Francis - Snooker legends: on the road and off the table with snookers greatest

I dont think youre going to make enough money for me to fuck you over, so Ill let you do it.

BARRY HEARN, NEW CHAIRMAN OF WORLD SNOOKER LTD

I m just a very average snooker player with a background in theatre who decided to create an event I would buy tickets to myself.

Back in the 1970s a lot of families were poor. It didnt make them unhappy but it meant they had to make choices and budget for essentials in a way people dont now. For me, we could only watch the television if we had two shillings to put in the meter on the back; for my mum and dad it was a way of ensuring that when the rental had to be paid on the TV, the money was there. It did, however, mean that sometimes my snooker coverage went off-air, my screen replaced with darkness rather than an episode of Hairy Bikers or Coast like it is today. The frustration was the same though.

Id watch snooker with my grandfather, a navy veteran of the Russian convoys. Despite the limitations of money I saw enough to learn the nicknames and study the styles of the top boys. Hurricane, Whirlwind, Grinder I was mesmerised by their flamboyance, their champagne lifestyles and their fame. I badgered my grampa to take me to the snooker hall and eventually came to own my own cue: EJ Riley, Joe Davis one-piece, in ash, it was a beauty.

Childhood memories are scarce but my first visit to play a game of snooker on a full-size table with Grandpa Hocking is vivid. After my mates six foot by three it felt like a football field. I wasnt even sure I could hit the ball that far, but I was hooked. From 13 to 16, that place, in the Mens Institute, was a second home to me and my friends. Daily routine: in from school, quick change, out the door, Bye Mum, off to the snooker room. Id only return when darkness descended or we could no longer blag money for the light from one of the older boys.

Cherished moments of our time together in that snooker room left a lasting impression on me; no doubt the tobacco cloud probably did too. Happy times, lifelong friendships, all based around a twelve by six foot piece of furniture.

By the time I left home at 18, Id already secured the County Under 21 Snooker title, but I wasnt leaving home to play snooker: I wanted to be an actor.

I wanted a better life than my parents had; it hurt me seeing them struggle to try and not let me or my brother go without. I made a promise that it wouldnt just be at Christmas time I got to drink something called pop.

In 1998 both my parents died. I was just 28 and felt alone, vulnerable. I channelled my grief and anger into determination and drive, not always getting it right, in fact getting it wrong on many occasions, but I learned and listened and refused to give up.

In 2001, frustrated at not getting any acting roles, I wrote a play about 1960s playwright Joe Orton and cast myself in the main role. It ran in London for four weeks and lost me thousands, and The Times described my acting as ordinary.

Years of debt, too many early mornings delivering newspapers and too many late nights serving pizzas, cold walks home because I couldnt afford a bus, and growing my hair long because I couldnt afford to have it cut.

There was no silver spoon, no helping hand, but there was determination to get up every time I was knocked down.

I never thought that an idea to stage a snooker exhibition with my hero Alex Higgins in 2010 would, within three years, grow into an event that was watched by more than 12 million on Eurosport.

I never thought Id be able to one day call Ronnie OSullivan and Jimmy White my good friends.

I never knew where this crazy idea would take me.

I just dared to dream and never gave up.