YORK sportsman Eric John Darley has died at the age of 74.
Born in Terry Street, South Bank, he attended Nunthorpe Grammar School and played centre-half at football for the school, South Bank and York Railway Institute.
He did his National Service in the Royal Navy from 1947 to 1949, on HMS Amethyst and HMS Belfast, playing in the HMS Amethyst football team and representing the Royal Navy at football.
A member of Fulford Golf Club, he achieved a hole-in-one on the third at the course on June 21, 1987 in one of the club's tournaments.
He was treasurer and assistant secretary of Bootham Conservative Club for a number of years and was a keen snooker and billiard player for Bootham Conservative Club and South Bank.
He captained the Bootham snooker and billiard teams for a number of years. Both teams were very successful and won the league many times.
He was a finalist three times in the York Open Snooker Championship and winner of the York Open Billiard Championship, the Orm Shield.
He defeated world snooker champion Ray Reardon on January 12, 1977 at Bootham Conservative Club, clearing up the last red and all six colours to win from level starts.
Mr Darley was a director of Sorrell building contractors in York when he retired. He was also president of the National Federation of Building Trade Employees in its Centenary Year, 1980.
Updated: 11:00 Tuesday, March 11, 2003
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