By Elliott West
Introduction
The 1972 Park Drive World Snooker Championship was held in multiple locations between March, 1971 and February, 1972 with the final played on the 26th February, 1972 at the Selly Park British Legion in Birmingham. The tournament took place in two parts with a preliminary competition taking place first. The preliminary was made up of eight qualifiers who were reduced to two at the end of this stage.
The two winning qualifiers then joined the other eight entrants in the competition proper. Out of the former amateur champion qualifiers, Ron Gross, Maurice Parkin, Pat Houlihan and Geoff Thompson, none emerged victorious in the two round stage and it was Alex Higgins and John Dunning who got through to the first round. They were joined by Jackie Rea and John Pulman.
This is tournament that little remains of and like a jigsaw has many of the informative pieces missing. So like a detective, you have to fuse what remains together. This was the first of Alex Higgins’s World Championship titles but was certainly not as grand as his second in 1982. In 1972 he won just £400 for defeating John Spencer compared to the £25,000 against Ray Reardon, ten years later.
Qualifiers
Round 1 (Best of 21 frames)
Alex Higgins v Ron Gross 15-6
Maurice Parkin v Geoff Thompson 11-10
John Dunning v Pat Houlihan 11-10
Graham Miles v Bernard Bennett 15-6
Round 2 (Best of 21 frames)
Alex Higgins v Maurice Parkin 11-3
John Dunning v Graham Miles 11-5
First Round (Best of 37 frames)
Alex Higgins v Jackie Rea 19-11
John Pulman v John Dunning 19-7
Quarter-Finals (Best of 61 frames)
John Spencer v Fred Davis 31-21
Eddie Charlton v David Taylor 31-25
Alex Higgins v John Pulman 31-23
Rex Williams v Ray Reardon 25-23
Semi-Finals (Best of 73 frames)
Rex Williams had narrowly beaten Ray Reardon in the quarter-finals and had to play Alex Higgins next in the semi-finals. However Alex knew he had a match on his hands with Rex and he wasn’t too pleased that Williams changed the date of the bout three times. Whether this change of heart was brinkmanship or just genuine clashes in his diary, as long as Rex continued to dodge the flame, Alex was losing money that could be earning from the gate money at the Bolton Co-Operative Hall.
When the match did eventually take place, Alex attempted to blast Williams off the table but Rex wasn’t phased and continued to play snooker at the same pace he did billiards. Higgins played his same erratic game for two days but lost nine frames in a row as a result.
It took Higgins three days and five sessions to get even. Alex boasted that his opponent didn’t have his flair and tenacity, saying that if they played again, he would have won eighty percent of the frames. Going into the final session, Higgins was 30-28 ahead but Rex pulled the game back to 30-30. However in the deciding frame, Williams missed a vital blue that would have put him in the final.
Letting Alex back in, Higgins produced an important 30 break. Going on to pot a red and disturbing three reds as a result, Alex finished in a colour and left his opponent behind a ball on the bottom cushion. This was effectively frame and match and Higgins left Rex to go back to the practice table.
Alex’s next opponent was John Spencer in the final. Spencer had beaten Australia’s Eddie Charlton in their semi-final match 37-32. Higgins was young and cocky but had that inner belief that he beat Spencer. Both players had met before in a sort of a dress rehearsal for the exchange when they met in the final of the Park Drive 2000 at Radcliffe Town Hall in Lancashire. They had also been brought together when Ted Lowe asked Alex to take part on Pot Black and both players met at the Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester in the cocktail bar.
The Final (Best of 73 frames)
As Alex geared himself up to meet Spencer, Higgins told the promoter that he wanted to be billed as ‘Alexander the Great’. The lad from Belfast never had defeat in his mind and bragged that he had already made 580 career century breaks, an achievement that had taken Joe Davis nearly thirty to make and he had only made 500.
Prior to the clash, John Spencer booked in to the plush Strathallan Hotel In Birmingham while his opponent resided at the Pebbles Guest House near the venue. When they did meet at the Selby Park British Legion, the venue was plagued with power cuts. A generator was installed in the premises to try and counteract the problem. Tickets were 50 pence for the afternoon session and 75 pence for the evening session. Higgins had bet £1,000 on himself to win the title despite Spencer having won seven of their eleven meetings.
The opening couple frames of the final, were like two boxers sparring in a ring. By the third frame, Alex was potting the balls so fast, the referee was struggling to re-spot them. However Spencer put on the accelerator and played with some urgency in his game and they finished the day level on frames won.
On the second day, John took the lead, winning the first three frames. Spencer pulled out all the stops and produced vintage snooker that just reinforced why he was already a world champion. Higgins finished the day 13-11 behind and this was the trend that lasted until the Wednesday, a game of nip and tuck where Spencer went two or three frames ahead and then Higgins coming back but unable to nail his opponent. This ended when Spencer fouled, hitting the pink with the cue ball first instead of the intended red. Spencer was furious when the referee, Jim Thorpe called a foul but it led to Higgins being awarded a free ball and subsequently Higgins levelled the match at 18-18.
Spencer raged long after the session had finished and should have been given a fine for his behaviour. John then made an unprecedented demand that the linesman assisted the referee for the rest of the final. However this pressure didn’t seem to phase Higgins and he decided to roll with the change. By the Thursday, this attitude seemed to have payed off with Alex going two frames clear and the session finished 21-21.
However by the evening session, Alex started to turn the screw with Higgins winning six frames. The Belfast player was on fire and potted balls off the lampshade, not a bad performance seeing as he had been out drinking and gambling with his chauffeur the night before until four o’clock in the morning.
Dead to the world the next morning, Bernard, his chauffeur, had to slap him round the face to wake him up, dragging Alex down to the breakfast table. A power cut meant that John Spencer and his wife were trapped in their hotel lift for half an hour while Alex seized on the opportunity and hit the practice table, making a century break.
This glitch worked in Alex’s favour, taking a lead in the Friday morning’s play with a 28-21 lead. However Higgins was in for a shock as Spencer was not ready to lose the match, clawing the match back to four behind, 32-28. This shock caused Alex to move out of his guest house and into the opulent Strathallan Hotel. A wise move to put the player in a good frame of mind for the final day of play.
With some critics writing Alex off for the title, Higgins went in to the final day, winning the first frame. However he then had to suffer in his seat as Spencer won the next three frames and was soon 33-31 behind. Alex wasn’t ready to roll over and saw a small ray of hope in the match. It was all he needed and took a four frame lead and left Spencer broken. Alex took frame and match, 140-0 with breaks of 94 and 46 and was presented with the trophy and prize money of £400 by John Pulman.
Match Statistics
1972 World Professional Snooker Championship
FINAL
Selly Park British Legion, Birmingham
21st – 26th February, 1972
ALEX HIGGINS (Belfast) 37-31 JOHN SPENCER (Manchester) The holder
Frame scores : –
Session 1 28-84(30); 44-78(48); 71(43)-48; 65(60)-10; 54-84(31); 66-42. 3-3
Session 2 80(47)-5; 35(35)-101(101); 86(46,30)-0; 77(53)-28; 23-92(34); 37-68(30). 6-6
Session 3 25-68; 56(30)-58; 66(38)-29; 22-109(109); 56(31)-51; 77(41)-50(46). 9-9
Session 4 37-57; 25-68; 61(35)-34; 33-61(35); 95-14; 40-73. Spencer 13-11
Session 5 86(48)-31; 46-69; 30-80(37); 61-50; 81(52)-40(32); 45(43)-65(38). Spencer 16-14
Session 6 44-65; 58-18; 108(75)-23; 29-77; 72(45)-38(37); 71-27. 18-18
Session 7 60-52; 46-88(42); 75(37)-29; 75(35)-11; 27-60; 49-60. 21-21
Session 8 83(35)-37; 70-47(42); 70-35; 77(65)-23; 81(40,33)-35; 122(31)-5. Higgins 27-21
Session 9 90(50)-15; 51(36)-64(30); 25-73; 55-48; 42-72; 58(31)-60. Higgins 29-25
Session 10 104(57,46)-9; 74(50)-42; 1-76(56); 81-42; 12-69; 31-75(30). Higgins 32-28
Session 11 60(40)-45; 0-123(123); 21-76(54); 42-85(52); 96-16; 88(82)-14. Higgins 35-31
Session 12 62(41)-38; 140(94,46)-0. Higgins 37-31
Referee: Jim Thorpe
Summary
Although this final took place in the transitional period of snooker and little remains of it in pictures and film, the fragments that do, portray a tournament that ended in a final with two best players of their day. Higgins achieved his goal of evolving from protagonist to champion, injecting a new style of snooker into the game that was fast, furious and exhilarating to watch.
