By Elliott West
Introduction
Dave Hendon is an accomplished playwright and snooker journalist. A man who literally has a head full of snooker facts of figures and regularly appears on Eurosport and ITV for snooker commentary. A podcast host and regular blogger on the Snooker Scene web page as assistant editor, Hendon is widely respected in snooker, a voice that is so familiar now that it would seem strange if his dulcet tones were not present for a snooker tournament.
The Man in the Commentary Box
Dave like so many people who grew up in the 1980s was quickly hooked to the snooker boom that happened in this era. Cast your minds back to a time when there was only four television channels and snooker was one of the most prominent sports shown on the BBC and ITV. It was literally a regular soap opera that had a swathe of popular and easily recognisable players.
Hendon had a six-foot snooker table in his garage and soon got the snooker bug for watching and playing, largely influenced by first memories of the sport, watching Joe Johnson play and his World Championship victory in 1986. A sportsman who he would go on to team up and work with on Eurosport commentary for their vast coverage of the snooker calendar.
Dave had always wanted to become a journalist but not necessarily a snooker journalist. After completing his A levels, Dave wrote to Clive Everton and asked him whether he could do some work experience for Clive’s Snooker Scene magazine. Everton suggested that spent some time with Phil Yates in Blackpool for a qualifier so Hendon made his way up to the seaside resort to spend an afternoon with the commentator. Perhaps Clive thought this would be the last he would see of the young hopeful but how wrong he was. Hendon and Yates hit it off straight away and subsequently became good friends.
After graduating from university, Dave got a job as a junior press officer for the WPBSA, spending 18 months in this role and getting to go out and experience the snooker circuit first hand. This was a time when Hendon learned what really went on in the industry and this immense snooker machine functioned on a day to day basis. Hendon admits that it was not always a pleasant experience, largely due to the local politics involved and was definitely put off by working as a snooker journalist for a little while.
However, he quickly warmed to the idea again and instead decided to freelance, working for Talksport as a snooker correspondent and returned to Clive Everton, who offered him a job working for Snooker Scene. These were Hendon’s learning days, where he really cut his teeth in the sport, spending hours and hours watching snooker qualifiers and at the same time filling his head with a vast amount of facts of figures that would become very useful in future years. This would be a professional mission that would last nine years before he was offered his role as a Eurosport commentator. An apprenticeship that was gruelling but vital.
The Blogger
Dave Hendon originally set up his blog, largely because there wasn’t one out there and most importantly, he was sick of the media’s take on snooker. Having got to know the sport and the players, he wanted to present a genuine take on snooker, broadcasting the views and issues to the readership. This blog is a vital link to snooker provides a mouthpiece that would have otherwise not been there.
The Commentator
Dave’s Eurosport stint fell into his lap by chance. Eurosport needed someone to fill in for the 2006 UK Championship and took a chance on Hendon. Falling under the wing of Mike Hallett, Dave was mentored by Mike for a week and by the end of that week, Dave was offered a full-time job. It is a job that he dearly loves, being able to put down the microphone when the match finishes, unlike being a journalist where you spend hours hanging around and having to type up your piece. A profession that he enjoys despite the constant direction in his ear when he is trying to speak.
