Snooker great Ray Reardon dies aged 91

Six-time world snooker champion Ray Reardon has died at the age of 91.

Welshman Reardon, who dominated the sport in the 1970s, died on Friday night, his wife Carol confirmed to the World Snooker Tour.

A statement on the WST's official website said: "Ray Reardon, widely regarded as one of the greatest snooker players ever and a six-time world champion, has died at the age of 91."

Ray Reardon, legend of snooker, has died at the age of 91.

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Reardon ruled snooker in the 1970s when the man known fondly as 'Dracula' became a household name.

Yet his story almost ended long before the Welshman with the widow’s peak found stardom.

On 30 April, 1957, the world collapsed around the ears of the 24-year-old Reardon as a mining accident almost claimed his life.

He was fortunate to see the next day, let alone land six World Championship titles – his last in 1978 aged 45.

Reardon, who has died at the age of 91, was born on 8 October, 1932 in Tredegar.

He left Georgetown Secondary School at 14 and, after a brief stint as an apprentice motor mechanic, he followed his father Ben down the pits, firstly at nearby Ty Trist and later at the Pochin Colliery.

The teenage Reardon displayed an aptitude for snooker and was spared evening shifts to allow him to practise. Unlike in the modern game, however, there was little money to be made from potting balls.

Cutting coal underground was the career choice, and when Welsh mines began to close the Reardon family uprooted to North Staffordshire. Ben and Ray Reardon found work at the Florence Colliery in 1956 and in the following year disaster almost struck.

The future world-beating cueman was developing a pit roadway when a "trickle of dirt" fell on his helmet.