that year.
The Callan Way
So when Doug turned to Frank for help, I don’t think anyone could envisage the transformation that would ensue. Mountjoy had already been playing for 34 years at this stage but his game was in a dreadful state with the modern game finally catching him out. Callan reprogrammed the Welshman, teaching him how to play the Callan way, casting away his doubt and reliance to lean heavily on his natural ability. Doug used to put side on the cue ball but Callan taught him to cue in a straight line, showing Mountjoy his master eye, training him to use his right eye rather than his left over the shot.
Thankfully this Welshman was a willing pupil and put in the long hours of Callan’s table drills to completely rejuvenate his game. The balls started to hit the back of the leather and positive vibes began to circulate the practice room. The Clincher’s Disease was eradicated and slowly Doug started to win matches. Prior to coming to the UK Championship in 1988, Mountjoy beat Stephen Hendry 5-1 in the last 32 of the Grand Prix and had lost to Terry Griffiths 5-4 in the last 16 of the Canadian Masters. However, times would change when he arrived at the Guildhall in Preston.
The Winning Formula
The Welshman put on a steady show, a ripple rather than a tsunami. Beating Wayne Jones 9-7, Neal Foulds 9-4, Joe Johnson 9-5, a close win against John Virgo 9-8 and 9-4 against Terry Griffiths. This set up a mouthwatering final against the up and coming Scot, Stephen Hendry. Stephen respected Doug but didn’t believe that could beat him over the best of 31 frames. How wrong he was with the Welshman knocking in century breaks and cruising into a 14-7 lead and despite a late resurgence by Hendry, won the final 16-12. An occasion that emotional and reclaimed the title after ten years of winning it first in 1978 when he beat David Taylor 15-9.
Afterthoughts
Mountjoy would go to win the 1989 Classic defeating Wayne Jones 13-11 and finished runner-up to Stephen Hendry in the 1989 Dubai Classic, losing 2-9. A fitting end to a career would eventually end with his retirement as a professional in 1997. Frank Callan coaxed the winning beast out of this potting machine and made Doug the great player he was once more. Without Frank, Doug’s career would have definitely ended much sooner and Callan’s help allowed Mountjoy to have one more Indian Summer. A fitting conclusion for a man who sadly lost his life to a stroke after overcoming lung cancer in 1993. A player who departed this snooker earth in 2021, aged 78.
