Alan Hughes, the legendary snooker MC who gave Ronnie O’Sullivan his iconic nickname, has died. He was dubbed the ‘voice of snooker’, having been a regular presence at the Crucible for more than two decades.
Hughes was also the MC for 42 boxing fights involving legends of the sport, such as Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn. He had further sporting pedigree, having played for Tottenham alongside greats like Jimmy Greaves.
He was best known for whipping up crowds at the World Snooker Championship with his passion for the sport and innovative style of announcing.
Hughes was responsible for giving many top players their nicknames, ensuring that O’Sullivan was known as The Rocket while Jimmy White became The Whirlwind.
Writing on his website, he explained: “When I came into snooker the players were just known by their names and I just thought that the players had more about them than that.
“I started to slip some nicknames into the introductions. Cliff ‘The Grinder’ Thorburn was one of the first I came up with.
“What I like to do is build up a player’s nickname. For a while Jimmy White was known as ‘the Wind’, but I didn’t like that. It sounded like a bad case of indigestion!
“I changed it to ‘the Whirlwind’ and then ‘the Whirlwind of London Town’ and then ‘the Wonderful Whirlwind of London Town’. I started off calling Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘the Rocket’ but he didn’t like it.
“Apparently there was a bloke in Birmingham they called ‘Rocket Ron’ because he couldn’t pot a ball! But now I call him ‘the Essex Exocet’ because I think that’s a bit more classy.”
Tributes have been pouring in for Hughes on social media, with fellow announcer Phil Seymour writing on X (formerly Twitter): “Sorry to hear of the passing of the greatest of all snooker MCs, Alan Hughes.
“He is widely regarded as the man who introduced an entertainment side to the sport, coming up with player nicknames and making more of an event of the introductions. Rest in peace.”
Stewart Weir, who has done commentary work for the BBC, posted: “A superb straight man around many a wind-up in the press office or theatre, rotten tipster and Wim Jansen double. Above all else, a master at his craft. The best. Rest easy, Alan.”
Meanwhile, snooker coach Fin Roane wrote: “Sad to hear of the passing of Alan Hughes, the original snooker MC who no doubt paved the way for many in the business today. Lovely man and great company at the tournaments back in the day.”
Julian Ball, a WST referee, simply said: “RIP Alan Hughes, ever present at the Crucible and one of the best.”