He missed days off school so he could practice his snooker and now local lad Gary Wilson has made it to the World Championship semi-final as he sets his sights on becoming number one.
And as his Geordie fans cheer him on as he starts day two after tying 4-4 with Judd Trump, we are urging our army of readers to wish him good luck.
ChronicleLive has followed Gary through his career and even covered a story on him at the age of 13 after teaming up with his snooker idol Jimmy White.
So we have created our own photo gallery from him being a youngster, including those with weird hair dos, through to him today - with less hair.
Play resumes at 2.30pm as he edges forward to realising his dream to lifting the prestigious trophy.
Gary is a big Toon fan and even Newcastle United have sent out a tweet saying: “Good luck to Newcastle United fan Gary Wilson, who faces Judd Trump in the @WorldSnooker Championship semi-finals today!
“The Wallsend-born ‘Tyneside Terror’ has been the surprise package of the tournament so far.”
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Gary, who is ranked 32 in the world, is in the limelight now, but he used to work as a taxi driver to bring in the cash.
But that could all change for him as the 33-year-old fights for bigger shares of the prize money pot which stands at over £2 million in total.
Gary’s love for snooker started as a child. He was playing aged just three years old and soon started showing promise. At the age of eight he had already been put into a team performing in the local league, despite some clubs refusing to allow a child to play. Aged nine, he made his first century, and appeared for the first time at the BBC1’s snooker game show series Junior Big Break: Stars of the Future.
He played exhibition matches with snooker greats John Parrott and Willie Thorne and defeated Jimmy White and Ronnie O’Sullivan in level matches.
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He went on to win a number of national titles, including the UK Under-18 championship twice, and was widely regarded as one of the most promising junior players in the country.
Regarded as one of UK Snooker’s finest prospects he started his professional career in 2003 by playing on the Challenge Tour and finished fourth, to earn his place on the full-time tour in 2004.
He was crowned the World under-21 Champion on his first year on the tour but that was as good as it got for him as in 2006, he fell off the tour after failing to earn enough ranking points to preserve his place on the circuit.
Wilson struggled to regain his tour card and was forced to become a taxi driver as he looked to regain his professional status.
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And after seven years away from the tour, he sealed his return in 2013 and he has since gone from strength to strength.
Gary told Sky Sport: “I dropped off the tour and I wasn’t good enough to get back on. I was having all these uncertain times when I didn’t know if I was going to be a pro again.
“I was desperate to get back on the tour and just scrape a living. So to go from that point to where I am now, in the one-table set-up, is absolutely amazing and the sort of thing you dream of.”
Gary, whose only previous Crucible appearance saw a first round defeat to Ronnie O’Sullivan two years ago, had beaten Luca Brecel and former champion Mark Selby to reach the quarter-finals.
Reflecting on a now-guaranteed career-best payday of at least £100,000, Wilson added: “I remember situations when I was struggling for money and wondering what job I was going to do.
“I’d been playing since I was eight years old and I had put my heart and soul into it. I had missed school and nights out with my mates. All this makes it feel worthwhile.”
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