Steve Davis is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World Snooker Championship finals in nine years, won six world titles, and held the world number one ranking for seven consecutive seasons. He was runner-up to Dennis Taylor in one of snooker's most famous matches, the 1985 world final, whose dramatic black-ball conclusion attracted 18.5 million viewers, setting UK records for any broadcast after midnight and any broadcast on BBC Two that stand to this day.
Graham Miles was an English snooker player.
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.
Terence Martin Griffiths is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He was the second qualifier to win the title after Alex Higgins achieved the feat in 1972; only Shaun Murphy has done it since, winning the title in 2005. Griffiths defeated Dennis Taylor by 24 frames to 16 in the final. Nine years later, in 1988, Griffiths reached the final of the competition again. He was tied with Steve Davis at 8–8, but lost the match 11–18.
John Spencer was an English professional snooker player who won the World Snooker Championship title at his first attempt in 1969, the year that the event reverted to a knockout tournament. He won the world title for the second time in 1971, and was the first player to win the championship at the Crucible Theatre when it moved there in 1977. Spencer was the inaugural winner of both the Masters and the Irish Masters tournaments, and was the first player to make a maximum 147 break in competition, although this is not recognised as an official maximum because the pockets on the table did not meet the required specifications.
Clifford Charles DevlinThorburn 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.
Doug Mountjoy was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Glamorgan, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for 11 consecutive years. He began his professional snooker career by taking the 1977 Masters, which he entered as a reserve player. He won both the 1978 UK Championship and the 1979 Irish Masters. Mountjoy reached the final of the 1981 World Snooker Championship where he was defeated by Steve Davis. He was also runner-up at the 1985 Masters losing to Cliff Thorburn, but by 1988 he had dropped out of the top 16.
Desmond Rex Williams is a retired English professional snooker and billiards player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams won the World Professional Billiards Championship from Clark McConachy in 1968, the first time that the title had been contested since 1951. Williams retained the title in several challenge matches in the 1970s, and, after losing it to Fred Davis in 1980, regained it from 1982 to 1983.
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.
Patsy Fagan is an Irish former professional snooker player. Having been runner-up in the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he turned professional in October 1976. He experienced early success with victories at the 1977 UK Championship and the 1977 Dry Blackthorn Cup but following a car accident, developed a psychological block when using the rest which affected his playing and he did not win another title. He lost his professional status in 1989 following a 2–9 playoff defeat by Brady Gollan and now works as a snooker coach. His highest career ranking was 11, in 1978/79.
The 1987 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 18 April and 4 May 1987 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1986–87 snooker season. The championship was the 1987 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927, and had 32 participants. The highest ranked 16 players were awarded a place in the first round draw, whilst a pre-tournament qualification event for 104 professionals was held between 26 March and 4 April at the Preston Guild Hall for the remaining places. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy and had a prize fund of £400,000 with the winner receiving £80,000.
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.
Dennis Taylor is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship, where he defeated the defending champion Steve Davis in a final widely recognised as one of the most famous matches in professional snooker history. Despite losing the first eight frames, Taylor recovered to win 18–17 in a dramatic duel on the last black ball. The final's conclusion attracted 18.5 million viewers, setting UK viewership records for any post-midnight broadcast and for any broadcast on BBC Two that still stand to this day.
The World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional snooker tournament established in 1952 as an alternative to the professional World Snooker Championship by some of the professional players, following a dispute with the Billiards Association and Control Council, the sport's governing body. Fred Davis won the first five editions of the tournament, but didn't participate in 1957, when John Pulman won. After this, the event was discontinued due to a decline in the popularity of snooker.
The 1987 Rothmans Matchroom League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from January to May 1987.
The 1987 Matchroom Irish Professional Championship was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place in February 1987 at the Antrim Forum in Antrim, Northern Ireland.
The Matchroom Professional Championship was a non-ranking snooker tournament staged between 1986 and 1988. All three editions were held at Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea. In its final year the tournament was sponsored by LEP.
The 1986 Matchroom Professional Championship was the inaugural edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament which took place from 17 to 21 September 1986 in Southend-on-Sea, England.
The 1988 LEP Matchroom Professional Championship was the third and final edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament which took place in October 1988 in Southend-on-Sea, England.
Dennis Taylor (NIR)
Willie Thorne (ENG)