Joe Johnson is an English former professional snooker player and commentator, best known for winning the 1986 World Championship after starting the tournament as a 150–1 outsider.
Anthony Christian Meo is a retired English snooker player. He won the 1989 British Open by defeating Dean Reynolds 13–6 in the final, and was runner-up to Steve Davis at the 1984 Classic. He won four World Doubles Championship titles, partnering Davis, and the 1983 World Team Classic representing England alongside Davis and Tony Knowles.
Raymond Reardon is a Welsh retired professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1967 aged 35 and dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and more than a dozen other tournaments. Reardon was World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, and runner-up in 1982. He won the inaugural Pot Black tournament in 1969, the 1976 Masters and the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Higgins 18–16 in the final to become the first world champion in snooker's modern era from outside the United Kingdom. He remains the sport's only world champion from the Americas. He was runner-up in two other world championships, losing 21–25 to John Spencer in the 1977 final and 6–18 to Steve Davis in the 1983 final. Ranked world number one during the 1981–82 season, he was the first non-British player to top the world rankings.
The Classic was a professional snooker tournament, which began in 1980 and ended in 1992. It was originally a non-ranking event, but became ranking in 1984. Steve Davis won the event six times and was the last champion.
Anthony Knowles is an English former professional snooker player. He won the 1982 International Open and the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s. His highest world ranking was second, in the 1984/85 season.
The World Doubles Championship, also known as the Hofmeister World Doubles (1982–1986) or the Fosters World Doubles (1987) for sponsorship purposes, was a non-ranking team snooker tournament held from 1982 to 1987 as the major doubles event.
The 1985 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place from 12 to 28 April 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the event was the ninth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament having taken place in 1977. A five-round qualifying event for the championship was held at the Preston Guild Hall from 29 March to 5 April for 87 players, 16 of whom reached the main stage, where they met the 16 invited seeded players. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and was sponsored by the Embassy cigarette company. The total prize fund for the event was £250,000, the highest prize pool for any snooker tournament to that date. The winner received £60,000, which was the highest amount ever received by the winner of a snooker event at that time.
The 1984 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place between 21 April and 7 May 1984 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, and was the eighth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible since the 1977 event. The event featured 94 participants, of which 78 players competed in a qualifying event held at the Redwood Lodge in Bristol from 1 to 13 April. Of these, 16 players qualified for the main stage in Sheffield, where they met 16 invited seeds. The total prize fund for the event was £200,000, the highest total pool for any snooker tournament at that time; the winner received £44,000.
The 1981 World Snooker Championship, was a ranking professional snooker tournament which took place from 7 April to 20 April 1981 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament was the 1981 edition of the annual World Snooker Championship, a World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA)-sanctioned event which was first held in 1927. The 1981 tournament was the fifth consecutive world championship to take place at the Crucible Theatre since 1977. The total prize fund for the tournament was £75,000, of which £20,000 went to the winner.
The 1991 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 20 April and 6 May 1991 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
The 1984 Rothmans Grand Prix was the first edition of the tournament under the Grand Prix name and had replaced the Professional Players Tournament name, which was used first in 1982. Total prize money was £225,000, then the largest in the history of snooker. Unlike the Professional Players Tournament, the BBC televised the event, which was held at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading, England. The venue had previously hosted the World Team Classic since 1981, an event formerly also televised by the BBC. The last-16 televised stages took place between 20 and 28 October 1984.
The 1985 Rothmans Grand Prix was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 19 to 27 October 1985 at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading. A two table set-up meant that the televised stage at Reading could start at the last-32 stage.
Jimmy van Rensberg is a South African former professional snooker player. He won the South African Professional Championship in 1984. He was a record 12-time winner of the South African Amateur Championship.
The 1984 Lada Classic was the fifth edition of the professional snooker tournament, which took place from 8–15 January 1984. The tournament was played at the Spectrum Arena, Warrington, Cheshire. This was the first year in which the tournament was held as a ranking event. Television coverage was on ITV.
The 1982 World Doubles was the first championship of a doubles tournament for professional snooker players. The championship was sponsored by brewers Hofmeister and 29 teams entered the event with the last 16 competing at the National Recreation Centre in Crystal Palace, London. It was played in December with the semi-finals and final televised on ITV between 15 and 19 December 1982.
The 1983 Hofmeister World Doubles was the second staging of the doubles professional snooker tournament. It was played between 9 and 18 December 1983 with the tournament televised on ITV now showing it in eight days.
The 1984 Hofmeister World Doubles was the second staging of the doubles snooker tournament. It was played at the Derngate in Northampton and held between 5 and 16 December 1984 with the tournament televised on ITV.
The 1986 Hofmeister World Doubles was the fifth staging of the doubles snooker tournament. It was played at the Derngate in Northampton and held between 2 and 14 December 1986 with the tournament televised on ITV.
The 1987 Foster's World Doubles was the sixth staging of the doubles snooker tournament. It was played at the Derngate in Northampton and held between 1 and 13 December 1987 with the tournament televised on ITV from 4 December. Foster's became the sponsors for this tournament as part of the Courage Group as was previous sponsor Hofmeister.
Campbell/Mans 
