The snooker legend Willie Thorne has died just three months after being diagnosed with leukaemia.

A miner’s son who worked his way up through the ranks, he became one of snooker’s biggest names and characters at a time when it moved from niche sport to mainstream.

In the golden era of snooker in the 1980s and 90s, he was among the players such as Steve Davis, Jimmy White and Dennis Taylor who became stars of the small screen and firm favourites in households across the nation.

They crossed over from sport to showbusiness when they were immortalised in the 1986 chart hit Snooker Loopy by Chas and Dave.

Golden era

Thorne, Davis and Taylor formed part of the ‘Matchroom Mob’ from the hit, along with Tony Meo, Terry Griffiths and Steve Davis.

As the tributes poured in, the man, nicknamed Mr Maximum for the number of top-scoring breaks he produced in practice, was remembered across the worlds of sport and showbusiness for his warmth and friendship.

Former England footballer and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker described him as “one of life’s great characters” while former world snooker champion Dennis Taylor said he was a “great friend…great company”.

Born in the village of Anstey near Leicester, he showed great promise as a snooker player from an early age becoming national under-16 champion in 1970.

‘Life’s great characters’

By 1975, he had turned professional and a decade later he was ranked No 7 in the world.

He won The Classic in 1985 and made it to the quarter-final of the World Snooker Championship in 1982 and 1986.

But his larger-than-life persona hid a troubled personal life.

He struggled for much of his career with a serious gambling problem, admitting in later life he had lost £1 million to his addiction.

Gambling problem

In 2016, he was declared bankrupt and in 2019 his 24-year marriage to former Miss Great Britain Jill Saxby collapsed.

At the time of his death, he was living in rented accommodation in Spain.

Friends had set up a fundraising page to help pay for his living and medical costs in April, a month after his leukaemia diagnosis.

The 66-year-old was being treated for the disease in hospital in Spain but passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning following respiratory failure.

Leukaemia diagnosis

Friend and carer Julie O’Neill made the announcement on the Go Fund Me page.

She said it was “with a very heavy and broken heart that I have to officially announce that at 1.55 am this morning Willie Thorne lost his battle and passed away.”

But she added: “He passed away very peacefully and without pain, listening to his children saying they love him that gives me some comfort in this difficult time.”

He leaves behind three children and two step-children.

Close friend and fellow son of Leicester Gary Lineker was among those to pay a heartfelt tribute to Thorne.

Heartfelt tributes

He wrote on Twitter: “Deeply, deeply saddened to hear that my friend Willie Thorne has passed away.

“One of life’s great characters. A marvellous snooker player and a lovely man, who’s potted his final black much too soon.”

Fellow snooker players also spoke of a man, who became one of the big characters of the sport.

Dennis Taylor said it was devastating news, adding: “We laughed our way around the world for 45 years. RIP Great One.”

Big character of sport

Stephen Hendry spoke of him as “one of my favourite people in snooker”.

He tweeted: “I know he had faults and weaknesses (we all do) but he was one of the games’ greatest ever characters, I’ll miss him.”

And Ronnie Sullivan described him as “a beautiful man, big heart ,great company.”

“Had a week in Ireland with him I’ll never forget. Will be missed by a lot of people in the Snooker world,” he added.

Outside of the sport, he was also remembered with great affection.

Snooker world

Fellow Strictly Come Dancing contestant Gabby Logan wrote on social media: “I loved watching his career, we made friends on Strictly Come Dancing where he was the loveliest ‘team mate’.”

While Pointless host Richard Osman expressed his sadness on Twitter at the loss of one of snooker’s larger than life characters who had lived his life to the full.

He wrote: “Spent lots of time with him in Sheffield, and came back with so many funny, but unrepeatable stories. RIP.”