Longest Professional Careers

[davis4ever]

It's fascinating to read about how the old school players just carried on and on, listen to the pundits now and they talk of players being past it at 40 and steve davis at getting on for 50 is now classed as a veteran, he is a young pup compared to the likes of the past players.

[cajt]

Quite right. Back in the 1980s there were several players still highly ranked and well into their fifties and above. People like Reardon, Spencer, Charlton and Rex Williams were all in the top 16 when well past 50.

[t.lavery55]

Do you think some of these records might get beaten by
Stephen Hendry by the time he's older?
I doubt that he will be much of a challenge for Fred Davis`!

[The Statman]

Kingsley Kennerley is another name that springs to mind, also Jack Rea.

I would reckon that Fred Davis's three-zillion year professional career is a record for ANY sport!

[100-uper]

Clark McConachy, one of the few players to have made a 147 at snooker and a 1,000 break at billiards, must come into the reckoning. At 67 years old he was the oldest World Champion at any sport, holding the billiards title at that age.

[100-uper]

Fred Davis surely tops the list with 63 years! (1929-1992)

Others -

Willie Smith 1901 to 1955

Not sure where you have taken these dates from Cyril, but according to my records Willie Smith was still playing exhibition games in the 1960s. The last match I can pin down is a snooker/billiards match against Joyce Gardner in London just a few days after his 75th bithday! As he started and finished his career when there was no organised professional snooker it is a bit difficult to compare them with modern day exponents, but it's still pretty impressive!

[The Statman]

Not sure where you have taken these dates from Cyril, but according to my records Willie Smith was still playing exhibition games in the 1960s. The last match I can pin down is a snooker/billiards match against Joyce Gardner in London just a few days after his 75th bithday! As he started and finished his career when there was no organised professional snooker it is a bit difficult to compare them with modern day exponents, but it's still pretty impressive!

The thread is entitled 'Longest professional careers' so I guess you would exclude exhibition matches.

[cajt]

Fred Davis was also 67 when he won his last Word Professional Billiards title in 1980.

More recently, Jack Firzmaurice (born 25 April 1928) was still playing professional snooker in 2001 at 73. He was also entered in the 2002 world championship but he scratched. Jack died in 2005.

[100-uper]

Sorry, was giving duff information here. Having checked the dates again the stats are: McConachy (born 18th April 1895) was 73yrs 3 months and 23 days old when he lost his world championship to Rex Williams on 10th August 1968. Fed Davis (born 14th February 1913) was 69yrs 1 month and 3 days old when he lost his world title to Rex Williams on 17th March 1982.

Rex certainly liked to beat up on the oldies!

[Obligation]

How can you define a professional career?
Top 16?
Top 32?
Top 64?
Top 86?

[PaulTheSoave]

registration as a pro with the snooker association I presume.

[hegeland]

Or when you make enough money playing snooker to quit or at least greatly reduce your old job.

[PaulTheSoave]

I wonder whether there is a definition of being an amateur or pro snooker player. In golf there is. We play for a round of beer, so would i be a pro player (supposing I am winning, before anyone is trying to be smart )

[t.lavery55]

I would define a professional snooker player as someone
eligible to play on the circuit in all the ranking tournaments.

[Cyril]

Willie Smith

Not sure where you have taken these dates from Cyril, but according to my records Willie Smith was still playing exhibition games in the 1960s. The last match I can pin down is a snooker/billiards match against Joyce Gardner in London just a few days after his 75th bithday! As he started and finished his career when there was no organised professional snooker it is a bit difficult to compare them with modern day exponents, but it's still pretty impressive!

I have a video of Willie talking about Joe Davis making the first official 147, against him in 1955, at Leicester Square Hall. He said, "In the News of the World, it had Smith standing there, white faced ... and it said "suffering?", "but believe me, I did not suffer. "I was delighted that Joe made the break and, it was a climax to my career, because I have not played since."

It does seem a bit odd that he would hang his cues up at that time because of Joe's 147 but I don't know of him playing after that. I should add that at the time of the interview, Willie was at the grand age of 92 years (1977). He died in 1982.