‘Sporting Stars coming to Pembrokeshire’ Feature:



Darren Morgan – A Welsh gentleman of professional snooker

On my only meeting with Welsh Snooker star Darren Morgan, I witnessed an act of kindness towards a young boy I’ll call John, from Haverfordwest with autism, that I will never forget - nor his response when he told me it was a pleasure, writes Bill Carne.
 
“It was no trouble at all,” he said, “I had noticed him standing in the background when I was signing autographs at the table because he looked lonely and I was pleased if I gave him something small to remember his time watching us.”
 

A warm gesture to a lonely youngster

 
All Darren had on him was a chalk cube in his pocket and after shaking hands with John, who I had seen grow up, he chatted for quite a while before giving the only thing he had on him - and it was as if he had given the youngster a huge gift.
 
Then Darren put his arm around John’s shoulder and gave him a ‘bro hug’ and allowed my young friend to almost cuddle in to him with a look of sheer joy on his face.
 
That young feller, who was about 14 at the time, is now into middle age and I didn’t see him for ages - but I wondered occasionally if he still had that piece of chalk as a memento of that day!
 

Great times in Tenby I was lucky to be part of

 
This happened at one of the amazing Texaco Snooker Challenges organised by Ken Hodgkinson at the De Valance Pavilion, where I was lucky to MC the events, which raised money for the National Children’s Homes and featured a number of the top stars, with Irishman Len Ganley and my old pal Phil Thomas, from Narberth, as the referees.
 
I used to change in the same dressing room alongside all the players, feeling resplendent in my dinner jacket and bow tie for this special event, superbly dressed by Mr Robert’s shop in Pembroke Dock, the only time in my life to dress so ‘posh’!
 
I also used to interview television personalities in the interval from programmes like ‘Casualty’ and ‘The Bill’ and on one occasion joined the likes of Joe Johnson, the late Paul Hunter, Mark Williams, Terry Griffiths, Steve James, Peter Ebdon, Dennis Taylor and Matthew Stephens (who later gave me a signed snooker cue for a charity fund-raiser I was organising) on a great day out at Hetherton.
 

 A World amateur champion before joining the pro ranks

 
Going back to Darren Morgan, although he was Welsh, he was perhaps one of the lesser-known snooker stars there, who hailed from Cross Keys in Gwent, but he could certainly boast a record that matched most of them, starting off when he won the World Amateur Snooker Championships in 1987 before joining the professional ranks the following year.
 
In his 16 years of touring all over the snooker world he was ranked for a time in the world’s top eight players, alongside the likes of Steve Davies, Jimmy White, Alex Higgins, Joe Johnson, Terry Griffiths, Dennis Taylor, John Virgo and Dennis Taylor - and was included in the top 16 players for another six years.
 
He made 111 century breaks in top televised competitions, plus a maximum of 147 in another championship which was missed by the TV cameras, which is believed to be the oldest maximum by any player because he was then 53!
 

Big wins and close calls at the very top!

 
In 1994, Darren reached the semi-final of the World Snooker Championships at The Crucible, before losing to Jimmy White. He won the World Masters twice, after battling through qualification in the first one and beating Steve Davies.
 
In 1999, he led a Wales trio that included Ray Reardon and Doug Mountjoy, in winning the inaugural Nations Cup against countries from around the world - so his pedigree is one to be marveled at and recognised him as a top player of his era.
 
But all that mattered little on that day in Tenby after I had spotted John in the crowds with his father, whom I knew well, and went over for a chat since I had known John since he was in short trousers and knew about how he loved sports with a difference, like darts, snooker, boxing and wrestling!  He had his programme clutched tightly in his hand, but with no autographs, when he told me he hoped to have added them all to his collection over the day.
 

Perfect reaction from Darren

 
He told me that he thought Darren was brilliant and so I popped over to the snooker star and explained - and he actually left his place for signing and came over with me for a chat, and spent time with the local lad, asking him questions, telling him about playing the game and then autographing his programme.
 
When he spotted there were no signatures before his,  he took it straight over to the long table where the other players were involved - and got every one of them to sign, with a little message!
 
It really made the local youngster’s day and I saw him later on, watching enraptured as Darren played.
 

Acquaintance renewed with John

 
Coincidentally, last year I bumped into the young feller in Haverfordwest’s town centre, who is now in his 40s, having held down his job for almost three decades - and he asked me if I watched the boxing that had been on telly the previous evening - to which I answered in the negative so he told me all about it.
 
I asked him if he remembered the Texaco Snooker Challenge and he said it was great. My next question was if he still had the autographs from that day in Tenby.
 
“Yes.” He said, “and the chalk is still in my bedside drawer!”