{"id":6688,"date":"2025-01-03T23:08:46","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T23:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?p=6688"},"modified":"2025-01-03T23:08:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T23:08:46","slug":"6688-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?p=6688","title":{"rendered":"Snooker&#8217;s iconic former Master of Ceremonies Alan Hughes passes away &#8211; as tributes pour in for legendary voice behind Ronnie O&#8217;Sullivan and Jimmy White&#8217;s nicknames"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">Legendary snooker MC Alan Hughes, who gave famous stars their nicknames, has passed away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">Hughes, who was dubbed the &#8216;Voice of Snooker&#8217;, ensured that Ronnie O&#8217;Sullivan was referred to as &#8216;The Rocket&#8217;, while Jimmy White was known as &#8216;The Whirlwind of London Town&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">A regular presence at the Crucible, Hughes was also the MC for 42 boxing fights, as reported by\u00a0The Sun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">He oversaw boxing fights that included the likes of\u00a0Chris Eubank\u00a0and Nigel Benn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">Hughes also had further sporting pedigree as he played for\u00a0Tottenham\u00a0alongside Jimmy Greaves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font continue-read-break\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">Hughes explained on his website that he changed O&#8217;Sullivan&#8217;s nickname but it didn&#8217;t stick.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA1wDjP7\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA1wDojK&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;others&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;Daily Mail&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAuyR5X&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;entertainment&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;celebrities&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Snooker's iconic former Master of Ceremonies Alan Hughes passes away - as tributes pour in for legendary voice behind Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White's nicknames&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA1wDjP7\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA1wDojK&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;others&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;Daily Mail&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAuyR5X&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;entertainment&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;celebrities&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Snooker's iconic former Master of Ceremonies Alan Hughes passes away - as tributes pour in for legendary voice behind Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White's nicknames&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"Alan Hughes, the legendary voice of snooker, has sadly passed away\u00a0\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1wDjP7.img?w=634&amp;h=894&amp;m=6&amp;x=231&amp;y=138&amp;s=179&amp;d=179\" alt=\"Alan Hughes, the legendary voice of snooker, has sadly passed away\u00a0\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container \"><span class=\"image-caption\">Alan Hughes, the legendary voice of snooker, has sadly passed away\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA1wDjP8\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA1wDojK&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;others&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;Daily Mail&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAuyR5X&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;entertainment&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;celebrities&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Snooker's iconic former Master of Ceremonies Alan Hughes passes away - as tributes pour in for legendary voice behind Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White's nicknames&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA1wDjP8\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA1wDojK&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;others&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;Daily Mail&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAuyR5X&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;entertainment&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;celebrities&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Snooker's iconic former Master of Ceremonies Alan Hughes passes away - as tributes pour in for legendary voice behind Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White's nicknames&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"Snooker MC Hughes was responsible for referring to O'Sullivan as 'the rocket'\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1wDjP8.img?w=634&amp;h=423&amp;m=6&amp;x=314&amp;y=126&amp;s=78&amp;d=78\" alt=\"Snooker MC Hughes was responsible for referring to O'Sullivan as 'the rocket'\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container \"><span class=\"image-caption\">Snooker MC Hughes was responsible for referring to O&#8217;Sullivan as &#8216;the rocket&#8217;<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA1wDhyz\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA1wDojK&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;others&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;Daily Mail&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAuyR5X&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;entertainment&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;celebrities&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Snooker's iconic former Master of Ceremonies Alan Hughes passes away - as tributes pour in for legendary voice behind Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White's nicknames&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA1wDhyz\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA1wDojK&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;others&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;Daily Mail&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAuyR5X&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;entertainment&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;celebrities&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Snooker's iconic former Master of Ceremonies Alan Hughes passes away - as tributes pour in for legendary voice behind Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White's nicknames&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"Jimmy White was dubbed by Hughes as 'The Whirlwind of London Town'\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1wDhyz.img?w=634&amp;h=692&amp;m=6&amp;x=281&amp;y=227&amp;s=183&amp;d=183\" alt=\"Jimmy White was dubbed by Hughes as 'The Whirlwind of London Town'\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container \"><span class=\"image-caption\">Jimmy White was dubbed by Hughes as &#8216;The Whirlwind of London Town&#8217;<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">He said:\u00a0&#8216;I started off calling Ronnie O&#8217;Sullivan &#8216;the Rocket&#8217; but he didn&#8217;t like it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">&#8216;Apparently there was a bloke in Birmingham they called &#8216;Rocket Ron&#8217; because he couldn&#8217;t pot a ball!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">&#8216;But now I call him &#8216;the Essex Exocet&#8217; because I think that&#8217;s a bit more classy.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">Many tributes were paid to Hughes following his death.<\/p>\n<div class=\"intra-article-module\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;intraArticle&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13}\">\n<div class=\"articlePageIntraArticleFullWidth ad-slot-placeholder left-image-intra-ad collapsed\" data-ad-index=\"1\">\n<div class=\"intra-article-ad-full left-image-intra-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">One user wrote: &#8216;Sad to learn of the passing of former snooker mc Alan Hughes. Gave nicknames to a few pros that stuck and was always good for a laugh. God rest him.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">Snooker coach Fin Ruane wrote: &#8216;Sad to hear of the passing of Alan Hughes &#8211; the original snooker MC who no doubt paved the way for many in the business today<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">&#8216;Lovely man and great company at the tournaments back in the day Rest easy Alan&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">Another user expressed their sadness at Hughes&#8217; death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">They wrote: &#8216;So sad to hear the passing of Snooker&#8217;s legendary MC &#8211; the one and only Alan Hughes. Almost impossible to believe the number of well-known names this sport has now lost in this year alone. May he rest in peace&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;}\">Journalist Nick Metcalfe paid tribute to Hughes as he wrote: &#8216;It&#8217;s sad to hear the news that snooker&#8217;s best ever compere, Alan Hughes, has died. Alan oozed show business. Pure old school. And boy did he give that job gravitas. &#8216;The Whirlwind of London Town&#8230;&#8217; RIP Alan&#8217;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Legendary snooker MC Alan Hughes, who gave famous stars their nicknames, has passed away. Hughes, who was dubbed the &#8216;Voice of Snooker&#8217;, ensured that Ronnie O&#8217;Sullivan was referred to as &#8216;The Rocket&#8217;, while Jimmy White was known as &#8216;The Whirlwind of London Town&#8217;. A regular presence at the Crucible, Hughes was also the MC for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7.jpeg",634,894,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-213x300.jpeg",213,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7.jpeg",634,894,false],"large":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7.jpeg",634,894,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7.jpeg",634,894,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7.jpeg",634,894,false],"jnews-360x180":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-360x180.jpeg",360,180,true],"jnews-750x375":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-634x375.jpeg",634,375,true],"jnews-1140x570":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-634x570.jpeg",634,570,true],"jnews-120x86":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-120x86.jpeg",120,86,true],"jnews-350x250":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-350x250.jpeg",350,250,true],"jnews-750x536":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-634x536.jpeg",634,536,true],"jnews-1140x815":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-634x815.jpeg",634,815,true],"jnews-360x504":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-360x504.jpeg",360,504,true],"jnews-75x75":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-75x75.jpeg",75,75,true],"jnews-350x350":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7-350x350.jpeg",350,350,true],"jnews-featured-750":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7.jpeg",634,894,false],"jnews-featured-1140":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7.jpeg",634,894,false]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Newssoccer","author_link":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?cat=1\" rel=\"category\">Blog<\/a>","tag_info":"Blog","comment_count":"0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1wDjP7.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6690,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6688\/revisions\/6690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}