Sir Alex Ferguson tried to reach out to a snooker players. (Image: Getty)
Irish icon Ken Doherty has shared a hilarious anecdote about mistaking a genuine phone call from for a prank.
The legend had called to congratulate Doherty on his 1997 victory over , an achievement that broke Hendry’s unbeaten streak at the Crucible in Sheffield.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Doherty recalled: “The voice at the other end went: ‘Kenny, Alex Ferguson here, I know you are a big fan, how about parading that trophy up at Old Trafford?’ And I told him to go f*** himself!”
He added: “I thought it was my mate joking! He goes, ‘Kenny, I’m not going to ask you twice, it’s Alex Ferguson’ and I said, ‘Sorry Mr Ferguson’.”
Following the Irishman’s acceptance, he had an unforgettable day at Old Trafford where he got to parade his championship title on the same day that his beloved team received their trophy. “I went up the day they were picking up the Premiership trophy against West Ham,” Doherty recounted.
“It was incredible. The roar I got walking out at Old Trafford was one of the most memorable days of my life.”
Ken Doherty didn’t realise he was speaking to Sir Alex Ferguson. (Image: Getty)
Although United went on to achieve further success, Doherty’s 1997 world championship victory remained his most significant achievement. He reached two more world finals in 1998 and 2001 but lost to and respectively.
Despite being 55 and working as a pundit, Doherty is still an active player but now relies on wildcard invitations to participate. He was twice runner-up at the Masters currently being contested at London’s Alexandra Palace.
Earlier in the tournament, he cracked up the entire studio with a dig at Ronnie O’Sullivan. “I was ribbing him in the practice room [with O’Sullivan coach] Lee Walker,” Doherty began. “I said, ‘how’s it going with Ronnie O’Sullivan? After a month with him he has smashed up his cue and pulled out of the Masters.”
The joke prompted host Hazel Irvine and Hendry to break out into laughter, as Walker now splits his time having previously only coached Williams.
“It is all about alignment with Lee,” Hendry explained. “I don’t think here at the interval they went into the dressing room and he [Walker] would be giving him stern talkings to, because Mark wouldn’t take it and would just tell him to get out.
“He is a mate as much as anything in the dressing room with Mark. It is an alignment the way he coaches, so it is all about that.”