Some years ago I met an Australian snooker fan who followed the 1975 tournament and told me just how far it was manipulated in Charlton's favour. It wasn't just that it was held in Australia - there's nothing inherently unfair about that - it was the seeding, the draw, the venues and the tables. The seeding was manipulated so the best three players in the world, Reardon, Spencer and Higgins, were in the same half of the draw, with Charlton in the much easier half. The venues and match dates were manipulated so that when Dennis Taylor won his quarter final in Sydney he had a 500 mile flight to Brisbane the next morning and an immediate start in his semi final against Charlton, who had of course played his previous match in Brisbane and was comfortable and rested (naturally Charlton got off to a flying start and Taylor never recovered). And as Reardon hinted in this interview the tables were set up to favour Charlton's game. For Reardon to win a gruelling quarter final against Spencer, a gruelling semi against Higgins and then come back from the dead in the final at a venue and on a table that was set up perfectly for his opponent shows just how great a champion he was. And with all due respect to Eddie Charlton, for him to rig the whole event in his favour and then lose it in the last frame because he didn't have the nerve to play a shot and put his opponent back in sounds like justice to me.
Thanks David - that's fascinating stuff. I agree entirely that it shows what a great champion Reardon was and that Charlton probably lacked the real nerve to be world champion, although he was a top player. What a pity no footage appears to exist!
Eddie beat Ray in the World Matchplay Championship...also held in Australia.He again manipulated the draw ,even swapping the players in the semi-finals so he was playing a low ranked player Warren Simpson and not Spencer or Reardon.The night before the final the match table was removed and replaced with Charlton's personal practise table from his home.What a ****!
Fantastic ! This is the first time I have heard this story. I often wondered about the details of this match. When Reardon went 6 frames behind it could have been all over.On hearing about how it was all fixed for Eddie Charlton to win, it was good that Reardon had the last laugh. This has to be the best Snooker story of all time.
One of the most incredible stories in the history of sport. Funny seeing Davis in awe of his childhood hero, Ray Reardon. Reardon was truly great and an out and our winner.
i still remember my grandad taking me to a leg of the park drive 2000 tourny in leeds in the early 70's and because he was the chairman of the club took me into the restroom at half time where i met and chatted to both Ray and John spencer. i still have their autographs and remember it well, legends both of them
Reardon the best all-round player of all-time. Consistency, temperament, potting, safety, creativity, longevity, tactical, mental strength, popularity etc.....Reardon had no weak links in his game
I saw him many times and played him on 2 occasions. He would have been right up there in any era....mentally second to no one; especially a generation who don't know what a days real work looks like.
Typical Aussies always try to cheat or get the upper hand.. personally I like to win fair if not it doesn't feel like I have won... A little bit like the 1963 heavyweight clash with clay against cooper in my mind cooper should have won that..💯🇬🇧🇯🇲👍
great interview, i always remember reading Rays autobigraphy while i was a kid playing, and he tells the tale of him and a little gang of kids, egging on & betting one of the kids that he cant get a cue ball fully into his mouth for a bet of six-pence !.....after much pushing and thrusting the kid proudly shows that he actually HAS the cue ball pushed fully behind his teeth and wins the bet!....however he had to go to hospital the have 3 front teeth removed in order to get the cue ball back out again !....after which the little kid claimed his six-pence winnings....or.....as he now called it.......fic-penth
Steve Davis often went in off on purpose to get back to balk when there wasn’t an escape route and no one picked up on it. I would love someone to do a compilation of them.
Hi harrysboy & converse91970. I was lucky enough to meet an Aussie snooker fan who followed the '75 event and he told me some great stories. I posted a detailed comment before reading your posts. It was quite an event and in the end the best player certainly won.
If there anybody out the who has got 1975 world final i will be privileged to see it. And if it is true what they say about Eddie Charlton then ray reardon had the last laugh. Post the match if someone out there who has got it.
@@leebeardshall2888 As we now know, my memory of the event isn't necessarily 100% trustworthy haha, but I doubt if there's any footage of actual play at all. There may well have been a news camera or two at the start, but certainly no TV cameras. Film cameras in those days were a distraction for players because of the noise they made, and the table lighting was a normal old-fashioned shade, as far as I can remember, so they would have had trouble filming anyway.
I remember reading Clive Everton's 'write up' on that final and it was precisely as Ray said...although he won the match with a 61 break after the two intentional in offs.
Hes talking about he should have beat alex higgins in the 1982 WCF no chance ray, your lucky alex was 10 years younger than you or you would have only got 4 finals.
@@paulbennett4009 I was ten in 1975 and watched in black and white, I remember ray reardon on a slippery downward slope, the people's favourite was Alex Higgins and no one in the universe could beat Steve Davis when he got in on his act. In no particular order. Best players that ever lived was Steven Hendry and Steve Davis, that little cry baby tantrum boy that's still playing is a waste of ink on the history books.
The facts say otherwise. Reardon had only won one world title, in 1970, when Higgins came on the scene and won his first championship in 1972. After that Reardon won in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978.
"Hendry will know it" - a great, acknowledging another great whilst chatting to a great!
Lovely bloke.
Some years ago I met an Australian snooker fan who followed the 1975 tournament and told me just how far it was manipulated in Charlton's favour. It wasn't just that it was held in Australia - there's nothing inherently unfair about that - it was the seeding, the draw, the venues and the tables. The seeding was manipulated so the best three players in the world, Reardon, Spencer and Higgins, were in the same half of the draw, with Charlton in the much easier half. The venues and match dates were manipulated so that when Dennis Taylor won his quarter final in Sydney he had a 500 mile flight to Brisbane the next morning and an immediate start in his semi final against Charlton, who had of course played his previous match in Brisbane and was comfortable and rested (naturally Charlton got off to a flying start and Taylor never recovered). And as Reardon hinted in this interview the tables were set up to favour Charlton's game. For Reardon to win a gruelling quarter final against Spencer, a gruelling semi against Higgins and then come back from the dead in the final at a venue and on a table that was set up perfectly for his opponent shows just how great a champion he was. And with all due respect to Eddie Charlton, for him to rig the whole event in his favour and then lose it in the last frame because he didn't have the nerve to play a shot and put his opponent back in sounds like justice to me.
Thanks David - that's fascinating stuff. I agree entirely that it shows what a great champion Reardon was and that Charlton probably lacked the real nerve to be world champion, although he was a top player. What a pity no footage appears to exist!
Eddie beat Ray in the World Matchplay Championship...also held in Australia.He again manipulated the draw ,even swapping the players in the semi-finals so he was playing a low ranked player Warren Simpson and not Spencer or Reardon.The night before the final the match table was removed and replaced with Charlton's personal practise table from his home.What a ****!
Fantastic ! This is the first time I have heard this story. I often wondered about the details of this match. When Reardon went 6 frames behind it could have been all over.On hearing about how it was all fixed for Eddie Charlton to win, it was good that Reardon had the last laugh. This has to be the best Snooker story of all time.
Regarding blatantly played some intentional fouls though
@@stitcha123 All part of the game if there's no other shot.
Reardon is a natural storyteller. Davis is giving him nothing in this interview but Reardon has enough animation for the two of them. Pure class.
One of the most incredible stories in the history of sport. Funny seeing Davis in awe of his childhood hero, Ray Reardon. Reardon was truly great and an out and our winner.
That is one of the best ever snooker stories ever. Fantastic 👍👍
That's marvellous. Reardon was great. So strong mentally and had an excellent all round game. A complete player really.
i still remember my grandad taking me to a leg of the park drive 2000 tourny in leeds in the early 70's and because he was the chairman of the club took me into the restroom at half time where i met and chatted to both Ray and John spencer. i still have their autographs and remember it well, legends both of them
Reardon the best all-round player of all-time. Consistency, temperament, potting, safety, creativity, longevity, tactical, mental strength, popularity etc.....Reardon had no weak links in his game
He was never slow i watch him all day.
I saw him many times and played him on 2 occasions. He would have been right up there in any era....mentally second to no one; especially a generation who don't know what a days real work looks like.
Legend ray and a gentleman a truly great player
Steve Davis said that Reardon was the only player he ever faced where he felt psychologically that his opponent was the master.
Wonderful story. What a character Ray is.
Facinating. It's no wonder the 75 title gave him the most satisfaction.
Typical Aussies always try to cheat or get the upper hand.. personally I like to win fair if not it doesn't feel like I have won... A little bit like the 1963 heavyweight clash with clay against cooper in my mind cooper should have won that..💯🇬🇧🇯🇲👍
Reardon has to be the most charismatic snooker player of all-time. A true gentleman, entertainer and legend of snooker.
Thanks for posting this. What a character.
great interview, i always remember reading Rays autobigraphy while i was a kid playing, and he tells the tale of him and a little gang of kids, egging on & betting one of the kids that he cant get a cue ball fully into his mouth for a bet of six-pence !.....after much pushing and thrusting the kid proudly shows that he actually HAS the cue ball pushed fully behind his teeth and wins the bet!....however he had to go to hospital the have 3 front teeth removed in order to get the cue ball back out again !....after which the little kid claimed his six-pence winnings....or.....as he now called it.......fic-penth
What is the name of the book
Great to hear the stories from the mid 1970s A fantastic player
wow this is gold
that was a great Eddie Charlton story. you have to take your chances when they come or lose.
Gotta love those oldtimers stories. I've heard them in pool halls for years
Never saw Ray so animated as he was here, great story. Would've loved to have met him and maybe have a frame or two.
@Montgomery15 Snooker Videos Long way from Belfast to Torquay but when the virus clears off I may give it a shot.
@@bottlecap57 Vaccine shot or potting shot?
@@dkizxpt-su3ze Both😁
Ray Reardon is class
Loved that story there.... 👍
Steve Davis often went in off on purpose to get back to balk when there wasn’t an escape route and no one picked up on it. I would love someone to do a compilation of them.
What a character Ray was
RIP Ray
4 or 5 years ago I thought that O'Sullivan probably wouldn't break the record of 7 world titles but now frankly I think he might do it!
He's still waiting...
The 75 championship has always fascinated me for various reasons. I wonder if there is any footage from it?
Me too!
Hi harrysboy & converse91970. I was lucky enough to meet an Aussie snooker fan who followed the '75 event and he told me some great stories. I posted a detailed comment before reading your posts. It was quite an event and in the end the best player certainly won.
If there anybody out the who has got 1975 world final i will be privileged to see it.
And if it is true what they say about Eddie Charlton then ray reardon had the last laugh.
Post the match if someone out there who has got it.
@@leebeardshall2888 As we now know, my memory of the event isn't necessarily 100% trustworthy haha, but I doubt if there's any footage of actual play at all. There may well have been a news camera or two at the start, but certainly no TV cameras. Film cameras in those days were a distraction for players because of the noise they made, and the table lighting was a normal old-fashioned shade, as far as I can remember, so they would have had trouble filming anyway.
@Ian Boyle how about the world matchplay final in 1976 I saw a footage about 6 months ago I like to see it again.
I am guessing that there's no video of this frame, but hoping that there is?!
What a story
Great stuff, have you got this interview in it's entirety?
MICKLEFIELDRUSS No unfortunately that's all I've ever seen of it. I think Ray may have had a few bevvies beforehand 🍺😅
I remember reading Clive Everton's 'write up' on that final and it was precisely as Ray said...although he won the match with a 61 break after the two intentional in offs.
@@pavarotti744 Great story isn't it, a pedant's point, I think it was 62...! Not worth typing that! :)
@@jimdixon5130 yes Jim. I stand corrected.
Best of 61
Well , that is something .
I wonder what is Ray reardon s story about 7 or 8 world titles?
He once spoke about the 1982 final and suggested Alex Higgins may have been on the powder to produce an “enhanced” performance in the later frames.
Is there full interview of this.
I haven't seen it. This was just a snippet they showed during the interval of a comp one year
@@bustagroovy74 do u know if any one ray reardon on this is your life.
No wonder its the year Ronnie O'Sullivan was born
Lol he blatantly played the intentional fouls
Part of the game with no miss rule
Miss rule is irrelevant: you could never prove a deliberate in-off and the white would never be replaced.
I have seen Davis do the deliberate in offs when tied up a few times as well so Ray was preaching to the converted there!
@@paulwilliams8389 Yes Paul - and he was a junior billiards champion of England!
No respect for Eddie. Disappointing
This looked to be recorded before he died
@@SM-mi6lp he is not dead he is still here.
@@leebeardshall2888 Hes still tellingly that shitey story
Hes talking about he should have beat alex higgins in the 1982 WCF no chance ray, your lucky alex was 10 years younger than you or you would have only got 4 finals.
Ray didn't play his best in the final. If he had, he would have won comfortably
@@paulbennett4009 I was ten in 1975 and watched in black and white, I remember ray reardon on a slippery downward slope, the people's favourite was Alex Higgins and no one in the universe could beat Steve Davis when he got in on his act.
In no particular order.
Best players that ever lived was Steven Hendry and Steve Davis, that little cry baby tantrum boy that's still playing is a waste of ink on the history books.
Wrong: both played well but Higgins played better.
The facts say otherwise. Reardon had only won one world title, in 1970, when Higgins came on the scene and won his first championship in 1972. After that Reardon won in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978.
Yes, he once said that Higgins was on the powder to help him produce an enhanced performance in the latter frames