By Elliott West
Introduction
The population of the the United Kingdom have always been fascinated by nostalgia and an obvious example of this can be found in snooker. Snooker fans often hark back to the yesteryear of the sport with fond memories and recollect the classic matches and players of the time. This so called Golden Age can be pinpointed to the 1970s and 1980s when the game emerged from a period of obscurity to a status of high popularity. The creation of a full colour television coverage in 1969, started minds racing of what programming to showcase in this format and it was David Attenborough, the then Controller of BBC2 who approached Ted Lowe for using snooker as one of those programming vehicles. Out of this Pot Black emerged and the few professionals of the time were asked to compete in it. The rest you could say was history!
The Halcyon Days
During this time period, there were very few television channels. Three to be precise and it wasn’t until 1982 that Channel Four joined the fold. With videotape in its infancy, Betamax and later VHS, television viewers had to rely on live television broadcasting of recorded for snooker tournaments and so when they occurred, the viewing figures was high, thanks mainly to Barry Hearn promoting and popularising the sport.
Who can forget Alex Higgins beckoning his baby daughter onto the stage when he won the 1982 World Championship, Cliff Thorburn achieving a televised 147 break at the Crucible in 1983 or Dennis Taylor wagging his finger after he defeated Steve Davis 18-17 on the final black in the 1985 World Championship final? All these matches went down in history as being iconic sports’ moments with the 1985 World Championship final attracting 18.5 million viewers.
However beyond the characters such as John Spencer, Ray Reardon, Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and so many more that I have missed out, lay a game that was often not high scoring, had far fewer centuries with playing conditions that involved far thicker cloth, heavier balls and some say bigger pockets. With table equipment that would not be out of place on a fishing trip, the players probably didn’t put in the dedicated hours of practice that they do today, apart from Steve Davis. He spent seven hours in a darkened room, practicing and was considered boring because he had no personality. Perhaps that is why his true personality didn’t materialise until after he retired?
It is true that there are a swathe of fantastic memories from the minor and major tournaments of those day and I recall them on a regular basis, not only because I enjoy researching and writing about them but also, there is a genuine interest from the public to read about these historical moments. In fact Louis Theroux is even making a future BBC programme about this snooker period.
The Here and Now
Since those heady days, snooker gradually fell in popularity. By 2009, with less than ten tournaments in a season, players and fans begged for change and it was undoubtedly the election of Barry Hearn to replace Sir Rodney Walker, that revitalised the sport, globalised it and pumped money, sponsorship and a massive surge in the number of tournaments in the snooker calendar.
World Snooker or World Snooker Tour as it is now called, has deconstructed snooker, rebuilding the sport with all elements of the game but essentially much more. Audience numbers have swelled, venues have vastly improved, the tables run like grease lightning, thanks to very thin cloth and controlled table heating. The alcohol, cigarettes and for some, drugs that fuelled past players has gone and the only thing that sits by their chairs are bottles of the H2O variety.
The game today may not have as many noticeable characters but if you are privileged to be able to go behind the scenes, they do exist. The game has moved on but the essence of snooker remains and the foundations in what it was built, will never be forgotten. Snooker carries on to embrace the past and uses a number of players such as Neal Foulds, Steve Davis, Joe Johnson, Dennis Taylor and now Alan McManus as snooker commentators. They are used because they have been there and experienced the sheer mental and pressure exerted in this sport and won the silverware to prove it.
Summary
There are two camps of thought regarding the Golden Era of snooker and I personally feel that either could be right. I say that because it is all about personal choice. The game has become attacking and about scoring from the break rather than lengthy frames and periods of protracted safety play. Yet neither approach is wrong, all that has happened is the game has evolved and adapted to the times. Snooker has been one of the few sports that has carried on during the Coronavirus period, working without an audience and frequently using a bubble system in one location to minimise potential infection cases.
Snooker then and now, remains in a healthy place. It grows by the day and translates into many languages as it expands across the globe, breaking into new television arenas and feeding off streams and broadcasting deals as they emerge. Snooker is a tour de force that is here to stay and will be the stable sport’s diet for millions for many years and generations to come.
