The seven-time world snooker champion Stephen Hendry has led the tributes to Terry Griffiths, who has died aged 77, calling him “a great man and a great player”.
Griffiths worked as a miner, postal worker and bus conductor before turning professional in 1978 and winning the world snooker title at his first attempt aged 31, beating Dennis Taylor in the 1979 final. The Welshman then became one of the most identifiable players in the 1980s snooker boom alongside Steve “Interesting” Davis, Alex “Hurricane” Higgins and “the Whirlwind”, Jimmy White, reaching No 3 in the world.
Griffiths was less flamboyant than many of his contemporaries but no less effective. He remains one of only 11 players to win snooker’s triple crown, following victories in the Masters in 1980 and the UK Championship in 1982. After retiring in 1997, he became a highly successful coach and popular TV commentator. In 2007 he was awarded an OBE for services to snooker. His family confirmed on Sunday night that he had died after living with dementia.
Hendry, one of the many players Griffiths coached along with Mark Williams, Mark Allen and Ding Junhui, was among those to pay tribute. “Horrible news that Terry Griffiths has passed,” he wrote. “What a great man, what a great player. A very funny man with a savagely dry sense of humour. He always told you straight what he thought and his knowledge of the game was incredible.”
Williams, a three-time world champion, shared a photo of him and Griffiths on X with a simple four-word tribute: “Mentor, coach, friend, legend.” Allen, the world No 5, was just as effusive. “What a legend of a man who helped shape my career and life both on and off the table,” he said. “Absolutely heartbroken. He wasn’t just a coach, he was family.”
Reliving his world championship victory in 1979, Griffiths admitted he had arrived in Sheffield thinking he had no chance and had merely hoped to have fun and get his face on TV so he could earn money playing exhibitions. However, after beating Higgins 13-12 in a classic, he went on a run that included toppling “Steady” Eddie Charlton 19-17 in the semi-finals and Taylor 24-16 in the final.
“I never thought I could win,” he recalled. “I lost 14lbs in Sheffield. Stress, no time to eat, I didn’t sleep. I had never played as many frames as I played there. From being a miner at 15 years of age in Pontarddulais, then I was a bus conductor and a postman and then went on to work in insurance. Next thing I was champion of the world.
“In my first year I won £75,000 and we didn’t know what to do with it. My wife was like me, she came from a council house. We thought: ‘Let’s spend it!’”
Griffiths’s death was confirmed by his son Wayne, who wrote on Facebook: “To our friends and snooker followers in general, we are deeply saddened to share the news of our loss. Terry Griffiths OBE passed away peacefully on 1 December, after a lengthy battle with dementia. He was surrounded by his family in his beloved hometown in South Wales. A proud Welshman, Terry was born in Llanelli, brought pride to Llanelli and now he has found peace in Llanelli. He would not have had it any other way.”
World Snooker posted a statement describing Griffiths as an “all-time snooker great”, adding: “Our sincere condolences to Terry’s family and many friends. He was loved and respected by everyone in the sport.”
