By Elliott West
“Sometimes you cannot take people at face value, they can turn out totally different. It was a joy to meet people from all around the world, all different ages and different backgrounds.”
Peter Williamson
Introduction
The news came this week that Peter Williamson has retired as a professional snooker referee. Williamson who has been a referee for thirty years started off as a local referee in the 1970s whilst working in the airport and turned professional in 1991. A larger than like character, Peter is a person who radiates warmth and generosity, whilst always adhering to the snooker rule book as he peers down the table over the top of his glasses.
I remember I was at the UK Championship two years ago and due to the hot conditions, a number of people were taken ill at once from the audience. Peter was helping out as an usher and dealt with the situation so professionally, creating minimal disruption and still at the same time, provided an empathetic attitude to the situation and the wellbeing of the ill audience members.
Career
Living life to the Maximum
Peter Williamson is a man who seems to encourage maximum breaks with seven being produced when he was the referee. During his long and illustrious career, Peter bore witness to John Higgins make two, one from Barry Pinches at the 2000 Welsh Open, one from Jason Prince in the 1999 British Open qualifiers and one from Nick Dyson. His most recent came at the 2011 Welsh Open where Stephen Hendry made his tenth career 147in the opening frame of the match against Stephen Maguire.
Golden Moments
Peter has been there when magic snooker moments have unfolded including his favourite being the 2009 Shanghai Masters matches, the first being between Marco Fu and Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last 16 stages where O’Sullivan won 5-2 and the semi-final between John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan where Ronnie again won 6-1. A tournament that left Ronnie victorious in the final after defeating Liang Wenbo 10-5. In the match involving Marco Fu, the atmosphere was electric amongst the Chinese audience with a global audience of ten of millions. A one-time snooker experience and a very precious memory.
Williamson in his travels to China over the years has seen the country change and develop, especially in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics. A city that was transformed with the building of a completely new railway, complete with 120 stations. A project that showcased the speed and precision of a country that leads the way in construction and technological projects.
A Parting Memory
Peter’s generous nature can be seen in one of his favourite snooker experiences, refereeing the late and great, former world snooker champion, Fred Davis in a qualifying match in 1991. Here’s his recollection of the experience:
“Not long after I started, August 1991, I refereed at Trentham Gardens. In the qualifiers, I had the privilege of refereeing Fred Davis. It was a booth situation and most of the booths only had one or two people in, but mine was full and there wasn’t a seat to be had, because there was a party of pensioners in! They all wanted to see Fred play and when it got to the interval, he was 4-0 down and it was quite a distance to get to the refreshments area. He beckoned me over after his opponent, Jamie Woodman, had gone out and said: “You couldn’t do me a massive favour.” So I said: “Yes what’s that?” and he said: “My legs won’t get me to the refreshment area in time for the restart, is it at all possible you could organise a cup of tea for me?” So I got the balls set up and ran off to the tournament office and ordered the tray with a cup of tea for him that was delivered to the table. He lost the match 5-0 but that always stuck with me!”.
Peter Williamson
Life after Snooker
Peter Williamson will be greatly missed as a professional referee but he hasn’t put away his white gloves just yet. He intends to still be involved in billiards as a referee, having already officiated five world billiards finals during his career. The phone only rang the other day and he was asked to be involved in a tournament in Reading but sadly he wasn’t available at the time due to being on holiday in Malta.
Aside from the white gloves, Williamson instead will put on his gardening gloves to look after his gardening and when not planting or weeding, will be getting the barbecue out, weather allowing, to experiment with his wealth of culinary delights, including chocolate bananas.
Peter will most miss his meetings with friends, especially those in far-flung countries that he only got to meet through his refereeing career. A man who always has a positive attitude, his legacy will be remembered for many years to come.
