The good old days

That pop up table was fantastic

How great the English were! How destroyedvsnd betrayed we are! Never trust your leaders!

4 million players in the UK, that's incredible!

Nicely played - Inner parts clearly executed without the Tuba/euphonium domination we often hear in "Slaidburn". Mr Rimmer would be pleased. Love to hear full performance of Slaidburn by this band.

"There's no doubt at all that John's going to be world champion..." 👀

We’ve come a long way 😢

What a fantastic documentary & John Virgo has always been a character. 👌

Wikipedia says Virgo was with his first wife from 1983 to 1991. So who's the lady at 12:45, talking about him in a very wifely way? Anyone know?

21:30 "It isn't a game, it's a what?" Sounds like "sankt" to me - anyone worked it out?

John Virgos wife. Said he is number 1 in the world and he will be world champion,, he was never world champion and a very average player who done nothing in the game, I think only won one tournament

"David Taylor is one of the young men who...." (Has completely white hair)

We tend to forget that, even if someone is given the "snooker gift by the Almighty", there still has to be an enormous amount of practise and dedication. All those world champions have put thousands and thousands of hours of effort into snooker.

Love everything about the film, i feel it because I grew up in that atmosphere, very genuine, stil playing in 2024.

Omg 147 comments 😮 Well, free ball 148 now 😂😂

I may sound stupid, but the "money" the possible big pay-day for sports, acting, politics and any huge ambition, the money is not as purile as it sounds. Money can give power I suppose. It just sounds odd. J.

2:55 “David Taylor is one of the young pros…” - he was 35!

Amazing to think Steve Davis was already playing on the circuit that year.

When the BBC produced some really thought provoking , interesting , and informative sports documentaries,....this one on snooker is a gem,... .its a great insight into the players life's, and the attitudes and trends of Britain towards the game at the time,.....players reflecting on the game and their busy careers on the road,.. , a time when snooker struggled for television coverage and popularity during the early days,.. it was a different world back then,...., but the game really exploded globally in the 1980s...and is such a massive sport commercially and financially today.....a far cry from those days of the heavily smoke filled snooker halls with barely a sole watching....

Virgo's piece of crumpet may have been the problem. He never became world champion, of course. And small wonder with her in your ear 'ole

She’s amazing and she funny.

That was absolutely superb. Granada made some stunning television in that period. So well filmed and edited, a beautifully weighted pace.

What did she say at around 16/17 when her hair is sticking up?

The great Higgins elevated snooker

Billiards is such a dull game unfortunately...it just has no chance on television I can appreciate it but

She can belt it out:)

Virgo looking scarily like Peter Sutcliffe

david taylor was a useful club player

"Is a gift from almighty God". Wonderful documentary.

check maggie out on the baize

Like most things on British TV from the 70s, LSD and cannabis should feature on the credits at the end. That opening sequence could only have been a consequence of the writer's acid trip...

Oh and that's a bad miss!

That guy at 16:04 looks like a young Earl Strickland

Love her voice, it's like the song was written for her. Every song she sings she takes it and makes it her own. So overlooked by the music industry it's not fair!

"Look this isn't a game, lad, it's a science!" It's trigonometry in motion.

11:26 Was that Virgo's wife? Blimey he got lucky there!

Good upload ta 👍

Virgo's wife thought he would be world champion..........that was never going to happen.

Thank you very much just love watching that. James

Lovely, especially Willie Smith, who's dead right about billiards being a much subtler, more beautiful game.

VIRGOS MRS☺☺☺☺

At 13 mins, Jim meadowcroft leaving the set of Last of the Summer Wine !

Freaked when he sang it lol, one of my alltime fave songs

Did he really say put his wife in a chair lol

love the rising table

crude game ? he'd probably be upset by a fart.

Wonder what this lot would make of Ronnie

Up Naaaahrth!!!

What’s it like being married to a professional snooker player? Difficult especially if they decide to take the brown instead of the pink 😂

Some characters there amongst the fans : Compo, Foggy and Cue!