| Born | 20 November 1939 [1] |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Professional | 1981–1992 |
| Highest ranking | 62 (1987/1988) |
| Best ranking finish | Last 32 (x1) |
Geoff Foulds (born 20 November 1939) is an English former professional snooker player. He is the father of fellow professional snooker player Neal Foulds.
Born in 1939, Foulds turned professional in 1981 [2] : 62–64 after a successful amateur career that included winning the London championship in 1971 and each year from 1975 to 1979. [3]
His first two seasons brought little success, but in the 1983–84 snooker season, he reached the last 32 at the UK Championship, where he defeated Steve Duggan 9–8 and Les Dodd 9–7, before losing 1–9 to Steve Davis. [2] : 62–64 The next season saw Foulds progress to the last 48 at the 1985 Classic, beating Bob Chaperon, Frank Jonik and Jack Fitzmaurice to set up a meeting with Mike Hallett. [4] Foulds lost 4–5. A run to the same stage of the 1985 World Snooker Championship, featuring victories over Maurice Parkin, Clive Everton and Colin Roscoe, was ended with a 6–10 loss to Joe Johnson. [4]
Foulds' son, Neal, [5] had joined him in the professional ranks in 1983 and the two met in competition at the 1986 English Professional Championship; [2] : 64–65
At the 1986 International Open, Foulds defeated Leon Heywood, Vic Harris and Bill Werbeniuk, but was beaten in the last 32, again by his son. This time the match was less evenly contested, as Neal won 5–0. [4] Runs to the last 64 at several other tournaments meant Geoff Foulds entered the next season ranked 62nd, a career best. [4] [1] Foulds recorded his final victory in the last 128 at the 1990 Dubai Classic, defeating Mark Rowing 5–4. [4] A 5–10 loss to Australian Greg Jenkins in qualifying for the 1990 World Championship was Foulds' last match as a professional. [4]
He was a director of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) from December 1989 [6] to 11 April 1997 [7] and served as the Association's chair from December 1996 until 1 April 1997. [8] In 1995 Foulds was part of a three-man expert panel that adjudicated on a WPBSA panel that ruled against Peter Francisco who had been accused of match fixing to manipulate a 10–2 defeat to Jimmy White at the 1995 World Snooker Championship. Francisco was subsequently banned from snooker activity for five years. [9]
Foulds was the snooker consultant for the 1985 British musical film Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire . [10]
Joe Johnson is an English former professional snooker player and commentator. He won the 1986 World Championship after starting the tournament as a 150–1 outsider, and was runner-up in 1987. In 1987 he reached the final of the English Amateur Championship, where he was defeated 6–13 by Terry Griffiths, and the final of the 1978 World Amateur Championship, which he lost 5–11 to Cliff Wilson. Johnson turned professional in 1979 and later reached the final of the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, where he lost 8–9 to Tony Knowles. In 1986 he defeated Steve Davis 18–12 to win the 1986 World Championship. Following a string of poor results after winning the title, he reached the final again in 1987, this time losing 14–18 to Davis.
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.
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.
Neal Foulds is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Black in 1992. He was the runner up at the 1986 UK Championship, the British Open in 1987 and reached the semi-finals of the Masters on three occasions, as well as the World Championship. After his retirement, Foulds became a commentator for the BBC and is currently part of the presenting team for ITV and Eurosport.
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.
Clive Harold Everton is a sports commentator, journalist, author and former professional snooker and English billiards player. He founded Snooker Scene magazine, which was first published in 1971, and continued as editor until September 2022. He has authored over twenty books about cue sports since 1972.
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 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 1989 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 1989 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the eighth and final ranking event of the 1988–89 snooker season and the thirteenth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament at this location having taken place in 1977. There were 142 entrants to the competition.
The 1988 World Snooker Championship, also known as the 1988 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship reasons, was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 1988 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), it was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1987–88 snooker season and the twelfth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament there having taken place in 1977.
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 World Snooker Championship, and was the fifth consecutive world championship to take place at the Crucible Theatre since 1977. It was sanctioned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The total prize fund for the tournament was £75,000, of which £20,000 went to the winner.
John Joseph "Jackie" Rea was a Northern Irish snooker player. He was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins.
Jack Karnehm was a British snooker commentator, who was regularly heard on BBC television from 1978 until 1994, and a former amateur world champion at the game of English billiards. Karnehm was also a professional snooker and billiards player.
The Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC) was the governing body of the games of English billiards and snooker and organised professional and amateur championships in both sports. It was formed in 1919 by the union of the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Club.
Pascal Burke was an Irish professional snooker player. He played professionally from 1982 to 1991.
Douglas French is an English former professional snooker player.
Billy Kelly is an Irish former professional snooker player. He played professionally from 1981 to 1992.