Joe Davis

Joe Davis, was born in Whitwell, Derbyshire on 15 April 1901, the eldest of six children of coalminer and pub landlord Fred Davis, and his wife Ann-Eliza. Fred Davis was the youngest of the six children.[1][2] He learnt how to play English billiards in the billiard room of The Queen's Hotel, his family's pub in Whittington Moor, and was coached by a local player, Ernest Rudge. He also read Charles Dawson's book Practical Billiards. He made a century break in billiards at the age of 12 and won the Chesterfield and District Championship at the age of 13.[3]^{(pp108–110)} Davis would later manage billiard halls owned by either his family or by Rudge.[1]

Davis became a professional billiards player in 1919, at the age of 18.[4][5]^:30 Davis lost to Fred Lawrence in the semi-final of an invitational professional tournament at Thurston's Hall in 1920. He also lost to Lawrence in the final of his first open professional championship, the 1921 Midlands Counties Billiards Championship.[5] Davis won the 1922 Midlands Counties Billiards Championship, beating Tom Dennis 6,417–4,433 in the week-long final.[1][6]

Victory in the second division championship later in 1922, which included a victory over Arthur Peall, son of former world champion W.J. Peall in the final, gave Davis an entry into the Billiards Association and Control Council (BA&CC) Professional Championship.[1][5]^:54 According to The Birmingham Daily Gazette he was "outclassed" by Tom Newman in their professional championship match, losing 5,181–8,000.[7] He failed to qualify for the 1923 event, losing to Lawrence in the second division semi-final,[8] and although he was eligible for 1924, opted not to enter. In 1925, only Newman and Tom Reece entered the championship.[9]^(pp79–81)

In 1926, Davis and defending champion Newman were the only entrants in the Professional Championship. Newman beat Davis comprehensively, 16,000–9,505,[9]^{(pp212–213)} with an average score of 82.9 per visit.[9]^(p82) Davis reached the final the following year and was runner-up again to the same opponent, despite making a break of 2,501.[9]^(p83) In his third final, in 1928, Davis defeated Newman to become the world champion at English billiards for the first time, making sixty centuries in the last final to be played with ivory balls.[9]^(p84) He would successfully defend his title for the next three years. In the 1929 final against Newman, Davis made 63 century breaks, and his average score per visit to the table was 100, [9]^(p86) whilst in 1930 he set a new record average score per visit of 113.3 in beating Newman 20,198–20,117.[9]^(p94) The event was not held in 1931 as most of the leading professionals, mainly due to a disagreement with the BA&CC over the cloth to be used. Willie Smith was the only person to enter, but was not declared champion. In 1932, Davis faced New Zealander Clark McConachy in the final. McConarchy had won three of their four warm-up matches, but in the championship itself, Davis won 25,161–19,259, scoring over 11,000 of his points through a series of runs of "close cannons," where the three balls are kept close together for consecutive cannons.[9]^(p96–100) Davis contested the final two further times, in 1933 and 1934, losing on both occasions to Australian Walter Lindrum.[9]^{(pp212–213)}

Coinciding with Davis' peak as a billiards player, public interest in billiards was waning as the top players were becoming so proficient that the game was seen as boring for spectators.[4] By 1924, amendments to the rules were being discussed to make high breaks more difficult, but breaks of over 1,000 became increasingly common.[9]^(pp81–86) As a billiard hall manager, Davis noticed the increasing popularity of snooker, and with Birmingham billiard equipment manager Bill Camkin, persuaded the Billiards Association and Control Council to recognise an official professional snooker championship in the 1926–27 season.[1] The final of the first snooker world championship in 1927 was held at Camkin's Hall, and Davis won the tournament by beating Dennis 16–7 (20–11 after "dead frames" were played to take the total to the agreed 31 frames) in the final, for which he won £6 10s.[10][11]^:27-30[12]

He went on to win the world championship every year until 1940,[13] and made the championship's first official century break in 1930.[11]^:16–17 In 1928 the final was held in the back room of a pub owned by losing finalist Dennis,[3]^:49 and in the early years, the tournament was twice (in 1931 and 1934) contested only by Davis and another player.[14]^:1 From 1935 the championship became more remunerative for players.[3]^:49 The 1940 final was contested between Joe Davis and his brother Fred, with Joe taking an early lead before Fred won 11 frames in a row to take a 20–14 lead. Eventually Joe won the match 37–35, with Fred winning the dead frame that took it to 37–36.[12]

Due to World War II the world championship was not held again until 1946.[12] Davis successfully defended his title, his 15th consecutive win, and thereby held the title for 20 straight years. To date, he has won more world championships than any other player.[10] He retired from the event following this victory, having won the title at all fifteen events from 1927 to 1946, making him, as of 2020, the only undefeated player in the history of the world championships.[15][16] He remained the best player until his retirement in 1964, with his brother Fred coming closest to Joe's standard during this time.[3]^:50-51 Joe Davis' retirement from the world championship reduced its prestige according to snooker historian Clive Everton, a view shared by snooker journalists and authors Hector Nunns and David Hendon.[3]^:50[17]

Apart from the world championship, tournaments were played on a handicap basis, and Davis would concede a set number of points in each frame to his opponents, for example beginning each frame from 0 points, whilst his opponent started from 14.[3]^:50–51 He won the News of the World Tournament on three occasions during the 1950's[11]^:27–29, whilst his brother Fred and future world champion John Pulman each won it on two occasions.[18] In 1959 Davis attempted to popularise a new version of the game called snooker plus. This game had two extra colours, an orange and a purple and was used for the 1959 News of the World Snooker Plus Tournament.[11]^:123 According to Everton, ""the public rejected the game for the gimmick it was."[19]

He made the first officially recognised Maximum break of 147 on 22 January 1955 at Leicester Square Hall, in an exhibition match against Willie Smith.[20] As the match had taken place under the rules used by professionals, that included the "play again" rule where a player who has made a foul shot can be required by the other player to play the next shot as well, the Billiards Association and Control Council (BA&CC) initially refused to recongise the break as it was not under their own version of the rules. The break was finally recognised by the BA&CC in April 1957, shortly before the "play again" rule was incorporated into their own rules for amateur players.[3]^(p50)[21]

In 1962, when over 60 years of age, he made a televised century break. This break of exactly 100 was his first visit to the table in the very first frame of a match against the sitting World Champion John Pulman and consisted of seven blacks, two pinks and five blues. The break came to an end when Davis missed a long red into the top right hand pocket, the only time during the break when he was faced with a difficult pot, such was the quality of his positional play.[22]

Davis was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1963.[21] He continued to play professionally until 1964.[3]^(p50) Davis died on 10 July 1978,[2] two months after becoming ill while watching his brother play Perrie Mans in the 1978 World Snooker Championship semi-final. The day after the match, he collapsed in the street, and required a lengthy operation. He died from a chest infection whilst recuperating following the operation.[3]^(pp48–51)[23]^:67 The house where he was born in Whitwell bears a plaque commemorating him.[11]^:27–30

Davis won 15 World Snooker Championship titles, spanning a 20-year period where he was undefeated, and four world billiards championship titles. Other than in handicapped matches where he conceded a start, he lost only four times – all of which came towards the end of his career and were against his brother Fred,[1] Everton has said of Davis' influence on the game in the early 1920s that:[3]^:49-50

"In those days, the prevailing idea was to pot a red or two, a couple of colours and play safe but in the time he could spare from billiards Davis devoted considerable thought and practice to evolving the positional and breakbuilding shots, sequences and techniques which are taken for granted today."

Fred Davis, the second person to become a world champion at both snooker and billiards, following his brother,[24] said that Davis was "a very good player before anyone else knew how to play the game."[3]^:49

Joe Davis was not able to focus with his right eye, and played with his cue to the left of his chin.[4] Coach Frank Callan, in his book Frank Callan's Snooker Clinic, compared the most successful player at the time, Steve Davis, to Joe Davis, and concluded that Joe Davis was the better player. Callan also stated that "many players who tried to emulate Joe's stance (which was unusually off centre due to left eye striking) simply gave up the game when they found they couldn't play like that".[25]

Steve Davis was heavily influenced by Davis' How I Play Snooker when learning to play,[15][17] and Ronnie O'Sullivan said of a Davis coaching book "2007-8 … was one of my best years and it was all because I was reading the Joe Davis book."[26]

Davis' influence on the game was such that, according to Callan, "his word was law".[25] Everton says that following his retirement from the world championship, Davis "through his force of personality … controlled the game," being the pre-eminent player, chairman of the professional players' association, a co-owner of the Leicester Square Hall, the main venue for professional matches, and the negotiator for television contacts.[1][23]^:9-10

Davis married Florence Enid Stevenson (b. 1898/9) in 1921, and they had two children. The marriage was dissolved in 1931. In 1945 he married Juanita Ida Triggs (b. 1914/15), who was a singer performing under the stage name of June Malo.[1]

• Davis, Joe (1929) [First published 1928]. Billiards Up-To-Date. John Long. ASIN B0008BPL3M.
• Davis, Joe (1946) [First published 1936]. Improve Your Snooker. London: Methuen Publishing. ASIN B000WVCH8A.
• Davis, Joe (1954). Advanced Snooker. Country Life. ASIN B0000CJ1MO.
• Davis, Joe (1975) [First published 1956]. How I Play Snooker. Country Life. ISBN 978-0352300577.
• Davis, Joe (1974). Complete Snooker. W. H. Allen. ISBN 0-491-01521-6.
• Davis, Joe (1976). The Breaks Came My Way – Autobiography. W. H. Allen. ISBN 0-491-01686-7.

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