This is an article that genuinely comes from
the heart. I'd like to change the speed of the site for a
minute. Sometimes we all get lost in celebrating our own
successes and forget about those who can't celebrate with us.
Going back a few years I was captain of a moderately successful
side at the Prince of Wales. I met a man who came to join
our side, a lad by the name of Stewart McKay. Stew was a
decent player at best when I met him. He was suffering
from Leukemia but was on the mend and pool became his hobby once
he could no longer play football. He was from Longsight
but had moved to Glossop shortly before I had met him. He
joined our pool side that year and took over as captain from
myself the following season. Stew put in a lot of time
playing pool and practicing, probably more than anyone I have
ever met to improve his game. He dedicated an awful lot of
time to practicing with whoever he could as he had a fair bit of
time on his hands. I guess an illness like Leukemia gives
you time, he found a passion in pool and it was something he
grew to love. He started off playing in Longsight and
played for the Star which is opposite the bus station as you
drive into town. He was as well as I'd ever known him during
2003/04 but the drugs did all sorts of bad things to his body as
did the other treatments but luckily he could lead a normalish
life by his standards during those two years. Certainly
more so than after that point.
I'd like to take you to the season of 2004.
People ask me how good was Stewart at pool, many people didn't
really know him. A few knew his game but he was still
fairly fresh faced and wasn't seen as a threat in the major
competitions by anyone outside the Prince. I knew better,
mainly because I'd spent that many hours on a pool table with
Stew that I knew he was one of the best players in the league
and although he wasn't the best potter, wasn't the best
tactician he did have an amazing pooling brain and was excellent
under pressure. During that season we had a team
consisting of myself, Stew, Sam Goddard, Tom Goddard, Brendan
Taylor, Sean Gordon, Martyn Parker, Tim Waring and Adam Gray.
We were a small squad and it was as much a social thing to us as
anything else. We saved up subs over the year and went to
Blackpool for one almighty piss up. Anyway back to the
pool. Stew captained our rather small squad for the season
and to be honest we didn't really do an awful lot. We
finished in mid table respectability in Division 1 but all our
success was to come in the knockouts. As with pool seasons
they start around September time and don't finish until August
the following year. Stew was well during our entire league
campaign, he played all but one fixture and lost only 4 frames
during the season. Considering he was only an average
player when I met him that's some achievement over 12 months.
However, all was not well for Stew, he was in remission but the
drugs were taking his toll on his body. His eyes took the
major punishment and he started to develop cataracts in both his
eyes which as I'm sure others will testify cripple your ability
to play pool. But Stew's eyes were still good and the
Leukemia was still at bay when all the cups started and the
singles and doubles got under way. I had the honour of
partnering Stew in the doubles and I couldn't tell you an awful
lot about who we faced during the comp but I can remember the
latter stages. I can remember a little more about the
individuals, however not a great deal more.
In the singles last 16 I remember Stew played
Rick Jones, I wasn't there that night but Dave Hughes was.
I was told that Stew beat Rick in ten minutes and never played a
bad shot during the match. It was probably his crowning glory of
his singles run because his eyes started to deteriorate shortly
after that game. Stew, myself and Adam Gray made it
through to the last 8 which was pretty good for a fairly average
side. We were the best represented side in the last 8.
However Adam went out to Dave Hughes in the last 8 but both
myself and Stewart went through. In the semi's we faced
each other which was a cruel blow because I'd have loved playing
him in the final. Unfortunately I beat Stew 3-0 at the
Junction Mottram, all the Prince side came to watch the game.
Stew made tons of errors and missed balls completely.
Shortly after this game he told me his eyes had gone and he
could no longer see. I was a little embarrassed to win
like that and although Stew could have the cataracts removed it
would take a long time and he'd probably never be able to play
pool again. However, he still had a doubles semi final and
a Rose Bowl final to play in. He had too much pride to
simply withdraw and he felt he was letting everyone down if he
did.
In the doubles we faces Dave Hughes and Joal
Stone. We had to re-arrange this fixture due to Joal
working the scheduled night and Stew was in and out of hospital
around the time of the game. We ended up playing at the
Prince on a recently recovered table. During the game
Stewart could only really play roll ups and was constantly
asking me how much of the balls he could see so he could try to
figure out angles. Luckily we won 3-1 I'm still not too
sure how to this day. We didn't tell our opponents but you
could tell Stew wasn't well when we played that game. To
be fair we didn't want to tell anyone especially as we had
reached the final. Stew was back in hospital a lot over
the next week or so and a few of the team were a little worried
about him. Come finals night (well it turned into week)
Stewart and myself played Tony Smith (Fred) and Ian Sanders.
We lost 3-1, Fred and Ian played the better pool and we were
dying a slow death in most frames and I was told to go for
finishes by Stew even if I only had a sniff of a chance.
We did the best we could but our luck had run out and the better
side won on the day. If Stew had been 100% then who knows
but we had our victory in reaching the final. Two days
later we played in the Rose Bowl Final at the Jubilee.
Stew was really poorly at this stage, I have a feeling we played
against the Peels (now Lamp) He stayed for the match, his
pride wouldn't allow him to go home. We lost 4-3 in the
final and that was the last I saw of him for three weeks.
He went back into hospital and was kept alone in a room for most
of that time. He'd fought hard to attend the final
although he couldn't really do himself justice. Stew never
played another competitive game of pool after that day, he
wasn't well enough to collect his individuals, Doubles or Rose
Bowl trophies. His good friend Adam Gray collected his
doubles trophy and also took his place in the Hyde Summer League
Doubles with me as Stewart wasn't able to play anymore. We
won that tournament for Stew dropping no frames en route to
winning it for him. We both agreed before during and after
to dedicate our victory to him.
After 2004 as I have stated Stew could no
longer play pool, during that Thursday League he won 3 trophies,
made two finals and a semi final and lost only 4 league games.
It was so sad to think that a genuine talent who I believe would
have gone on to take many other trophies and titles would never
pick up a cue again. Not long afterward Stew had a relapse
and was back in and out of hospital for the rest of his days.
Stew battled on until spring 2007 where he lost his fight.
He was a remarkable lad he was only 29 years old and I never met
a person who had a bad word to say about him. He was an
awesome pool player and someone I can say without bias would
have been in the top 5 in Glossop today.
He brought magic to mine and a lot of other
peoples lives, was one of the friendliest people you could ever
hope to meet and would help anyone in any way he could.
Many people who read this won't know Stew, he was incredibly
funny, told some amazing stories and didn't have the easiest
upbringings in the world. He left behind a lovely
daughter, who reminds me so much of her Dad every time I see
her.
RIP mate, you are gone but will never be
forgotten.
