SOLDIER MAGAZINE INTERVIEW : Andy Simms

As famous for his fondnesS of elaborately designed and often garish waistcoats as his trick shots and deadpan table manner, it comes as no surprise that John Virgo's brief flirtation with a military career was driven by his desire to wear an Army uniform.

Enthused by images of Hollywood stars wearing silk shirts in American war movies, the former national snooker champion spent three years as an Army cadet with the 5th Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers in his hometown of Salford during the late 1950's.

"I was 12 when I joined the cadets and to be honest with you I think the big appeal for me, and most of the other lads, was that you got to wear a uniform," he conceded. " The Battalion's was something along the lines of 'nine VCs before breakfast' and we got to wear this great beret with a yellow hackle.

"In those days you still had to blanco your gaiters and belt each week and we used to 'bone' the toe-caps of our boots with a hot spoon. we had a Sergeant Major whose boots were always like glass and for three years i tried desperately to get mine to look like his," he said. " The cadets were responsible for a lot of ruined spoons in our house."

"It might sound a bit silly, but everybody likes to dress up and the only thing I didn't particularly like were the shirts, which were woolly and at that time bloody uncomfortable."

Taller than most of his contemporaries, John, who is now the voice of BBC Sport's snooker coverage, also discovered that his unusually large feet were not ideally suited to the hard-wearing Army-issue boots.

"When I went to see about getting fitted for my uniform the Lieutenant in charge of dishing out all the supplies refused to believe that a 12-year old needed size nine boots and gave me a smaller pair instead," he said. "On camps I only had to go on one route march and that would be me excused boots for the week because my feet would be covered in blisters."

But despite the discomfort, John insists that his stint in uniform was a happy one and a period of his life he still cherishes.

"My mates and I used to have some great times as cadets and a lot of laughs - more often than not at my expense," he explained. "I will always remember one classic occasion when we were taking part in a mock battle on a hill near Rhyl in North Wales. I got my belt caught on a branch as I was crawling through the undergrowth towards the 'enemy'."

"Without even thinking, I stood up to pull my trousers up and immediately heard the rattling of tin cans, which were used to simulate the sound of a Bren gun. I must have had about a thousand bullets in me before I realised what I'd done."

"I have got some tremendous moments of being in the cadets," he added. " it taught me discipline and got me thinking about things rather than just hanging around the street corners."

Indeed, on reflection John believes that he would have graduated from being a cadet to a soldier if fate, and snooker, had not intervened in October of 1961.

"In Salford we all thought that a GCE was an electrical Appliance. I left school when I was only 15, but soon realised the error of my ways and enrolled in evening classes at night school."

"On the way home one night I called into a snooker club and from that moment my cadet days and any chances of an Army career were numbered. I had found my new love - playing snooker.

Although my father and brother both used to play in the local amateur leagues and I had been given my first snooker table, which was 2ft x 6ft with rubber bands for cushions, at the age of eight, I did not become hooked on the sport until I entered that club.

Dad used to refer to snooker clubs as dens of iniquity and people used to say that being able to play well was a sign of a misspent youth, which I suppose it was then, as there was no way you could make a living out of it.

Snooker can be a solitary sport, but in a club you meet some tremendous characters and it was that, and the working-class sense of humour I encountered, that kept me going back for more."

Just four months after first entering Potters Club, which is still a well-known haunt for many professionals, John was crowned as the under-16s champion of Great Britain.

With little prize money available and no coverage of the sport on television, he then spent the next 14 years as a "pot hunter", travelling around the country entering amateur competitions in an attempt to win trophies and small cash purses.

It was only during the early 70s, following the advent of colour television and the arrival of the equally colourful Alex Higgins on the scene, that snooker became popular and John began contemplating turning pro.

Fifteen caps for England and winning the National Pairs title alongside Paul Medati in 1976 finally convinced him that the time was right to try his luck among the sports elite.

Three years later he produced his best ever performance at the Embassy World Championships, reaching the semi-finals at the Crucible before losing out on a shot at the title to Dennis Taylor. However, better still was to come and later that year he claimed his only major title, the UK Championship, by beating Terry Griffiths 14-13 in the competition's final.

Despite always appearing glum while at the table, John began gaining a reputation on the exhibition circuit for his impressions and trick shots and in 1982 he took it upon himself to entertain the audience at the Crucible after one of the semi-finals finished early.

With television cameras still rolling , he took off the likes of Higgins, Taylor and Ray Reardon, brought the house down, and instantly found himself a second career.

When the BBC launched the light-hearted snooker-based game show BIG BREAK in the mid-90s, the programme's producers knew exactly who they wanted to partner Jim Davidson.

"I never expected to make a living from the game and am just so grateful that snooker was, and continues to be, so good to me," he said. "Winning the National Championships was an obvious highlight, but I would have loved it to have been a World Championship.

Still I have no real complaints, snooker has taken me all around the world.......just as an Army career would have done."