In the wake of the recent news that the World Championship will be remaining at its spiritual home of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield until at least 2045, with an option to extend it to 2050, I thought it would be appropriate to look back at fifty years of top class snooker being played at the Crucible.
In 1976, the World Championship (which for the first time was being sponsored by the tobacco company W.D. & H.O. Wills using the Embassy brand) took place at two venues - Middlesborough Town Hall and Wythenshawe Forum in Manchester, where Ray Reardon would claim his fifth World Championship, defeating the enigmatic Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins 27-16 in the final.
Mike Watterson, the highly respected sports promoter, and his wife, Carole, are the people that snooker are to thank for delivering the World Championship to the Crucible. Early in 1977, Carole had gone to watch a play at the Crucible and when she returned home she suggested to Mike that it would make the ideal venue for the World Championship which was in danger of not being played since no agreement had been reached on a venue. Mike then approached Arnold Eliman, the then-manager of the theatre, and after asking if he could hold the tournament there, renting the theatre £6,000 and then had to make a bid to the WPBSA, where he promised them £17,000 for the tournament, they agreed and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
There were a total of sixteen players who participated in the first championship to be held at the Crucible, which took place from 18th-30th April, and which saw future WPBSA chairman and commentator John Spencer triumph, defeating Canadian Cliff Thorburn 25-21 in the final, which, in those early days at the Crucible, were played over the best of 49 frames. The following year, 1978, Ray Reardon claim his sixth and final world crown, defeating South African Perrie Mans (who had defeated reigning champion Spencer in the first round, thus heralding the start of the so-called 'Crucible Curse') 25-18 and becoming the oldest world champion at 45 years and 203 days, it would not be until 2018 when a player over forty claimed the title, with Mark Williams lifting the trophy at the age of 43.
1979 saw Terry Griffiths, who had only turned professional seven months previously, and had to win two qualifying stages to qualify for the Crucible, become the second Welshman to lift the trophy in a tournament which saw debuts for both Steve Davis and Kirk Stevens. Griffiths got through to the final following an epic semi-final battle against Australian cueist Eddie Charlton. Semi-finals at that time were the best of 37 frames and played over four sessions. The final session of the second day saw play conclude at 1.40am, having taken an incredible five hours and twenty-five minutes to play, which then set the record for the latest finish of any match in the championship. Griffiths eventually completed his 19-17 victory with a 97 after Charlton had missed an opportunity, while leading with a break of 48, to pot a red while using the half-butt. Immediately after the match, BBC presenter David Vine entered the arena to interview Griffiths, who could not hide his joy or disbelief when he simply said, 'I'm in the final now, you know!', causing the Crucible to erupt in laughter. Facing Griffiths in the final was a certain Dennis Taylor (at this time playing without his famous spectacles), who had triumphed over John Virgo in the other semi-final. The final, the best of forty-seven frames, was played over six sessions, Griffiths leading 5-2 at the end of the first session, before Griffiths finished the day leading 8-7. On the first session of the second day, Taylor led 11-9 and then 14-12 before Griffiths went on an incredible run, winning twelve of the next fourteen frames. Starting the final day's play level at 15-15, Griffiths took two of the next three frames to lead 17-16, before wining seven consecutive frames to claim the title 24-16.
The 1980 championship saw the number of players participating increase to twenty-four, with those who were seeded from nine to sixteen up against a qualifer in the the first round, with those triumphant pitting their wits against one of the top eight seeds in the second round, this was the year that the final was played in its current format, played over the best of thirty-five frames over three days. In the final, Canada's Cliff Thorburn took on Northern Ireland's fiery Alex Higgins, the two men having a rather 'testy' relationship, to say the very least, and it was the man who became known as the 'Grinder' who became the first non-British player to claim the title, breaks of 119 and 51 ensuring an 18-16 victory.
1981 saw Steve Davis installed as the man to beat and the heavy favourite to claim his first world crown. In the first round, he narrowly defeated Jimmy 'Whirlwind of London Town' White by 10 frames to 8 before defeating three former world champions on his way to defeating Welshman Doug Mountjoy by 18-12, becoming then the youngest champion at the age of twenty-three and his moment of triumph being memorably shared by his manager, Barry Hearn, who virtually ran into the Crucible and bear-hugged Davis before punching the air in obvious delight.
The following year, 1982, however, Davis, found himself on the wrong end of one of the most incredible scorelines in the history of the championship at the Crucible, exiting the championship at the first round stage after being comprehensively demolished 10-1 by Bolton's Tony Knowles. Alex Higgins found himself reaching his third world championship final following a famous semi-final victory over his good friend, Jimmy White. After finding himself 14-15 down, White was 59-0 ahead when he missed a simple red and Higgins responded with one of the greatest clearances ever seen, with a brilliant 69 break before clinching the final frame to face six-time champion Ray Reardon in the final. At 15-15, it looked like the match could go either way, with Reardon looking to clinch a seventh title, but Higgins grabbed full control and took the next three frames, concluding with a break of 135 to win his second title and which resulted in emotional scenes with Higgins begging to have his then-baby daughter Lauren brought to him, cradling her in his arms at the same time as he was presented with the trophy.
1983 saw history made at the Crucible, as Cliff Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum 147 break, with BBC commentator Jack Karenham memorably uttering the words, 'Good luck, mate' just as Cliff was about to pot the final black, sinking to his knees when he did so before being congratulated by referee John Williams, opponent Terry Griffiths, and fellow Canadian Bill Werbeniuk, who had been silently watching from behind the dividing partition and came over to congratulate his fellow countryman. Thorburn's delight was instantly put into perspective when he shortly afterwards received a telephone call from his wife back in Canada telling him that he had suffered a miscarriage. Completely drained, both emotionally as well as physically and mentally, having beaten Griffiths in that same match, doing so at 3.51am in the morning, the latest ever finish to a match at the Crucible, it came as little surprise when he eventually succumbed 18-6 to Steve Davis in the final.
1984 saw Davis retain his title, defeating Jimmy White, who had reached his first world final. At the end of the first day it seemed as if Davis was once again strolling to another championship, leading the young Londoner 12-4. On the afternoon of the third session on the second day, however, a rejuvenated White got right back into the match, winning seven of the eight frames, before Davis got over the line in the evening session, winning by 18-16.
The following year, 1985, Davis once again found himself in the final, hoping to yet again retain his title, and in the final he faced Dennis Taylor, making his first appearance in the sport's showpiece match since his defeat to Terry Griffiths in 1979. Taylor was coming into the final on the back of having won the Rothmans Grand Prix the previous October, having been inspired following the tragic death of his mother and it was her inspiration which helped Taylor get all the way to the final. Over the course of the first seven frames, Taylor was firmly in his seat, where he could be seen silently talking, not to himself, but, as he explained later, to his mother, as Davis took full control, winning all seven frames of the first session before taking the first of the second session on Saturday evening. The ninth frame proved to be something of a turning point as, after Davis had failed to pot a reasonably easy green, Taylor cleared to the pink to earn himself his first frame, a fact he acknowledged by pointing his finger in the air, a sign of relief as much as anything else. Taylor then proceeded to win six frames, to win the session, and head into the following day only trailing 9-7 overnight. After being level at 11-11 and 15-15, Davis won two frames on the bounce to take a 17-15 lead, requiring just one to claim a third consecutive title (and fourth overall) before Taylor again came back, winning frames 33 and 34, to take the destination of the 1985 World Championship right down to the 35th and final frame of the final.
The final frame, by playing standards, was a rather scrappy affair, but in terms of intrigue and dramatic, remains one of the tensest frames ever played at the Crucible. Davis was leading 62-44, with only 4 coloured balls remaining on the table, Taylor potting the brown before potting the blue with a slowly played cut along the bottom cushion and into the green pocket. He then pocked a rather difficult pink ball into the same pocket from the opposite direction, trailing 59-62 with only the black ball remaining, the final ball of the entire championship. First, Taylor attempted a double into the left middle pocket and at first he and many of those watching, who began to cheer, thought he had pocketed it before it rebounded to a safe position towards the top of the table. After several more shots, Taylor attempted a middle-distance pot to the green pocket, which he left, and left Davis a pot into the top left corner, which he ended up over-cutting, missing the pot and leaving the black ball in a almost perfectly pottable position in the same pocket. Taylor took his time, and then potted the black, immediately raising his cue above his head at the end of what was the most dramatic ending to any World Championship final and possibly to any snooker match. A huge audience of 18.5 million viewers were tuned into BBC Two and were still watching when presenter David Vine arrived to conduct the customary post-match interviews, with a pale and stunned Davis simply responded to Vine's opening question by saying, 'It was all there in black and white', before Taylor lifted the famous old trophy, the same one that had been purchased for the first world championship way back in 1927. Davis would return to the winners circle at the Crucible but not before suffering further heartache, this time at the hands of a man from Bradford called Joe Johnson.
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