The Mark of a Champion

How Williams conquered the world

Someone asked me recently what makes Mark Williams so good.

There are many possible responses, but the true answer lies in his character, the fortitude hewn from his background and his remarkable equanimity in victory or defeat. Put simply, there is no one quite like him in the sport.

Williams hails from Cwm, a mining village in Blaenau Gwent, South Wales, a borough that includes Tredegar, birthplace of Ray Reardon. The menfolk were all miners. Mark’s grandfather and father spent long days underground and he was set to follow them, but by the early 1980s the industry was under threat.

As a boy he remembers being out with his dad on the picket line as the national strike brought the government and its forces at odds with the people. It must have forged a strong antipathy to authority, still present in Williams even after recently turning 50.

Sport, like mining, was part of the bloodstream of Wales. Rugby players were kings, but snooker was not far behind thanks to Reardon, Terry Griffiths and Doug Mountjoy. They were all working men made good, heroes to a generation and inspirational figures for Williams as he grew up showing promise on the green, green baize of home.