Liverpool’s man in black enjoying session with stars

May 23 2008 by Peter Guy, Liverpool Daily Post

WHIRLWIND is a word commonly associated with the game played on the green baize. And while followers of snooker will readily attach it with the legend that is Jimmy White, it’s also fair to say that’s exactly the kind of lifestyle a civil servant from Childwall has been leading during his rise as a semi-professional referee.

From chaperoning popstars, meeting sporting greats, mixing with the arts cognoscenti, parading up the red carpet – and of course officiating during televised 147 breaks – the trademark quietude connected with the game is a world away from Colin Humphries’ exotic, jet-set ways.

Having risen through the English Association of Snooker & Billiards refereeing ranks his ambitions came true last month when he oversaw 12 days of World Championship action at the home of snooker, The Crucible, in Sheffield, culminating in a quarter-final match between Liang Wenbo and eventual champion Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Earlier in the competition, Colin had refereed Crucible matches including seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry, 2008 finalist Ali Carter, 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy and rising Chinese star Ding Junhui while also marking the 147 by Ronnie O’Sullivan in his second round match with Welshman Mark Williams.

But it was the governing body’s decision to select him for the last eight match which delighted Colin most. “I wasn’t expecting it and imagine my surprise when I was told it was Ronnie O’Sullivan’s match,” he said.

“At the time I couldn’t enjoy it as I had to concentrate so much but afterwards I was very proud and the tournament director and my assessors said I’d done a really good job considering all the pressure.”

But it isn’t just his rise up the refereeing ladder which is impressing Colin’s friends and colleagues – what with the showbiz circles outside the playing hall occupying plenty of friendly banter.

“My friends say I’m a name dropper now,” Colin said.

“Plenty of famous people dropped into the Crucible to watch the snooker. Artist Damian Hirst was there, I spoke to BBC newsreader Hugh Edwards, had a good chat with cricket umpire Dickie Bird. While Shane from Westlife watched my quarter-final from the VIP seats and after I gave him a tour of the Crucible.

“Later on we went out to a VIP nightclub reception and in return he’s promised me complimentary tickets to see Westlife when they play Liverpool in June.”

All of this is a far cry from the lifelong Evertonian’s humble beginnings as firstly a player in the local leagues before opting to referee on the Merseyside circuit.

His fascination for the game began as a youngster when his parents, Ged and Bernie, would take him and his brothers, Andrew and Brian and sister, Dawn, to Woolton baths on Sunday afternoons.

And afterwards while his father enjoyed a leisurely pint in Woolton Village Club, Colin and his siblings would idle away an hour in the games-room.

Colin reflects: “Children were not allowed in the bar, so we sat in the snooker room with a lemonade and a couple of packets of crisps and I became fascinated with the size of the snooker table and all the coloured balls getting knocked around.

“As soon as I turned 18 I joined the club right away and started playing competitively in the Garston & District League. I soon realised I wasn’t going to be good enough to play at a high standard so I decided to take the referee’s exam – and the rest is history.”

Having refereed at his local club, the George Scott Snooker Club in Old Swan, Colin graduated to refereeing North West competitions then the National governing bodies amateur UK events.

While still playing in the Prescot League for the Parish Church Club in Prescot, Colin then represented England as a referee in the European Amateur Championships in Romania, overseeing the finals of both the Romanian Open and the European Amateur Final.

His slog around the amateur circuit paid off when three years ago, he was selected as a professional referee spending seven years in challenge tour comps for all major ranking tournaments.

His big break arrived in 2005 when selected to referee televised rounds of the professional competitions.

And 2007 saw Colin graduate to the very top of his profession, refereeing Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 5-2 win in the Northern Ireland Trophy in Belfast in November when he beat Ali Carter 5-2 with a world record five centuries in the five frames he won including a 147 break.

Colin added: “That was the second 147 I’d refereed and the first was only two months earlier when Jamie Burnett completed one in the Grand Prix Qualifiers at Pontins, Prestatyn.

“In March this year I was selected for my first overseas professional tournament at the China Open in Beijing. We had the opening ceremony at The Cube which is were the Olympic swimming events will be held. It was the first time I have had the Red Carpet treatment as all the players and referees had to be introduced to the press and fans, and at the top of the carpet we had to sign autographs and a new car.”

Next stop for Colin is something completely different – marshalling at the Open Golf Championships at Royal Birkdale – and with ambitions to referee a future World Championship snooker final it seems his whirlwind flirtation with all manner of stars is set to roll on.