• Source: Joe Johnson (snooker player)

Joe Johnson (born 29 July 1952) is an English former professional snooker player and snooker commentator for Eurosport. He became the British under-19 champion in 1971 as an amateur, defeating Tony Knowles in the final. After reaching the finals of the 1978 English Amateur Championship (losing to Terry Griffiths) and the 1978 World Amateur Championship (losing to Cliff Wilson), Johnson turned professional in 1979. He reached his first ranking final at the 1983 Professional Players Tournament (losing to Knowles), and reached the semi-finals of the 1985 Classic (losing to Cliff Thorburn).
Johnson began the 1986 World Snooker Championship as a 150–1 outsider, with first-round losses in both of his previous Crucible appearances. He defeated Griffiths 13–12 in the quarter-finals, Knowles 16–8 in the semi-finals, and Steve Davis 18–12 in the final to win his only world title and the only ranking title of his career. The following year, in the World Championship, Johnson defeated Stephen Hendry 13–12 in the quarter-finals and Neal Foulds 16–9 in the semi-finals. In the final, however, he lost 14–18 to Davis. Johnson won only one match in the final stages of the World Championship thereafter, defeating Wilson in the first round of the 1988 event.
His best performances in the other Triple Crown events were reaching the semi-finals of the 1987 UK Championship (losing 4–9 to Jimmy White) and the semi-finals of the 1988 Masters (losing 3–6 to Davis). Johnson dropped out of the top 16 after the 1989–90 snooker season and made his last Crucible appearance in 1991, losing in the first round to Dennis Taylor. He continued playing on the professional tour until 2005, when he retired at age 53 after breaking his ankle. Johnson later competed on the World Seniors Tour and won the 2019 Seniors Masters.




Early life and amateur career


Johnson was born on 29 July 1952, in Bradford, England. His mother's name was Margaret, and his father was engineer Malik Farooq. The couple separated when Joe was two years old. Margaret later married Ken Johnson, who taught his stepson how to play snooker from the age of four. Johnson became the national under-19 champion in 1971 and was three-times Yorkshire champion.
He set a record in 1978 for the highest break compiled by an amateur player, recording a 140 break at the TUC Club in Middlesbrough. The same year, after finishing second to Terry Griffiths in the English Amateur Championship, Johnson represented England at the World Amateur Snooker Championship in Malta. He reached the final, where he was defeated 11–5 by Cliff Wilson; they were level at five frames each after the first session, but Wilson won six consecutive frames for the victory. Johnson made the highest break of the tournament, a 101.
In 1979, he was accepted as a professional snooker player by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association along with Wilson, Tony Meo and Mike Hallett. Before taking up snooker professionally, Johnson worked as an apprentice motor mechanic and as a gasfitter.




Professional career






= Early years

=
Johnson achieved little success in his early professional career and gained a reputation for not performing well in televised matches. At the 1979 Canadian Open, he defeated Steve Baruda 5–4 after making a 100 break in the first frame. He eliminated John Bear 9–7 in the next round but then lost 2–9 to Kirk Stevens in the last 16. Johnson won the billiards competition that was running alongside the snooker event, defeating Ian Williamson 500–284 in the final.
He lost his opening match at the 1979 UK Championship to Bill Werbeniuk, 3–9. At the 1980 World Championship, he eliminated Roy Andrewartha 9–5 in the first qualifying round but lost his next match 6–9 to Pat Houlihan. After defeating John Dunning 9–6 at the 1980 UK Championship, he lost 4–9 in the next round to Patsy Fagan. Johnson eliminated Tony Knowles from the 1981 English Professional Championship with a 9–2 win in the first round before receiving a walkover against John Pulman to progress to the quarter-finals, where he lost 5–9 to Ray Edmonds. At the 1981 World Championship, he took a 4–3 lead against Tony Meo after the first session but lost in the deciding frame.
In the 1981–82 season, Johnson progressed through several rounds of the 1981 Jameson International. After defeating Jim Donnelly 5–4 and Murdo MacLeod 5–1, he received another walkover against Pulman. He next eliminated Jim Wych 5–2, which was the most significant win of Johnson's professional career up to that point, but he then lost in the last-24 round to Graham Miles, 3–5.
He began the 1981 UK Championship with a 9–1 win over Tommy Murphy, followed by a 9–3 defeat of Mike Watterson and a 9–4 win over Cliff Wilson. In the next round, he eliminated the former world champion John Spencer 9–5, earning himself a last-16 tie against another former world champion, Ray Reardon, to whom he lost 7–9. Johnson defeated Vic Harris 9–4 in the qualifying rounds of the 1982 World Championship and reached the last 48, where he lost 8–9 to Mike Hallett.




= 1982–1985: Ranking event finalist

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After receiving a walkover against John Phillips, Johnson faced Cliff Wilson in the qualifying competition for the 1982 Jameson International. After taking a 4–2 lead, he lost 4–5. Johnson won his first ranking points at the 1982 Professional Players Tournament. He began with a 5–1 win against Graham Miles, followed by a 5–1 win against sixth-ranked Kirk Stevens and a 5–4 last-16 win against Mark Wildman. In the quarter-final, Johnson won the first frame against John Virgo but was defeated 1–5. As one of six players outside the top eight in the rankings who progressed furthest in the tournament, he was awarded a place at the 1983 Masters. Johnson lost his opening match at the Masters to Cliff Thorburn. In the qualifying event for the 1983 World Championship, recorded a 10–0 whitewash against Paul Watchorn in the first round but lost 8–9 to Wilson and failed to reach the main event.
Johnson's points from the previous season saw him ranked 23rd in the world. In the last 48 of the 1983 International Open, he beat Dennis Hughes 5–1 and lost 2–5 to Eddie Charlton in the last 32. Johnson began the untelevised 1983 Professional Players Tournament with a 5–3 win against Pascal Burke. Then he defeated Jimmy White 5–3. In his next match, against Charlton, Johnson won 5–0. In the quarter-final, Johnson eliminated Thorburn 5–1 and defeated Tony Meo 9–6 in the semi-finals to reach his first major final, against Tony Knowles. After being 1–6 down to Knowles, Johnson compiled the highest break of the tournament (135) and levelled the match at 8–8 before Knowles secured the deciding frame.
At the 1983 UK Championship, Johnson reached the quarter-finals by eliminating Matt Gibson and Virgo (both by 9–6) and David Taylor 9–3. The quarter-final against Terry Griffiths was his first televised match as a professional. Johnson lost the first seven frames and the match, 2–9. In the qualifying event for the 1984 World Championship, he won his encounter with Gibson 10–3 to earn his debut on the Crucible stage (where he was defeated 1–10 by Dennis Taylor).
Johnson began the 1984–85 season ranked 19th. At the 1984 Costa Del Sol Classic, he started with a quarter-final win against Mick Fisher and lost 2–3 in the semi-final to Dennis Taylor. Johnson lost to Taylor again at the 1984 International Open. He eliminated Mario Morra 5–0 and Charlton 5–1 in the last 32 before losing to Taylor 2–5 in the last 16. In the following ranking event, the 1984 Grand Prix, Johnson defeated Paul Medati 5–1 but lost 4–5 to Ian Williamson in the last 32. At the 1984 UK Championship, he defeated John Rea 9–6 and John Spencer by the same score in the last 32 before a 2–0 defeat by Stevens in the last 16. Johnson defeated Ray Edmonds and Knowles to reach the last 16 at the 1985 Mercantile Credit Classic. He then whitewashed Wilson and achieved his first win in a televised match, winning each frame by a narrow margin. A 5–3 victory against Warren King took him into the semi-finals. According to Janice Hale of The Daily Telegraph, Johnson "failed to reproduce any of the fighting form which he displayed in the final of last season's Professional Players Tournament" as he lost 2–9 to Thorburn.
He qualified for the main stage of the 1985 World Snooker Championship again by defeating Geoff Foulds 10–6. Johnson played Bill Werbeniuk (who had not won a match all season) in the first round, but Werbeniuk made a 143 break in the tenth frame – the third-highest break ever recorded at the championship at that time – and won 10–8.




= 1985–86 season: World champion

=

Johnson began the season ranked 16th, inside the top 16 for the first time in his career. He was relatively unheralded going into the 1986 World Championship, since he had never won a televised match until the previous year. Having never won a match at the Crucible Theatre, Johnson was rated a 150–1 outsider. His best results during the season had been quarter-final finishes at the 1985 Matchroom Trophy (where he lost 3–5 to Neal Foulds) and at the 1986 Mercantile Credit Classic (where he lost 4–5 to Cliff Thorburn).
He defeated Dave Martin 10–3 in the first round for his first win in three main-stage World Championship appearances. In the second round, Johnson took a 5–3 lead against Mike Hallett after the first session and went on to win 13–6. He met former champion Terry Griffiths in the quarter-finals. Johnson led 9–7 going into the final session, but Griffiths won five straight frames to lead 12–9 before Johnson won four straight frames (including two century breaks) to win 13–12. He eliminated Tony Knowles despite taking painkillers for a cyst on his back before the start of play, winning the last two frames of the final session for a 16–8 victory.
In the final, Johnson met world number one Steve Davis; they had never previously played a professional match against one another. Davis was considered much more likely to win the final, reflected in the bookmakers' odds of 2–9 for Davis and 5–1 for Johnson. Davis took a 3–1 lead, making breaks of 108 and 107. Johnson then took the next three frames to finish the first session 4–3 ahead. Davis began the second session by winning four frames in succession to put himself 7–4 ahead. After the next mid-session interval, Johnson won four consecutive frames, before Davis clinched the last frame to leave the match level at 8–8 overnight.
On the second day, Johnson wore an unusual pair of red, pink and white leather shoes. Resuming the match, he won another run of four frames to take a 12–8 lead. Gordon Burn wrote in his book Pocket Money (1986), "From the beginning of the third session he played an open game full of flair and daring and the length-of-the-table, long-potting which had been so characteristic of Steve Davis in the days when he was still making his name." The session ended with Johnson ahead 13–11. In the final session the crowd appeared to favour Johnson, who had played with an attacking style throughout the tournament. He won three of the next four frames to lead 16–12 before the mid-session interval. He then added frame 29 and compiled a break of 64 in frame 30 to win the match 18–12. The win helped lift Johnson from 16th place in the 1985–86 professional rankings to eighth for 1986–87.
He wore a T-shirt with the slogan "Bradford's Bouncing Back" (a reference to the Bradford City stadium fire a year earlier) when he was not playing in the tournament. Johnson's win led to an appearance on the television show Wogan and a "personal appearance" accompanying pop star Cliff Richard to watch Wimbledon.




= Post-World Championship win

=
He had a poor season in terms of results as world champion, and lost before the televised stage in every major tournament except one before the 1987 World Championship. By his own admission, Johnson arrived at the Crucible for the tournament simply hoping merely to progress past the first round. However, he defied expectations and reached the final again. In the first round, Johnson narrowly defeated Eugene Hughes in a match that went to the last frame. He followed this with a 13–7 win against Murdo MacLeod, then defeated the 18-year-old Stephen Hendry 13–12 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-final, Johnson won 16–9 against Neal Foulds. Once again his opponent in the final was Steve Davis, who defeated him.
Johnson took a 4–3 lead in the first session but was 7–9 behind after session two. Davis increased his advantage to 14–9, but Johnson took the last frame of the third session and the first three frames of the concluding session to be one frame behind at 13–14. After Johnson had a bad miss attempting a long pot early in frame 28, Davis took that frame and the next two for an 18–14 victory. Davis said, "For Joe to come to the Crucible and play as if he hadn't had the season he has was tremendous, really." Johnson praised Davis, as he had after the 1986 final, and said about his own year as champion: "It only seemed five minutes when I walked out to play Steve again in the final, but with all the personal appearances it just seemed to go on and on."

He reached fifth place in the world 1987–88 rankings based on results from the two preceding seasons, largely as a result of his performances at the Crucible. Johnson was runner-up to Dennis Taylor in the four-player 1987 Carling Challenge, and he won the 1987 Scottish Masters by overcoming Terry Griffiths 9–7 in the final for his only other major professional snooker title. He reached the semi-finals of the 1987 UK Championship, where he came close to making a 147 maximum break against Jimmy White but missed the pink on 134 and lost the match 4–9. Later that season Johnson reached the semi-finals of the 1988 Masters, where he lost 3–6 to Davis after eliminating Willie Thorne and White. He defeated Cliff Wilson 10–7 in the first round of the 1988 World Championship, and recovered from 3–11 to 9–11 against Steve James before losing after James won the next two frames.
Dropping six places to 11th in the 1988–89 season, Johnson's best showing in a ranking tournament was reaching the quarter-finals of the 1988 Fidelity International Open. He lost 5–10 to Tony Meo in the first round of the 1989 World Championship. In 1989–90, Johnson was runner-up to Thorne in the invitational 1989 New Zealand Masters. His best ranking-tournament performance was at the 1989 Rothmans Grand Prix, where he whitewashed White in a run to the quarter-finals. Johnson won the invitational 1989 Norwich Union Grand Prix by defeating Hendry 5–3 in the final, but lost 8–10 to Darren Morgan in the opening round of the 1990 World Championship.




= Later career

=
Johnson began the 1990–91 season ranked 18th, outside the top 16 for the first time in five years. He failed to progress as far as the quarter-finals in any ranking event that season. Johnson won the 1991 Nescafe Extra Challenge, a four-player round-robin event, with victories in all three of his matches, against Tony Drago, James Wattana and Alain Robidoux. He qualified for his last appearance at the Crucible, the 1991 World Championship, where he lost 6–10 to Dennis Taylor in the first round. Despite having heart and eye problems during the 1990s, Johnson continued to play in qualifying events. Following his first heart attack, in 1991, Johnson received medical advice to retire as the pressure of competitive matches could increase the likelihood of another heart attack.
He reached the quarter-finals of the 1991 Grand Prix after defeating Warren King in the last 64, Tony Jones in the last 32 and Mike Hallett in the last 16 to set up the quarter-final against Nigel Bond, where he lost 3–5. Johnson was runner-up to Stephen Hendry in the invitational 1992 European Challenge, and he narrowly missed qualifying for the 1992 World Championship after losing 9–10 to Mick Price on the pink ball in the deciding frame.
Needing to win one match to qualify for the 1993 World Championship, Johnson lost 6–10 to Karl Payne in the last 48. He won only one qualifying match at the World Championship in his next five attempts, a 10–5 victory against Matthew Crouch in 1995 . Johnson did not reach the last 48 of the World Championship again after 1993, although he won three matches in 2003. He broke his ankle in a fall at home before the start of the 2003–04 season and did not compete in any events until the World Championship qualifying in February 2004. Johnson conceded, 0–9 behind, to Ian Preece in their best-of-19-frames match. He played his last match as a professional later that month in the qualifying rounds of the 2004 Players Championship, where he lost 3–5 to Stuart Mann. Johnson retired in 2005, aged 53, as the oldest player on the professional snooker circuit at the time.




Seniors events


He won the Seniors Pot Black Trophy in 1997. Johnson played in the 2000 World Seniors Masters, a one-frame-format event, and lost in the first round to the eventual champion Willie Thorne. He promoted the revival of the World Seniors Championship in 2010, and lost 0–2 to Steve Davis in his opening match. Johnson won the April 2019 World Seniors Masters, with all three of his matches determined on a re-spotted black used as a tiebreaker in the event of each player winning one of two frames. He lost 0–3 to Adrian Ridley in the first round of the 2023 World Seniors Championship and 1–3 to Barry Pinches at the same stage of the 2024 edition.




Legacy


In his 2012 book, Clive Everton wrote that in 1986 Johnson "produced an unstoppable urge of inspiration" but "never sustained such form before and never sustained it again". Johnson found it difficult to deal with the pressures of World Championship fame, and was poorly served by his manager. Snooker journalist Hector Nunns wrote in 2017 that that Johnson would always be remembered for "his shot-making, his shoes, his extra-curricular singing, and his sheer joie de vivre in the match that defined his career". In their 2005 book about snooker world champions, Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby wrote: "His attacking style and ability to crash in long pots [...] prefigured the tactical approach that would dominate snooker from the 1990s into the new millennium."




Other activities


Johnson was the subject of This is Your Life, and he was a guest on the celebrity sports quiz A Question of Sport in 1986. In April 1987, BBC1 broadcast a 30-minute profile of Johnson, An Ordinary Joe, which focused on the year since his World Championship victory. He made several appearances on the snooker-themed game show Big Break between 1991 and 2001. Johnson was interviewed for an episode of the BBC Radio 5 Live show Time of My Life in 1998 and was a guest on the TV quiz show Celebrity Eggheads in 2012.
He sang in the Preston-based band Made in Japan, who released a cover of "Everlasting Love" in October 1986. Johnson coached Shaun Murphy, and he was an early influence on Paul Hunter. He is a regular commentator for Eurosport. In December 2013, John Higgins said of Johnson: "I heard before the 2013 UK Championship Joe Johnson was slating me. If that guy isn't the worst commentator in the world, he's in the top three."
Johnson and his business partner Dave Shipley bought three snooker clubs, and Johnson managed coaching academies. He is married to Terryl and has seven children. By 2017, he had survived seven heart attacks.




Performance and rankings timeline






Career finals






= Ranking finals: 3 (1 title)

=




= Non-ranking finals: 8 (5 titles)

=




= Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)

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= Amateur finals: 3 (1 title)

=




Notes






References


Citations

Bibliography

Burn, Gordon (2008) [1986]. Pocket Money. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-23683-1.
Everton, Clive (1985). Frei, Beatrice (ed.). Snooker: The Records. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 978-0-85112-448-3.
Everton, Clive, ed. (1986). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Third ed.). Aylesbury: Pelham Books. ISBN 978-0-86369-166-9.
Everton, Clive (2012). Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards. Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-78057-568-1.
Hayton, Eric N.; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
Karnehm, Jack; Carty, John (1982). "The supreme snooker league". World Snooker with Jack Karnehm No. 2. London: Pelham. pp. 14–19. ISBN 978-0-7207-1398-5.
Kobylecky, John (2019). The Complete International Directory of Snooker Players – 1927 to 2018. Cambridge: Kobyhadrian Books. ISBN 978-0-9931433-1-1.
Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker (Revised ed.). Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-600-55604-6.
Morrison, Ian (1988). Hamlyn Who's Who in Snooker. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0-600-55713-5.
Morrison, Ian (1989). Snooker: Records, Facts and Champions. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 978-0-85112-364-6.
Nunns, Hector (2017). The Crucible's Greatest Matches: Forty Years of Snooker's World Championship in Sheffield. Worthing: Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78531-284-7.
Smith, Terry, ed. (1987). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Fourth ed.). Aylesbury: Pelham Books. ISBN 978-0-7207-1797-6.
Smith, Terry, ed. (1988). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Fifth ed.). Aylesbury: Pelham Books. ISBN 978-0-7207-1830-0.
Williams, Luke; Gadsby, Paul (2005). Masters of the Baize. Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84018-872-1.




External links


Joe Johnson at the World Snooker Tour

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