Old Willie Thorne is nearly gorn.

[shiftwork2]

They'll say 66 is no age but they're wrong aren't they?  It is an age.  Also, I wonder how often he had a break of 66?  I would say it will be somewhere between zero and a larger figure.  Also, if you were christened William would you really choose the short form that is a schoolboy's word for a personal pipe?  Well he (Willie) did do.  Welly willy did doo.

RIP Willie.

[idunnosomename]

is snooker the one where they throw pins at a board or am i getting mixed up

[Blue Jam]

Very sad about this.

One of the better BBC commentators.

This is true. It was good to hear him commentating again earlier this year just before his diagnosis. Sadly he hadn't been commentating on the World Championships for a while, perhaps because the Crucible is dangerously near to a casino and he got into a bit of trouble after he was papped using the slot machines the last time.

A little (NSFW) classic to remember him by- a thin "clip" indeed:

https://youtu.be/RCLXq2a099I

[TheBrownBottle]

We'll always have the range of men's undergarments

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/funny_old_game/2503965.stm

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

They also say 'too soon' and 'taken from us' don't they.

'Taken from us too soon' .

As though we needed him for some ritual or experiment.

As though there would have been a timely exit everyone could have got behind (67, perhaps?)

[Small Man Big Horse]

I used to go to his snooker club in Cambridge a fair bit back in the mid to late nineties as it was all but opposite the appalling university I went to, it was mainly to play pool but also because it had a free juke box and so you could be an irritating cunt and put the same song on twenty or so times. Only saw him in the place once and he looked a bit blinged up, as they used to say, but he was a good kisser and I'll miss him he seemed a decent enough bloke.

[Beagle 2]

I've just remembered I also used to go to his club in Leicester but I never saw him. My mate did, entering the Crown Court to receive a minor driving ban.

Great memories.

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

RIP WILLIE. OFF.......















this mortal plane.

[Butchers Blind]

For those who want relieve the greatest friendship in modern times[nb]_{before the incident}[/nb]

https://youtu.be/uYqxmYgxhUA

The memories live on forever.

[ollyboro]

So farewell, Mr Maximum,
You lying bald cunt.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

bald dead snooker cunt

'....we're all snoo-ker loo-py.'

[Jittlebags]

Nice little golden age of snooker wotsit in the Grauniad here https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2015/apr/24/memory-lane-golden-age-snooker-in-pictures

Highlights are Cliff Thornburn doing a passable imitation of scud thesbian John (ny Wadd) Holmes, and Big Bill Werenuik's live in bus.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

He'll be up there now, taking the piss out of Hurricane Higgins.
" Alright, Mark E. Smith features! Open wide for Willie![nb]Don't. Show some respect.[/nb]" ( whilst proffering spoonful of baby food from jar)

[Tony Tony Tony]

Nice little golden age of snooker wotsit in the Grauniad here https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2015/apr/24/memory-lane-golden-age-snooker-in-pictures

Highlights are Cliff Thornburn doing a passable imitation of scud thesbian John (ny Wadd) Holmes, and Big Bill Werenuik's live in bus.

Cheers for this JB, the first one, of Alex Higgins committing crimes against fashion is a real hoot.

The ones of Big Bill W sporting an impressive frame and a can of beer brought to mind a story I think I heard at the time. Didn't he have heart problem but couldn't take pills (beta blockers?) as they would show up in any drugs testing? Thus he had to drink eight pints of beer a day instead... might try that one to cover for my lockdown alcohol consumption.

Edit: Just checked Wikipedia and it seems at the height of his snooker career he was up to 40 or 50 pints a day!

"in a snooker match/drinking contest against Scotsman Eddie Sinclair in which, after Sinclair had passed out following his 42nd pint, Werbeniuk was reported to say "I'm away to the bar now for a proper drink"

[Bazooka]

As a humanoid with a large forehead (thus high intelligence) I saw Thorn as a diety, his skull should go in Leicester museum, it's what he would have wanted.

[pigamus]

If only Stephen Lee had been diety.

[pancreas]

We have a friend staying with us who is fleeing a barrage of death-threats from the rest of his street in Hartlepool. He says he went with a friend at some event to ask Willie Thorne for an autograph when he was younger (28 etc). Willie Thorne said, ok lads, wait here just two minutes and went in a door. Half an hour later a lesser celebrity came out of said door and told them Willie Thorne had left in a cloud of dust and octane half an hour earlier. They got the lesser celebrity's autograph. (The B-lister suggested it.)<sup>1



1</sup>_{It's a very short story, but it is extremely borin'. I took it to a publisher to confirm my suspicions and he said that without doubt}

[Gurke and Hare]

I don't understand, are the death threats related to the Willie Thorne encounter?

[kalowski]

I don't understand, are the death threats related to the Willie Thorne encounter?

White on black (and red) crime.

[Huxleys Babkins]

For those who want relieve the greatest friendship in modern times[nb]_{before the incident}[/nb]

https://youtu.be/uYqxmYgxhUA

The memories live on forever.

Thorne was 38 years old when they made that. State of him.

[Misspent Boners]

Perhaps I ought to cark it

[SteveDave]

Nice little golden age of snooker wotsit in the Grauniad here https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2015/apr/24/memory-lane-golden-age-snooker-in-pictures

Highlights are Cliff Thornburn doing a passable imitation of scud thesbian John (ny Wadd) Holmes, and Big Bill Werenuik's live in bus.

Fuck me! The line where the chest hair stops and the stubble begins!

[Mr_Simnock]

if his chest is that hairy christ knows how much fluff surounds his sack and arse

[Blue Jam]

Fuck me! The line where the chest hair stops and the stubble begins!

Well, at least he's not a neckbeard.

[buttgammon]

Fuck me! The line where the chest hair stops and the stubble begins!

I'm a notably hirsute man and he's actually hairier than me!

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

I'm a notably hirsute man and he's actually hairier than me!

Jacob completely fucks up his line in Genesis, Chapter 27.

[Puce Moment]

Good grief, imagine how much hair he has on his old chap!

Not ribbed for her pleasure!

[druss]

Did he have hair as a child? Is there any evidence?

[kalowski]

Fuck me! The line where the chest hair stops and the stubble begins!

Crying out for a Kerry Godliman head.

[Blue Jam]

https://wst.tv/tributes-pour-in-for-great-wt/

John Higgins recalls going to a Celtic v Rangers game with Willie in the 1990s. "I was meant to be picking Willie up," said Higgins. "Just as I was leaving, he asked what kind of car I was driving. It was my first car, a 1.2 Nova. He said that the Great WT can't be seen in that car. So he drove us to the match in his Mercedes. He said he would have needed a balaclava if we went in my car.