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Ray Reardon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ray Reardon
MBE
Born (1932-10-08) 8 October 1932 (age 89)
Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales
Sport country Wales[1]
NicknameDracula
Professional1967–1991
Highest ranking1 (1976–1981, 1982–1983)
Highest break146: 1972 Park Drive 2000
Tournament wins
Ranking5
Non-ranking19
World Champion

Raymond Reardon, MBE (born 8 October 1932) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1967 before going on to dominate the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship on six occasions, and more than a dozen other tournaments. He was world champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, and runner-up in the 1982 event. He won the inaugural Pot Black tournament in 1969, the 1976 Masters and the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.

He was the first number one ranked player when world rankings were introduced in the 1976–77 season, holding the top ranking position for the next five years. He regained the number one ranking in 1982, but his form declined thereafter and he dropped out of the elite top-16 ranked players after the 1986–87 season. He retired from the professional game in 1991.

Reardon remained one of snooker's top players into his 50s, setting a number of records. He became snooker's oldest World champion (in 1978, aged 45 years and 203 days), and the oldest player to win a ranking event (in 1982, aged 50 years and 14 days). His highest break in competition was 146. He also worked with Ronnie O'Sullivan in a coaching role, helping him to win the 2004 World Snooker Championship. Reardon's dark widow's peak and sharp-toothed grin earned him the nickname "Dracula".

Early life[]

Reardon was born on 8 October 1932, in the coal mining community of Tredegar in Monmouthshire, Wales.[1] He was introduced to a version of snooker by his uncle when he was 8 years old, and by the age of ten he was practicing cue sports twice-weekly at Tredegar Workmen's Institute as well as on a scaled-down billiard table at home. He primarily played English billiards rather than snooker, which authors Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby claim helped improve his control of the cue ball and his potting.[2] He turned down a place at a grammar school to become a miner at Ty Trist Colliery, aged 14, following in the footsteps of his father. He wore white gloves whilst mining, to protect his hands for snooker.[2]

After a rockfall in which he was buried for three hours, he quit mining and became a police officer in 1960 when his family moved to Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.[2][3]

Amateur snooker career[]

In 1949, Reardon won the News of the World Amateur title, and was awarded an ash cue stick, presented by Joe Davis. Reardon used this cue until it fell apart shortly after the 1978 World Snooker Championship final.[4] He reached the final of the 1949–50 under-19 Junior championship, where he lost 2–3 to Jack Carney.[5] Reardon won the Welsh Amateur Championship in 1950, defeating the defending champion John Ford 5–3 in the final,[6] and retained the title each year to 1955.[7] Reardon played Tommy Gordon in the final of the 1956 English Amateur Championship, and led 7–3 after the first day, but lost the tip from his cue early on the second day, and was defeated 9–11.[8]

In Tredegar, Reardon played Cliff Wilson (born 1934), who was also from the town, in a succession of money matches as well as facing him several times in amateur tournaments.[9][10] In The Story of Billiards and Snooker (1979), Clive Everton describes their contests, which attracted hundreds of supporting spectators, as "modern snooker's nearest equivalent to a bare knuckle prize fight."[11]

After losing in the first round of the 1957 English Amateur Championship, Reardon decided to take time out from the competition to work on improving his game, and did not enter the championship again until 1964, when won the title, defeating John Spencer 11–8 in the final.[12] This victory led to an invitation to tour South Africa with Jonathan Barron, which proved to be so successful that Reardon was offered the chance to tour the country again as a professional. On the basis of this offer, Reardon resigned from the police and turned professional in 1967.[8][13][14]

Professional snooker career: six times world champion[]

Reardon's first appearance at the World Snooker Championship was in 1969, in a quarter-final, against Fred Davis.[15] The match featured lengthy tactical exchanges between the players, resulting in some of the longest sessions ever to take place in world championship history to that point. No player was ahead by more than two frames until Reardon won the 27th frame to lead 15–12, after which Davis won six successive frames. The pair were level again at 24–24 in the best of 49 frames contest, meaning that the match went to a deciding frame. In the 49th frame, Davis compiled a break of 52, and after Davis added some points in further visits, Reardon conceded the frame at 64 points behind with one red ball remaining.[16][17] In July 1969, the BBC started broadcasting Pot Black, initially a competition of one-frame matches, which became popular with viewers and enhanced the profile and earning power of the participants. Reardon won the first series by defeating Spencer by 88 points to 29 in the final.[18]

Reardon won his first world title in April 1970, defeating Davis in the quarter-finals, Spencer in the semi-finals, and John Pulman 37–33 in the final, having led 27–14 before Pulman reduced the lead to one frame at 34–33.[19][18] The next world championship was played in Australia in November 1970, and Reardon topped the round-robin group, winning all four of his matches.[20] This meant he qualified for the semi-finals, where Spencer achieved a winning margin against him at 25–7 and finished the match 34–15 ahead after dead frames.[21][22] Reardon won the October 1971 edition of the Park Drive 2000, defeating Spencer 4–3 in the final after placing second to him in the round-robin. In the Spring 1972 edition, Reardon made a break of 146 in the round-robin stage, which was the highest-ever break in competitive play at that time.[23] This remained the highest official break of his career, as he never made a maximum break of 147 in tournament play.[24]

He lost his first match at the 1972 World Snooker Championship, 22–25 to Rex Williams in the quarter-finals.[25] At the 1973 World Snooker Championship, he reached the final with wins over Jim Meadowcroft (16–10), and Spencer (23–22, having trailed 12–10) in Manchester. In the final, he lost the first 7 frames to Eddie Charlton, but took 17 of the next 23 frames to hold a four frame advantage at 17–13. Reardon moved into a 27–25 lead, at which point he complained to the organisers about the television lighting which was reflecting on object balls. When the organisers declined to act, Reardon approached the tournament sponsors, threatening to withdraw, after which the lighting was changed. Reardon was 31–29 ahead going into the last day, and won 38–32 to claim his second world title.[26][25]

Reardon retained the title in 1974, eliminating Meadowcroft (15–3), Marcus Owen (15–11) and Davis (15–3) from the competition before and defeating Graham Miles 22–12 in the final.[25] In a post-match interview, Reardon said that he felt he had not played "any better than mediocre" in the final, but that Miles had not put him any pressure. He added that "I don't feel the elation that I felt at winning last year."[27][28] Reardon also won the 1974 Pontins Professional. He led 9–4 in the final, and won 10–9 after Spencer had taken five consecutive frames to force a deciding frame.[29]

At the inaugural Masters in 1975, Reardon reached the final by winning 5–4 on the pink ball against Williams in the semi-final, and lost the final 8–9 to Spencer on a re-spotted black.[30] At the 1975 World Snooker Championship, held in Australia, he had a tough quarter-final with Spencer which he won 19–17. He then eliminated Alex Higgins 19–14 to meet Charlton in the final. Reardon led 16–8, but Charlton won the following nine frames. Charlton went on to lead 28–23, but Reardon then won seven of the next eight frames to lead 30–29. Charlton took the sixtieth frame to tie the match but Reardon took the vital sixty-first frame and won the title for the third successive year.[30] A week later, Reardon was at Pontins in the UK, where he retained the professional title and won the Open title.[30]

In January 1976, he retained the Masters with a 7–3 win against Miles in the final.[31] He had defeated Pulman in the quarter-final 4–1, in a match where the highest break was only 22 (by Pulman), and Charlton 5–4 in the semi-final.[32]

Reardon won his fifth world title at the 1976 World Snooker Championship, defeating John Dunning 15–7, Dennis Taylor 15–2 and Perrie Mans 20–10. During the final against Higgins, Reardon complained about the television lighting, which was changed, the quality of the table, to which adjustments were subsequently made, and the referee, who was replaced. Higgins led in the early stages of the match, but Reardon won twelve of the next fifteen frames from 15 to 13 for a 27–16 victory.[25][33] He also won the 1976 World Professional Match-play Championship in Australia, defeating the event's promoter Charlton 31–24 in the final.[34]

He reached the final of the 1977 Masters, which he lost 6–7 to Doug Mountjoy after progressing past Williams (4–1) and Miles (5–2),[35] and was also runner-up at the 1977 Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament, 2–5 to Higgins.[36] Reardon's unbeaten run at the World Championship ended in 1977, when he lost to Spencer in the quarter-finals 6–13, his first defeat since his loss to Williams in 1972.[25]

Reardon regained the title in 1978 winning it for the sixth and final time by beating Mountjoy 13–9 (after trailing 2–7), Bill Werbeniuk 13–6, Charlton 18–14 and lastly Mans 25–18 in the final.[37] Reardon became the oldest winner of the World Championship, at the age of 45 years and 203 days.[38][39] Shortly after this, Reardon regained the Pontins Professional title, taking it for the fourth time in five years, by defeating Spencer 7–2 in the final.[40] In the same year, his old rival from Tredegar, Wilson, won the World Amateur Championship.[41]

Later professional career[]

Towards the end of 1978 Reardon beat Patsy Fagan 6–1 and Higgins 11–9 to win the one-off "Champion of Champions" event sponsored by the Daily Mirror and held at the Wembley Conference Centre,[42] and he won the 1979 Forward Chemicals Tournament.[36]

1979 saw Reardon regain his Pot Black title by defeating Mountjoy 2–1 in the final. It was Reardon's first win since he won the inaugural event in 1969, although he was runner up in 1970, 1972 and 1980.[43] At the 1979 World Championship, he lost to Dennis Taylor in the quarter-final, and was eliminated by David Taylor at the same stage in 1980. He went a stage further in 1981, beating Spencer 13–11 and Werbeniuk 13–10 before being defeated Mountjoy in the semi-finals. Mountjoy scored a championship record break of 145 during the match, which he won 16–10.[44]

Reardon joined with Mountjoy and the reigning World Champion Terry Griffiths, to win the first World Challenge Cup for Wales, defeating England (Fred Davis, Spencer and Miles) 14–3 in the final. The same Wales team retained the title in 1980.[45]

Reardon whitewashed Steve Davis 6–0 in the 1982 Highland Masters semi-final, and an event Reardon went on to win with an 11–4 defeat of Spencer in the final.[36] He reached the world championship final in 1982, losing to Higgins 15–18. In reaching the final he defeated Jim Donnelly (10–5), John Virgo (13–8), and Silvino Francisco (13–8), and, in the semi-finals, Charlton by 16–11 after winning five successive frames from 11 to 11 win.[36][46] In the final, Reardon built a 5–3 lead, but was 7–10 behind at the end of the first day. Later, Reardon levelled at 15–15, but Higgins won the last three frames to claim the title.[47]

For the 1982/3 season Reardon returned to number one in the world rankings, which at the time was based only on performances at the World Championships over previous years.[48] He won the Professional Players Tournament in late 1982, beating Jimmy White 10–5 in the final,[49] reached the final of the Benson & Hedges Masters, losing 7–9 to Thorburn,[36] and went on to win the 1983 International Masters, where he defeated Davis 2–1 in the semi-final group stages, before prevailing 9–6 against White 9–6 in the final, having trailed 3–5.[50] His victory in the Professional Players Tournament saw him become the oldest winner of a ranking tournament, at 50 years and 14 days.[38] Reardon also regained the Welsh Professional Title, eliminating Griffiths 9–4 and Mountjoy 9–1 in the semi-final and final respectively.[51] At the 1983 World Snooker Championship, he lost 12–13 in the second round to Tony Knowles, and at the 1984 Championship he reached the quarter-finals, where he was eliminated 2–13 by Kirk Stevens.[36]

Reardon wore spectacles for the first time in a match at the 1985 British Open. He lost 4–5 to Dave Martin after leading 4–1.[52] At the 1985 World Snooker Championship, playing with unassisted vision, Reardon reached the semi-finals, where he lost 5–16 to Davis.[53] He lost to John Campbell in the first round of the 1986 World Snooker Championship, and to Davis in the second round in 1987.[36]

He dropped out of the top 16 rankings in 1987.[54] Reardon whitewashed Davis 5–0 in the third round of the 1988 British Open, using his old cue with which he had won his world titles, having been encouraged to rebuild it by Davis. However, in the next round, played under TV lighting, Reardon suffered a drying of contact lenses (which he had started using in 1987) and lost 2–5 to David Roe, having led 2–1.[55][56]

Retirement and legacy[]

Reardon played his last competitive ranking match in the second quaifying round for the 1991 World Snooker Championship. He was defeated 5–10 by Jason Prince, losing three frames on the black. After this, Reardon announced that "there was no bitterness on [his] part" but he would not be returning. Having slipped to 127th in the provisional ranking and now aged 58, Reardon called a halt to his playing career, mentioning that he had not entered any tournaments for the following season because the qualifying event dates clashed with his exhibition commitments on the holiday camp circuit, but adding that "even if were feasible, I wouldn't play" except in invitation or seniors events.[57] He later played in the 2000 World Seniors Masters where he lost his opening one-frame match 46–69 to Miles.[58] He advised Ronnie O'Sullivan on his way to his 2004 World Championship victory, giving him psychological and tactical help.[59]

When the snooker world rankings were introduced in 1976, Reardon was the first number one, retaining that position until 1981/1982.[1] His win in the 1982 Professional Players Tournament at the age of 50 contributed to his recapturing the world number one position in the first set of rankings to be calculated on tournaments other than the World Championship.[60] Reardon and Spencer were the first players to exploit the commercial opportunities made available by the increasing interest in snooker in the early 1970s.[61] After winning Pot Black in 1969 and the world title in 1970, Reardon took up offers for exhibition matches and holiday camp exhibition engagements.[48] However, Everton and Gordon Burn (1986) have both noted that Reardon's peak as a player pre-dated the real boom in snooker that happened in the 1980s.[8][62]

In January 1976, Reardon appeared on This is Your Life, with guests including Spencer, Charlton, Higgins, Pulman, Miles, Jackie Rea, Cliff Thorburn and Joyce Gardner.[63] Reardon's prominent eye teeth and widow's peak led to him being nicknamed "Dracula".[64][65] The sobriquet was first used by Paul Daniels after Reardon appeared on one of Daniels's television shows.[66] Everton has described Reardon in his early career as a "deadly long potter", and praised his "the nerve with which he identified and seizes frame winning openings."[53] Jack Karnehm wrote that Reardon achieved "complete and utter dominance of the game" by 1976, and "had a determination and will to win unequalled since the heyday of Joe Davis."[67] Williams and Gadsby describe Reardon as "without doubt the most successful snooker player of the 1970s" and claim "he set new standards for mental fortitude" in the game.[68]

Davis saw Reardon play at Pontins in Prestatyn in 1975, and incorporated elements that he had observed in Reardon into his own game: a pause before hitting the cue ball, and his approach. Burn wrote "Ray Reardon behaved as if he thought he was special. And Steve -with a little encouragement from [his manager] Barry [Hearn]- decided that was how he was going to behave from now on."[69] However, Davis said that he lost some respect for Reardon when, as a new professional he experienced Reardon asking for the pack of red balls to be re-racked six times as he claimed that the referee had not placed them correctly. Davis, unsettled by what he felt might be gamesmanship on Reardon's part, lost the match 0–4.[70] Spencer stated in his autobiography that he was never friendly with Reardon, and said that Reardon "was the sort of person who could laugh 24 hours a day if it was to his advantage."[71]

Reardon now resides in Devon.[72] He is currently the president of the golf club in Churston.[73][74] Reardon made a playing appearance at a Snooker Legends evening in Plymouth in July 2010.[75] He was awarded the MBE in 1985.[53] The Welsh Open trophy was renamed the Ray Reardon Trophy in his honour, starting with the 2017 edition of the tournament.[76]

Performance and rankings timeline[]

Tournament 1968/
69 		1969/
70 		1970/
71 		1971/
72 		1972/
73 		1973/
74 		1974/
75 		1975/
76 		1976/
77 		1977/
78 		1978/
79 		1979/
80 		1980/
81 		1981/
82 		1982/
83 		1983/
84 		1984/
85 		1985/
86 		1986/
87 		1987/
88 		1988/
89 		1989/
90 		1990/
91 		Ref.
Ranking No ranking system 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 2 5 6 15 38 40 54 73 [54]
Ranking tournaments
Grand Prix[nb 1] Tournament Not Held W 3R 3R 1R 1R 1R LQ A LQ [36]
Asian Open[nb 2] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event Not Held A LQ [36]
Dubai Classic[nb 3] Tournament Not Held NR A LQ [36]
UK Championship Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event QF 2R 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ [36]
Classic Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event 1R QF 1R 1R 1R 2R LQ A [36]
British Open[nb 4] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R LQ A [36]
European Open Tournament Not Held 1R A LQ [36]
World Championship Non-Ranking Event W W W QF W QF QF SF F 2R QF SF 1R 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ [36]
Non-ranking tournaments
Scottish Masters Tournament Not Held QF QF A A A A A NH A A [36]
European Grand Masters Tournament Not Held F [77]
The Masters Tournament Not Held F W F SF SF SF QF QF F QF QF 1R 1R A A A A [36]
Irish Masters[nb 5] Tournament Not Held A A F SF F RR F SF F QF 1R 1R A A A A A [36]
Welsh Professional Championship Tournament Not Held W NH F W SF W SF SF QF QF QF QF QF QF [36]
Professional Snooker League[nb 6] Tournament Not Held RR Not Held A A A A A [78]
Pontins Professional Tournament Not Held W W W RR W SF F QF F F SF SF QF A A A A A [36]
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters[nb 7] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking 1R Not Held [36]
International Open[nb 8] Tournament Not Held NR 2R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R A NH [36]
Former non-ranking tournaments
Stratford Professional Not Held F A A Tournament Not Held [79]
Park Drive 2000 (Spring) Not Held A RR Tournament Not Held [23]
Park Drive 2000 (Autumn) Not Held W RR Tournament Not Held [23]
Men of the Midlands Not Held SF F Tournament Not Held [80]
World Championship QF W SF QF W Ranking Event [25]
World Masters Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held [81]
Norwich Union Open Tournament Not Held A F Tournament Not Held [36]
Watney Open Tournament Not Held SF Tournament Not Held [36]
Canadian Club Masters Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held [82]
World Matchplay Championship Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held [36]
Dry Blackthorn Cup Tournament Not Held SF Tournament Not Held [83]
Holsten Lager International Tournament Not Held QF Tournament Not Held [84]
Forward Chemicals Tournament Tournament Not Held W Tournament Not Held [36]
Golden Masters Tournament Not Held F W Tournament Not Held [85]
Kronenbrau 1308 Classic Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held [86]
Champion of Champions Tournament Not Held W NH RR Tournament Not Held [36][87]
International Open[nb 9] Tournament Not Held 2R Ranking Event NH [36]
Highland Masters Tournament Not Held W Tournament Not Held [88]
Australian Masters[nb 10] Tournament Not Held A A A RR A A A A A NH A NH [89]
Classic Tournament Not Held A SF SF 1R Ranking Event [36][90]
Tolly Cobbold Classic Tournament Not Held F A A A QF A Tournament Not Held [36][91]
UK Championship Tournament Not Held 2R 2R A SF QF SF QF Ranking Event [36]
British Open[nb 11] Tournament Not Held F RR RR W 2R Ranking Event [36]
KitKat Break for World Champions Tournament Not Held QF Tournament Not Held [36]
Pot Black W F A F ?? ?? ?? 2R RR SF W F SF RR F 1R 1R QF Tournament Not Held [92][93]
Belgian Classic Tournament Not Held QF Tournament Not Held [36]
Canadian Masters[nb 12] Tournament Not Held A A A SF A A A Tournament Not Held SF A A R Not Held [36]
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament ?? no reliable source available
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
  1. ^ The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1982/93–1983/1984)
  2. ^ The event was also called the Thailand Masters (1983/1984–1986/1987)
  3. ^ The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989)
  4. ^ The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)
  5. ^ The event was also called the Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament (1974/1975–1976/1977)
  6. ^ The event was later called the Premier League
  7. ^ The event was also called the Canadian Open (1978/1979–1980/1981)
  8. ^ The event was also called the Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)
  9. ^ The event was also called the Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)
  10. ^ The event was also called the Hong Kong Open (1989/1990) and Australian Open (1994/1995)
  11. ^ The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)
  12. ^ The event was also called the Canadian Open (1978/1979–1980/1981)

Career finals[]

Sources for the ranking and ron-ranking final results can be found in the Performance timeline section above.

Ranking finals: 6 (5 titles, 1 runner-up)[]

Legend
World Championship (4–1)
Other (1–0)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1974 World Championship (3) England Graham Miles 22–12
Winner 2. 1975 World Championship (4) Australia Eddie Charlton 31–30
Winner 3. 1976 World Championship (5) Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 27–16
Winner 4. 1978 World Championship (6) South Africa Perrie Mans 25–18
Runner-up 1. 1982 World Championship Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 15–18
Winner 5. 1982 Professional Players Tournament England Jimmy White 10–5

Non-ranking finals: 44 (19 titles, 25 runners-up)[]

Legend
World Championship (2–0) [nb 1]
The Masters (1–3)
Other (15–22)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1969 Pot Black England John Spencer 1–0
Runner-up 1. 1970 Pot Black England John Spencer 0–1
Winner 2. 1970 World Championship England John Pulman 37–33
Runner-up 2. 1970 Stratford Professional Wales Gary Owen 4–6
Winner 3. 1971 Park Drive 600 England John Spencer 4–0
Winner 4. 1971 Park Drive 2000 – Autumn England John Spencer 4–3
Runner-up 3. 1972 Pot Black (2) Australia Eddie Charlton 0–1
Runner-up 4. 1973 Men of the Midlands Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 3–5
Winner 5. 1973 World Championship (2) Australia Eddie Charlton 38–32
Winner 6. 1974 Pontins Professional England John Spencer 10–9
Runner-up 6. 1974 Norwich Union Open England John Spencer 9–10
Runner-up 7. 1975 The Masters England John Spencer 8–9
Winner 7. 1975 Pontins Professional (2) England John Spencer 10–4
Winner 8. 1976 The Masters England Graham Miles 7–3
Winner 9. 1976 Pontins Professional (3) England Fred Davis 10–9
Runner-up 8. 1976 Canadian Club Masters Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 4–6
Runner-up 9. 1976 World Professional Match-play Championship Northern Ireland Eddie Charlton 24–31
Runner-up 10. 1977 The Masters (2) Wales Doug Mountjoy 6–7
Winner 10. 1977 Welsh Professional Championship Wales Doug Mountjoy 12–8
Runner-up 11. 1977 Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 3–5
Winner 11. 1978 Pontins Professional (4) England John Spencer 7–2
Runner-up 12. 1978 Golden Masters Wales Doug Mountjoy 2–4
Winner 12. 1978 Champion of Champions Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 11–9
Winner 13. 1978 Pot Black (2) Wales Doug Mountjoy 2–1
Winner 14. 1979 Forward Chemicals Tournament England John Spencer 9–6
Runner-up 13. 1979 Irish Masters Wales Doug Mountjoy 5–6
Runner-up 14. 1979 Tolly Cobbold Classic Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 4–5
Winner 15. 1979 Golden Masters England Graham Miles 4–2
Runner-up 15. 1979 Kronenbrau 1308 Classic Australia Eddie Charlton 4–7
Runner-up 16. 1980 Pot Black (3) Australia Eddie Charlton 1–2
Runner-up 17. 1980 Welsh Professional Championship Wales Doug Mountjoy 6–9
Runner-up 18. 1980 British Gold Cup Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 1–5
Runner-up 19. 1980 Pontins Professional England John Virgo 6–9
Winner 16. 1981 Welsh Professional Championship (2) Wales Cliff Wilson 9–6
Runner-up 20. 1981 Irish Masters (2) Wales Terry Griffiths 7–9
Winner 17. 1982 Highland Masters England John Spencer 11–4
Runner-up 21. 1982 Pontins Professional (2) England Steve Davis 4–9
Runner-up 22. 1983 Pot Black (4) England Steve Davis 0–2
Runner-up 23. 1983 The Masters (3) Canada Cliff Thorburn 7–9
Winner 18. 1983 Welsh Professional Championship Wales Doug Mountjoy 9–1
Winner 19. 1983 International Masters England Jimmy White 9–6
Runner-up 24. 1983 Irish Masters (3) England Steve Davis 2–9
Runner-up 25. 1983 Pontins Professional (3) Wales Doug Mountjoy 7–9
Runner-up 26. 1990 European Grand Masters  Martin Clark (ENG) 2–4

Team finals: 6 (3 titles, 3 runners-up)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Team/partner Opponent(s) in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1975 Ladbroke International Rest of the World  England Cumulative score [94]
Winner 2. 1979 World Challenge Cup  Wales  England 14–3 [45]
Winner 3. 1980 World Challenge Cup (2)  Wales  Canada 8–5 [45]
Runner-up 1. 1981 World Team Classic  Wales  England 3–4 [45]
Runner-up 2. 1983 World Team Classic (2)  Wales  England 2–4 [45]
Runner-up 3. 1985 World Doubles Championship England Tony Jones England Steve Davis
England Tony Meo 		5–12 [95]

Pro-am finals: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[92]
Winner 1. 1975 Pontins Spring Open England John Virgo 7–1
Runner-up 1. 1982 Pontins Spring Open England John Parrott 4–7
Runner-up 2. 1983 Pontins Spring Open (2) Wales Terry Griffiths 3–7

Amateur finals: 8 (7 titles, 1 runner-up)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1950 Welsh Amateur Championship  John Ford (WAL) 5–3 [6]
Winner 2. 1951 Welsh Amateur Championship (2)  Richie Smith (WAL) 5–2 [96]
Winner 3. 1952 Welsh Amateur Championship (3)  John Ford (WAL) 5–3 [7]
Winner 4. 1953 Welsh Amateur Championship (4)  Aubrey Kemp (WAL) 5–3 [7]
Winner 5. 1954 Welsh Amateur Championship (5)  John Ford (WAL) [7]
Winner 6. 1955 Welsh Amateur Championship (6)  John Ford (WAL) [7]
Runner-up 1. 1956 English Amateur Championship  Tommy Gordon (ENG) 9–11 [97]
Winner 7. 1964 English Amateur Championship  John Spencer (ENG) 11–8 [97]

Notes[]

  1. ^ The World Championship did not become a ranking event until 1974

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Then and Now: Ray Reardon – Yahoo! Eurosport". Yahoo!. 2 March 2010. Archived from the original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Williams & Gadsby 2005, p. 68.
  3. ^ "From Tredegar to the green baize, Ray Reardon". Rileys.co.uk. 12 May 2017. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  4. ^ Morrison 1987, pp. 108–109.
  5. ^ "High quality snooker in 1949–50 B.A.&C.C. youth's (16–18) snooker chapionship". the Billiard Player. Billiards Association and Control Council. December 1949. p. 13.
  6. ^ a b "Snooker: Tredegar boy is champion". Merthyr Express. 11 February 1950. p. 16.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Welsh Championship records". Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Everton 1985, p. 26.
  9. ^ Hodgson, Guy (26 May 1994). "Obituary: Cliff Wilson". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  10. ^ Everton, Clive (28 May 1994). "Cue for a happy life". The Guardian. p. 30.
  11. ^ Everton, Clive (1979). The History of Billiards and Snooker. Cassell. p. 80. ISBN 0304303739.
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