By Elliott West
“Donaldson was a softly spoken man with little sense of humour and a reputation for being a somewhat graceless loser”.
Introduction
Scotland has produced some great snooker players over the years but one player that has sadly been largely forgotten is Walter Donaldson. History hasn’t been kind to this great player and has left him walking in the shadows of anonymity. However, now is the time to remove the dust covers and look at this pioneer of snooker, the son of a billiard hall owner from Coatbridge.
In fact, his father, despite his background in the game, opposed his son’s decision to make a career in billiards and snooker. Like so many budding sportsmen, Walter defied his father’s advice and soon burst onto the scene, proving that sometimes caution is outweighed by ambition.
“His dour approach and thrust-out, determined Scottish chin symbolised his approach to the game and, indeed, to life. He was a literal kind of man and he played a literal, point-by-point-type of game, making few concessions to the public.”
Clive Everton
The Rise of a Scottish Snooker Great
Walter Donaldson’s rise to fame was rapid and seismic. Part of the first boom of snooker from 1930-1950, the Manchester Guardian described him as as “the small, exquisitely self-possessed Scottish boy” quickly made himself known when he won the UK under-15 billiards championship in 1922 and he was soon predicted to be capable of beating any senior player on a billiards table. He would go on to win the Scottish Professional Billiards Championship in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934 and 1938. However, this was a time when billiards was becoming less popular than snooker, a game that was quickly waning and becoming unfashionable.
Jumping on the tide of this changing trend, Walter switched to snooker but he delayed his first appearance at the World Snooker Championship until 1933. Perhaps not the greatest start, Donaldson was badly beaten on this first snooker outing, losing 13-1 to Joe Davis. This defeat hit the Scot hard and Walter decided to withdraw from the game, returning to his day job, managing a snooker hall in Chesterfield. A decision that led to Donaldson not returning to competitive snooker until 1939. An appearance that would come in another World Snooker Championship where this time he reached the quarter-finals, losing to Sidney Smith 16-15.
Return from the Front
Walter again paused his snooker career when the Second World War broke out in 1939. Walter saw action in Greece and North Africa. Although he should be commended for his war efforts, it was a spell that didn’t work in his favour, leading him to not pick up a cue for five years. On his return to snooker in 1946, his lack of practice was self-evident and he lost in the first round of the World Championship.
A Snooker Opening
Donaldson had to be patient for his great opportunity and he didn’t have to wait long. The chance came as a result of Joe Davis’s decision to retire from the game in 1947. With the player once dubbed “The Great Imperturbable” out of the equation, Walter seized his chance and he inflicted a punishing victory on Joe’s brother, Fred at Leicester Square Hall, winning his first World Championship title 82-63.
Despite this win, Donaldson still wasn’t considered by many to be a worthy champion. Joe Davis was still seen as the best thing since sliced bread in the game and was still present on the outskirts of snooker, playing in numerous exhibition matches. Walter’s was seen to be far too conservative with his 1947 victory over Fred Davis, being created by producing modest breaks of 30 or 40 over 145 frames and retreating to the baulk cushion when play became too risky.
Revenge and Disinterest
The tables would turn for Walter Donaldson with Fred Davis not in the mood to stomach defeat. The Scot would have to be humiliated at the table by his opponent in the Snooker World Championship in the 1948, 1949 and 1951 finals before he reclaimed the title again in 1950. However by this snooker’s popularity was on the decline and it quickly gained an image for being a game for old people, leading to fans walking away in their droves. A period of time that led to snooker drought with the world championship not being played between 1958 and 1963
Walking Away
Disinterest for snooker didn’t just come from the fans with Walter Donaldson deciding that enough was enough, deciding to retire to his smallholding. He literally turned his back on snooker and turned his attention to farming instead. The practice room that had once graced his Buckinghamshire home was turned into a cowshed and the slate from his snooker table, broken up to become his crazy paved path outside his house.
Afterthought
Ironically at the time of Walter Donaldson’s death in 1973, aged 66, snooker was back on the rise. The dawn of colour television in 1969 and Pot Black coming to our television screens on BBC2, signalled the start of immense popularity for the game that would span the 1970s and 1980s. Snooker players such as Reardon, Spencer and Higgins became stars with Steve Davis and Jimmy White following them in their footsteps. It was a dawn of a new age of snooker but one that Walter Donaldson helped lay the foundations for.
