Ray Reardon - Entertainer

Entertainer

Reardon also became popular because he added a touch of humour and entertainment to his game. A deadly long potter and tactician in his prime, he played seventeen World Championship matches without defeat and won the title four years in succession. He won his second in 1973 in Manchester when he beat Eddie Charlton 38–32, but the match of the championship was the semi-final between Reardon and Spencer, which Reardon won 23–22.

Reardon beat Graham Miles the following year, and in 1975, when it was held in Melbourne, Australia, he had a tough quarter-final with Spencer which he won 19–17. He then beat Alex Higgins 19–14 before meeting local hero Eddie Charlton in the final. Reardon initially trailed by 23 frames to 29, putting Charlton two frames away from the title, but Reardon then won seven consecutive frames to lead 30–29. Charlton took the sixtieth frame to tie the match but Reardon took the vital sixty-first and won his fourth title.

A special recognition of Reardon's status within the game came in January 1976 when, during the recording of the Ladbroke International Series at Thames Television, Reardon was surprised by Eamonn Andrews, clutching his This is Your Life book. Reardon had actually been suggested as a candidate for the programme by Snooker Scene editor, Clive Everton. The snooker playing fraternity was represented by Alex Higgins, John Pulman, Jackie Rea, Graham Miles, John Spencer, Eddie Charlton, Cliff Thorburn and female professional Joyce Gardner.

Reardon won his fifth the next year in Manchester, beating Alex Higgins 27–16. Earlier that year, he had won the Benson and Hedges Masters in London, his second snooker title after the World Championship. In this event Reardon defeated John Pulman in the quarter-final 4–1, in a match of such poor quality that the highest break was 22 (by Pulman). Reardon improved his form in the semi-final to defeat Eddie Charlton 5–4 and Graham Miles 7–3 in the final. Reardon would never win the event again but defeated Rex Williams 4–1 and Graham Miles 5–2 in the 1977 event only to lose 7–6 to Doug Mountjoy in the final.

Reardon's unbeaten run at the World Championship ended at the first Crucible championship in 1977, when he lost to John Spencer in the quarter-finals 6–13, his first defeat since Rex Williams in 1972.

Reardon regained the title in 1978 winning it for the sixth and final time by beating Doug Mountjoy 13–9 (after trailing 7–2), Bill Werbeniuk 13–6, Eddie Charlton 18–14 and finally Perrie Mans 25–18 in the final. Reardon remains the oldest winner of the World Championship at the age of 45 years and 6 months. Straight after this Reardon regained the Pontins Professional Title, defeating John Spencer 7–2 in the final.

Towards the end of 1978 Reardon beat Patsy Fagan 6–1 and Alex Higgins 11–9 in a high quality final to win the one-off 'Champion of Champions' event sponsored by the Daily Mirror and held at the Wembley Conference Centre.

1979 saw Reardon regain his Pot Black title by defeating Doug 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. That same year Reardon joined Mountjoy and then World Champion Terry Griffiths, to win the first 'World Challenge Cup' for Wales. Defeating England (Fred Davis, John Spencer and Graham Miles) easily 14–3 in the final.