'Everything was difficult for us as a family' - Shaun Murphy on his childhood

The 2005 world champion believes people perceive him as "well-to-do", but he says the truth could not be more different.

The 37-year-old was discussing his childhood, among other things, and highlighted how support from a local shoe company helped change things for the better when he was aged just 12.

With the new financial aid, a young Murphy no longer had to win money at snooker tournaments to help keep his parents afloat.

"We'd gone through some turbulent times financially as a family. Life at the age of eight was car boot sales every Sunday, auctions on a Thursday, just trying to make a few quid here and there," says Murphy.

"I was playing in snooker tournaments and we were using that cash, everything was very difficult for us.

"The big change for us came when I was 12, and Doc Martens, a local company, obviously a worldwide company but they were based in the town next to where I live, they supported a lot of sports people. They said, we’d really like to support you, and were it not for their support, I wouldn’t be sat here talking to you now."

Speaking on The Break, Murphy also discussed how the escapism of snooker from normal life led to him leaving school early.

"I'd be sat there imagining breaks, I had no interest in school. I left school at 13 and never went back, after year nine that was me done," he says.

"Snooker was it for me, there was no safety net, no second ideas. I remember a careers officer came in to school and I just told them I am going to be a snooker player."

'The Magician' went on to be given a professional contract to get on the tour when he was just 15, making him and Ronnie O'Sullivan the only players under 16 in history to be given special dispensation to do so.