Willie Thorn

sounds in a bad way

Certainly an entertainer at his best ... sad to hear about his current state
Doesn't sound good unfortunately

A good sport is Willy

Now old Willy Thorne his hair's all gone
And his mates all take the rise
His opponent said cover up his head
Cos it's shining in my eyes
When the light shines down on his bare crown
It's a cert he's gonna walk it
It's just not fair giving off that glare
'Perhaps I ought to chalk it'
Snooker loopy nuts are we
Me and him and them and me
We'll show you what we can do
With a load of balls and a snooker cue

poor Willie

Sad to hear,can't believe he is only 66.

Very sad to read this

Really sad news. The sickening thing is I only found out about it because someone posted an offensive joke about it.

Do hope he pulls through, a very decent fella and a good sense of humour, good luck willie.

There is a go fund me page somewhere trying to raise money for him or his treatment, read that a while ago.

Saw him in a bookies in derby once,got chatting.had a fistful of dog bets.told me me he was hitting trap numbers in forecasts & tricasts.i got the impression he was a bit like the guy who has to do the same lottery numbers every week just in case.i suspect he wasn’t a very good gambler & it led him to fall out with a lot of people.pity his multi millionaire pal lineker couldn’t have helped him out.anyway he gets my best wishes,actually I used to enjoy his commentaries thought he was one of the best of the bunch.on a slight aside,saw John Virgo just after Xmas ,he didn’t look that well either.

'He is unable to move his arms and legs - can't feed himself or put a drink to his mouth and has a bedsore.

'As far as I understand from the translated discharge papers from the hospital he has a superinfection (sepsis) throughout his body.


We wish him well

Lineker has helped out Thorne, he owes money right, left and centre all through gambling, its only very recently government has acknowledged how serious an addiction gambling is.The high street firms have a lot to answer for.McCoy and Dettori and any other jock who does adverts for them should take a good hard look at themselves.

.

Sad but very true...

Here is a true story as i was there.

There was the Willie Thorne snooker centre on Charles Street Leicester (the former city council building and is now again)

There was a front page story in The Sun about his gambling addiction and losses etc and him saying he giving up gambling blah blah

It was either that day or day after i was in the Lad brokes on Charles Street across the road from his place and guess who was in there looking up at the prices on screen

Ffs...keep the betting slips hidden.

Very sad, how anyone can make a joke out of this is beyond belief. Get well soon Willie..

sadly passed away

His carer, Julie O'Neill, wrote on the page on Wednesday: "It is with a very heavy and broken heart that I have to officially announce that at 1.55am this morning Willie Thorne lost his battle and passed away.

"Willie went into septic shock and was not responding to any treatment so the decision was made by the hospital to turn off the machines.

"I was with him all the way to his end and reading out messages to him from people. 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."

Known as Mr Maximum, Thorne was the third player to reach the landmark of 100 centuries and made a 147 in the 1987 UK Championship.

The former snooker star Willie Thorne has died in hospital in Spain at the age of 66. Thorne, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship on two occasions, was diagnosed with leukaemia in March and was taken to hospital last week with low blood pressure.

Thorne, known in the sport as Mr Maximum, was regarded among the world’s best players in the sport during its boom period in the 1980s, reaching a peak world ranking of number seven. Yet his most notable moment on the baize was perhaps his infamous defeat to the then-dominant Steve Davis in the final of the 1985 UK Championship.

Thorne, leading 13-8 and needing just two more frames to clinch his first major title, missed a simple blue off its spot which allowed Davis to not only take the frame, but begin a fightback which led to him winning the title. He became well-known for his punditry work in the spot, beginning commentating on snooker for the BBC in the 1980s, continuing in the role until 2018.

He also battled a serious gambling problem, telling the Guardian in 2004 how he would often place bets of £20,000 on one horse - and how he once bet £38,000 on a match involving John Parrott. His close friend, Gary Lineker, paid tribute to Thorne, saying: “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. RIP Willie.”