How snooker halls became Ronnie O'Sullivan's "creche" from a young age

0:13Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is Desert Island Discs Postcards, a collection of funny and heartwarming moments from some of our many castaways. This postcard comes from seven times World Snooker Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. In 2023, he told me how he'd spent his childhood going unaccompanied to play in snooker halls across East London. You know, my dad used to put me in the car and he'd go, right, we're going to City Road today, I'm going to drop you off, you'll be all right up there. He would have dropped you off at seven? About eight years of age, I'd say. So, yeah, he'd drop me off there, but my dad was like an East End guy, so he knew he had the gift of the gab and he'd go in there and he'd go, I want my boy to go, he's a bit young.

0:56Here's the money for him to play all day. Let him do what he wants. You know what I mean? Just make sure he behaves and just keep an eye on him. So there'll be someone behind the bar keeping an eye on you. Yeah, my dad used to call it a creche. He went, it was the best place for you to be. He's like, I can't do my work, but I knew you were safe. You weren't out on the streets, being naughty, getting up to no good. He's like, leave in a snoot and go, he's all right there. And how long was it before you and your dad realised that you had something special? You were really good. Him sooner than me, because obviously I didn't realise, you know, that I could play this game well.

1:26I just used to love playing. But he was always telling people, my boy's 10 years of age at the moment, he's going to be world champion. And a lot of people come up to me now and go, everyone says their son's going to be this and that. He said, but he was right. And were you lost in it? Would it be that thing of forgetting to eat? I would order my food and they'd go, Ronnie, food's ready. And I'd run out. I would always keep my cue on the table and balls on the table and the light on because I didn't want to lose my table and I didn't want to lose whatever's going on the table. and I'd run out and I'd scoff my food down and I'd be bumped back out on the table.

1:56And it's only now that I get people come up to me and they go, we knew you was going to make it because of my enthusiasm for the game. You must have been a little kid playing at adult-sized tables. Yeah, when I was eight, first time I played on a full-side table. I was scared by the size of it when I first see a full-sized table. And I grew up just playing in a man's world from the age of eight, really. I was competing against men from the age of 10 onwards, winning junior tournaments from 11, winning amateur tournaments against professionals when I was 12. So you've got this little kid playing professionals that were on TV and beating them.

2:34But even then I didn't think I was good enough to be a top-class player. How wrong he was. You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds. Just search for Ronnie O'Sullivan Desert Island Discs.

2:52The End