My old pal Steve unashamedly grassing me up (14 mins in),for calling Ray “Plod”😂….Now nicknamed Dracula,Ray was my snooker hero as a kid …I’ll always be in his fang club,it was love at first bite..☺️
I was fortunate enough to play a frame against Ray in 1993. I snookered him behind the green from the break and he still split the pack from there and left me nothing. Then he hit 104 without thinking. lol Legend of a player.
One of the very best interviews I’ve seen on YT. Both have the utmost respect and admiration for each others achievements. Steve happy to let Ray reminisce and Ray not in the least bit disrespectful about the modern game. Two hugely classy Gentleman of the game.
Reardon the best all-round player of all-time. Consistency, temperament, potting, safety, creativity, longevity, tactical, mental strength, popularity etc.....Reardon had no weak links in his game The only one who has ever had it all.
This is brilliant. The guy he talks about, Gary Owen is my great uncle, he was from a small mining village in Wales called Tumble (Carmarthenshire) We still have photos of Gary Owen & his brother Marcus Owen (who was also professional) up on the wall in the snooker room in our local club. This was a fantastic watch fair play. I can relate to him in his pure enthusiasm for the game, even into his 90's....fantastic! Great upload. Thanks for sharing!
The Nugget meets Dracula, the 2 men who dominated the 70s and 80s and won 6 world titles each crazy. Steve inspired Ronnie and Ray coached him 2 tactical masters.
this guy is one of my favorite people from any walk of life. A VERY clever man, charming, good sport, warm individual..... so few people like him in any walk of life and certainly not in sports today.
In his 1976 WC run, Reardon beat Dennis Taylor 15-2 in the quarterfinals. Taylor said during his playing career that was the best snooker he saw anyone play, whether it was against him or not. Alex Higgins was down 10 frames in the finals, and conceded the 27th frame and the championship to Ray without playing it.
@leebeardshall7668 If you can be a great winner but not mind losing that can be a good combination. Hendry says you can never tell if Mark Williams has won or lost after a match.
Thanks for posting this. 👍 I'm always taken by Ray's humility and the exuberance that radiates from him when talking snooker in that velvet voice. He's like a light bulb, glowing with love for the game. 💡 Unlike on the table when his imposing presence exemplified his mantra: 'I only played to win.'
Yeah a very rare gem. My experience at an exhibition Ray was doing involved him asking a young lad about 11 down to help him out with a trick shot. Unfortunately, the kid was absolutely useless. What Ray did was literally give him a coaching session then and there, he didn't ridicule the lad but he made it funny, the entire thing was hilarious. But it was effective as hell. He got him potting the black off the spot in ten minutes. Then he did the trick shot with his help perfectly. I'll never forget the smile on that kid's face as he walked back to his parents.
Rays biggest asset like stephen hendry and the polar opposite to jimmy was that he was granite under pressure ,he thrived ....he treated a final frame in a world championship no different to a friendly
Spot on. People harp on that had White beaten Higgins in 82 he would have been world champ. But Reardon would have beaten White in the 82 final. Better under pressure. Also the following season Reardon and White met 4 times and Reardon won the lot.
Played Higgins many years ago when he was still in the top 16. I would have swapped that for a frame with Ray any day. A master on the Baize and a great character off it!
Two all time legends of the game. Ray is my all time favorite player. An absolute tactical master (as was Davis). The deterioration of his game as he got older was depressing to witness. Very similar to what happened with Stephen Hendry and also Steve Davis. Must be hard to take, for once invincible players to lose to players they wouldn't have lost to in their sleep during their peak.
I couldn't agree more. It's just a sad fact that the better you are the further you will almost inevitably have to fall. The answer is to finish at the top but that's almost impossible for prolific winners to do.
Always get the impression that Ray was dominant but still very well liked cos he was such a great personality whereas when Davis and Hendry were dominant you really couldn't say the time.
@@dannygray-mi3xn Memories. In the 80's for something like 4 years I used to have the joy of eating lunch with Ray every Tuesday at Butlins Minehead, as I was also there that day each week (doing something slightly different). A true gent, raconteur, and the most wonderful company.
Big Up to Mike Watterson for borrowing from a bank to start an idea he had which ended up with the World Championships at the Crucible Sheffield. Hi Steve, Hi Ray.
@@scarybiscuit Hello, I've put all my ones up now I think but I know the Tony Knowles and John Spencer ones are on other channels. I think someone did say there were some on a Matchroom site but I haven't looked to see.
@@growlerthe2nd712 Best of yesterday never beats the best of today,unless best of yesterday are still in the top of their game playing TODAY. Hendry was washed up by 30 due to risen standards! He was overrated like Davis
I look at it the other way round, would the players of today have coped with the tables, crowds, little money, of the time back then? So yes, really cant compare different eras
That's like saying that someone like Emil Zatopek who dominated distance running in the '50's couldn't live with today's Olympic athletes. Sports progress over time. I guarantee that if snooker is still going in 50 years time there will be people saying that the likes of O'Sullivan and Hendry couldn't live with the players of the 2070's.
I’m not sure whether Steve Davis’ autobiography pre dates this interview but in his book Steve was not very complimentary of Readon as a person or player. He alluded to Ray being arrogant and as a player not being good enough to be professional in today’s game.
Yes Steve was talking out of his arse there. Ray was past his prime but is the only man to whitewash Davis 3 times. Also Davis was much more arrogant than Reardon. Davis has gone down in my estimation with the book he wrote.
Lovely guy but i didnt like the slanderous accusation he made about Alex Higgins taking something during midsession interval of final session in 1982 world champiosnhip final..
Most of Reardon's descriptions of play I didn't understand. I might not have been the only one cos Steve Davis tried to make some of them clearer and struggled. There's something about Reardon's cheeky attitude that in this programme feels a bit bad mannered - sinister almost. RIP Mr Reardon. I really enjoyed watching you play, but after this programme I liked you a little bit less 🙂
i met ray in 2006 in a devon pub because he was at the wake of my girlfiends father who was rays gardener i will never forget how confident he was but he was not arrogant just sure of himself
Ray was always jealous of Alex....even though he won 6 titles .....But Alex had a better head to head and would of won the 76 final if he hadn't been juped into a all night free drinks at a club....couldn't say no Alex....pissed up and lost sadly....threw that and 100's more away.....that's part of his charisma..."its hard to live with....as he said in 80 final But Ray was a legrnd and came on Parky and did trick shots and got them 😂😂😂
