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David Taylor (snooker player)

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David Taylor
Taylor in 1968
Born (1943-07-29) 29 July 1943 (age 81)
Bowdon, Cheshire, England
Sport country England
NicknameThe Silver Fox[1]
Professional1968–1997
Highest ranking7 (1981/82)
Best ranking finishRunner-up

David Taylor (born 29 July 1943) is an English former professional snooker player. He won the English Amateur Championship in 1968 and the 1968 World Amateur Snooker Championship later that year. Those wins encouraged him to turn professional. He was nicknamed "The Silver Fox" because of his prematurely grey hair.[2]

Taylor reached three major professional finals, the 1978 UK Championship, 1981 Yamaha Organs Trophy and the 1982 Jameson International, but lost them all. Together with his team-mates Steve Davis and John Spencer, he won the 1981 World Team Classic, representing England. His best performance at the World Snooker Championship was in 1980 event, when he reached the semi-finals. He was also a losing quarter-finals in three editions. Taylor was a member of the elite top 16 of the world rankings for ten consecutive years until the 1985/86 season, reaching a high of number 7 in the 1981/82 season.

Career

[edit]
Taylor (left) with Alex Higgins at an exhibition at Queen's University Belfast, 1968

David Taylor was born on 29 July 1943 in Bowdon, Greater Manchester, and grew up in Manchester.[3][4] He started playing snooker aged 14.[4] In 1968 he defeated Chris Ross 11–6 to win the English Amateur Championship.[4] At the 1968 World Amateur Snooker Championship in Australia he won all four of his group matches, then beat Paddy Morgan in the semi-final before securing the title with an 8–7 victory against Max Williams.[5] He also recorded the highest break of the tournament, 96.[4] He turned professional on his return to the UK.[6] Alongside his snooker career, he changed profession from hairdresser to swimming coach to allow more time for snooker practice.[7] There were few professional tournaments in the early 1970s,[7] and Taylor accepted an offer to play exhibition matches at holiday camps.[8]

In his first world championship match, at the 1970 event, he finished the first day of his match against Bernard Bennett 3–4 behind, but progressed to the quarter-finals by securing a winning margin at 11–8.[9] A match report in Billiards and Snooker magazine was critical of the standard of play by both players, and in particular about Taylor "carelessly" missing pots.[9] Facing John Pulman, Tayor was on level terms at 12–12, but Pulman proceeded to win 31–20.[10] In 1971 he lost 2–5 against reigning world champion John Spencer for the Stratford Professional title.[11] He was seeded into the quarter-finals of the 1972 World Championship and lost 25-31 to Eddie Charlton.[12]

Taylor reached three major professional finals, but lost them all.[13] His first major final was the 1978 UK Championship, where after progressing past [[Maurice Parkin], he eliminated defending champion Patsy Fagan 9–7.[14] He then defeated both John Virgo and Alex Higgins, but in the final against Doug Mountjoy he lost ten of the last twelve frames as Mountjoy won 15–9.[14][15] He lost 6–9 to Steve Davis in the 1981 Yamaha Organs Trophy final after winning four consecutive frames from 2–8 behind.[16] Earlier in the tournament he had topped the round-robin group that also included Ray Reardon, Doug Mountjoy and Graham Miles, then defeated Kirk Stevens 5–3 in the semi-finals.[17] After the tournament, he commented that he felt like he had been a professional player "in name only until 1977" but could now go on to win a title.[18] In 1978 he made three consecutive total clearances of 130, 140 and 139 Butlin's Minehead, an acheievement that was recognised in the Guinness Book of Records.[7][19] By 1980 he was known as "The Silver Fox" because of his prematurely grey hair.[2][20]

He was a member of the England team that won the 1981 World Team Classic, alongside Steve Davis and John Spencer.[21][22] In the group match against Australia, Taylor lost against Morgan and Ian Anderson, and against Northern Ireland he lost against Alex Higgins but defeated Tommy Murphy.[22] England won both group matches by four matches to three, and progresses.[22] In the semi-finals, he defeated Bill Werbeniuk 2–1 but then lost to Kirk Stevens by the same margin, and England won by four matches to two.[22] Although Taylor lost both of his matches in the final, 1–2 against Terry Griffiths and 0–2 to Doug Mountjoy, England took the title when Steve Davis won the tiebreak match against Reardon leaving the score at four matches to three.[22]

In the 1982 Jameson International final, he was 3–5 behind Knowles after the first session, after the pair had been level at 2–2. Knowles compiled a break of 114, the highest of the tournament, to win the ninth frame, before Taylor claimed the next two frames to leave Knowles one ahead at 6–5. Breaks of 63 and 43 in the next two frames saw Knowles restore a three-frame advantage. Taylor made a break of 74 to win the 14th frame, but Knowles secured his first major title by claiming the 15th frame with a break of 76.[23] It was the first tournament apart from the World Snooker Championship to count in the snooker world rankings.[24] In the quarter-finals of this event Taylor beat the then World Champion, Steve Davis 5–3.[25]

aylor was a member of the elite Top 16 World Rankings for ten consecutive years until the 1985/86 season, reaching a high of number 7 in the 1981/82 season.[21] His best performance in theWorld Championship was at the 1980 event, when he lost to Cliff Thorburn 7–16 in the semi-final having beaten the six-time World Champion Ray Reardon 13–11 in the quarter-final.[21][26] He also reached the World Championship quarter-finals in 1981 and the quarter-finals at the 1981 International Open and the 1987 British Open.[13]

In the 1988–89 snooker season, the WPBSA held three non-ranking tournaments for players who has been eliminated in the early rounds of specific ranking events.[27] Taylor won the third of these, defeating Craig Edwards, Martin Smith, Jon Wright, and David Roe to reach the final against Steve Meakin, who Taylor beat 9–1 to win the title.[28] At the end of the 1996–97 snooker season he was ranked 151st, and therefore did not qualify to automatically continue as a professional.[29] In January 1998 he was co-opted as a board member of the WPBSA, but he lost his place in elections in December that year.[30][31]

Taylor played at the 2000 World Seniors Masters and defeated Graham Miles in the single-frame format competition, before losing to Willie Thorne in the semi-finals.[32] He entered the 2010 World Snooker Championship qualifying rounds, aged 66 and playing in first competitive match for 13 years, but lost 1–5 to Paul Wykes.[33]

John Virgo wrote that "Taylor, in practice, was one of the best players I'd ever seen, second perhaps only to [Alex] Higgins."[34] Cliff Thorburn commented that Taylor did not seem able to bring his ability in practice into tournament play, and that he probably overthough during matches.[21]

Outside snooker

[edit]

As of 2021, he ran a guest house with his wife in Little Bollington near Altrincham in Cheshire.[35]

Performance and rankings timeline

[edit]
Tournament 1969/
70 		1970/
71 		1971/
72 		1972/
73 		1973/
74 		1974/
75 		1975/
76 		1976/
77 		1977/
78 		1978/
79 		1979/
80 		1980/
81 		1981/
82 		1982/
83 		1983/
84 		1984/
85 		1985/
86 		1986/
87 		1987/
88 		1988/
89 		1989/
90 		1990/
91 		1991/
92 		1992/
93 		1993/
94 		1994/
95 		1995/
96 		1996/
97 		Ref.
Ranking No ranking system 16 12 13 15 9 7 8 10 16 14 21 25 28 38 33 44 104 67 104 106 151 [36]
Ranking tournaments
Hong Kong Open (Ranking event from 1989)[a] Tournament Not Held Not invited 1R QF 1R Not invited NH 1R Tournament Not Held [38]
Asian Classic[b] Tournament Not Held A 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
Grand Prix[c] Tournament Not Held 2R 2R 3R 2R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
Canadian Masters[d] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking 2R Tournament Not Held [13]
UK Championship (Ranking event from 1984) Tournament Not Held 2R F 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R 3R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
German Open Tournament Not Held LQ A [13]
Welsh Open Tournament Not Held LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
International Open (Ranking event from 1982)[e] Tournament Not Held QF F 1R 2R 3R 3R 2R 3R LQ Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
European Open Tournament Not Held 1R 2R LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
Classic (Ranking event from 1984) Tournament Not Held A SF QF QF 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 2R LQ LQ Tournament Not Held [13]
Thailand Open[f] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event Not Held 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
British Open (Ranking event from 1985)[g] Tournament Not Held RR F 2R 2R RR 1R 1R QF 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
Strachan Open Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held [13]
World Championship (Ranking event from 1974) QF A QF 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R SF QF 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ [13]
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters Tournament Not Held Not invited QF Not invited 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R Not invited LQ LQ Not invited [13]
Irish Masters Tournament Not Held Not invited 1R Not invited [13]
Professional Snooker League Tournament Not Held 11th Not Held Not invited [45]
Men of the Midlands Not Held RR NI Tournament Not Held [46]
Norwich Union Open Tournament Not Held 2R NI Tournament Not Held [13]
Watney Open Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held [47]
Holsten Lager International Tournament Not Held QF Tournament Not Held [48]
Tolly Cobbold Classic Tournament Not Held Not invited QF Not invited Tournament Not Held [49]
New Zealand Masters Tournament Not Held SF Not Held Not invited Tournament Not Held [50]
Pot Black NI RR Not invited RR RR NI 1R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held Not invited Tournament Not Held [51]
English Professional Championship Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held QF 1R 2R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held [13]
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held 1R Tournament Not Held [52]
World Masters Tournament Not Held LQ Tournament Not Held [13]
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final A did not participate in the tournament
NI was not invited WD withdrew from the tournament NH means an event was not held.

Career finals

[edit]

Ranking finals: 1

[edit]
Ranking finals contested by David Taylor
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Runner-up 1. 1982 International Open  Tony Knowles (ENG) 6–9 [53]

Non-ranking finals: 4 (1 title)

[edit]
Legend
UK Championship (0–1)
Other (1–2)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Runner-up 1. 1971 Stratford Professional  John Spencer (ENG) 2–5 [11]
Runner-up 2. 1978 UK Championship  Doug Mountjoy (WAL) 9–15 [13]
Runner-up 3. 1981 Yamaha Organs Trophy  Steve Davis (ENG) 6–9 [13]
Winner 1. 1988 WPBSA Invitational – Event 3  Steve Meakin (ENG) 9–1 [27]

Team finals: 1 (1 title)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship Team Opponents in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1981 World Team Classic  England (with Steve Davis and John Spencer  Wales (Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths and Doug Mountjoy) 4–3 [22]

Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles)

[edit]
Outcome No. Year Championship scope="col"Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 1968 English Amateur Championship  Chris Ross (SCO) 11–6 [4]
Winner 2. 1968 World Amateur Championship  Max Williams (AUS) 8–7 [5]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The event was also called the Australian Masters (1979/1980–1987/1988) and Australian Open (1994/1995).[37]
  2. ^ The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Dubai Classic (1989/1990–1994/1995) and Thailand Classic (1995/1996).[39]
  3. ^ The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1982/1983–1983/1984).[40]
  4. ^ The event was also called the Canadian Open (1978/1979–1980/1981).[41]
  5. ^ The event was also called the Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986).[42]
  6. ^ The event was also called the Thailand Masters (1983/1984–1986/1987 & 1991/1992) and the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993).[43]
  7. ^ The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984).[44]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Jackson, Jamie (3 May 2009). "Back to the 80s when we were all snooker loopy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b Morrison 1988, p. 101-102.
  3. ^ Hale 1987, p. 162.
  4. ^ a b c d e Morrison 1988, p. 101.
  5. ^ a b Hale 1987, pp. 296–297.
  6. ^ "Champ Taylor to Turn Pro". Manchester Evening News. 1 November 1968. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c Gouge 1984, p. 63.
  8. ^ Morrison 1987, p. 132.
  9. ^ a b "Taylor struggles past Bennett". Billiards and Snooker. December 1969. p. 24.
  10. ^ "Pulman too solid for Taylor". Billiards and Snooker. February 1970. pp. 6–7.
  11. ^ a b "Snooker champion in top form". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 21 September 1971. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Hayton & Dee 2004, pp. 938–940.
  14. ^ a b Hayton & Dee 2004, p. 938.
  15. ^ Eveton, Clive (2 December 1978). "Crown goes to Mountjoy". The Guardian. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Hale, Janice (9 March 1981). "Davis Pockets £10,000 Prize". The Daily Telegraph. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Yamaha Organs Trophy: Davis Strikes Winning Note". Snooker Scene. April 1981. pp. 7–15.
  18. ^ "Taylor Set for that Big Break". Daily Record. 11 March 1981. p. 68 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Russell 1986, p. 285.
  20. ^ "'Fox' Too Sly for Reardon". Birmingham Evening Mail. 1 May 1980. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ a b c d Lee, Roger (February 2010). "Past Masters (5): David Taylor". Snooker Scene. p. 30.
  22. ^ a b c d e f "World Team Classic". Snooker Scene. December 1981. pp. 5–11.
  23. ^ "Jameson International tournament proper Embassy World Professional Championship". Snooker Scene. Halesowen. November 1982. pp. 6–14.
  24. ^ "International Open, Goya Matchroom Trophy". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  25. ^ Hayton & Dee 2004, pp. 24, 938–940.
  26. ^ Hayton & Dee 2004, pp. 17, 938–940.
  27. ^ a b Smith 1989, p. 90.
  28. ^ Hayton & Dee 2004, p. 939.
  29. ^ "WPBSA world rankings 1996–97". Snooker Scene. June 1997. pp. 28–30.
  30. ^ Everton, Clive (24 January 1998). "Hunter-killer Cruises On". The Guardian. p. 38 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Everton, Clive (24 December 1998). "Williams Retains His Hold on Snooker". The Guardian. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Willie Thorne Nets £10,000 Prize as First King of the Oldies". Snooker Scene. July 2000. pp. 14–15.
  33. ^ "Former world champions set for Crucible qualifying". BBC Sport. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  34. ^ Virgo 2017, p. 137.
  35. ^ Prior, David (28 December 2021). "Cue a new chapter for Ash Farm: B&B reveals plans for restaurant, events space and Brewdog-backed outdoor bar". Altrincham Today. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  36. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  37. ^ Turner, Chris. "Australian Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 30 September 2010.
  38. ^ Hayton & Dee 2004, pp. 949–952.
  39. ^ Turner, Chris. "Dubai Classic, Dubai Masters, Bahrain Snooker Championship". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012.
  40. ^ Turner, Chris. "Professional Players Tournament, Grand Prix, LG Cup". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012.
  41. ^ Turner, Chris. "Canadian Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012.
  42. ^ Turner, Chris. "International Open, Goya Matchroom Trophy". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012.
  43. ^ Turner, Chris. "Thailand Open, Thailand Classic, Thailand Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012.
  44. ^ Turner, Chris. "British Open Including British Gold Cup, Yamaha Organs Trophy and Yamaha International Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012.
  45. ^ Everton 1984, pp. 91–92.
  46. ^ "Men of the Midlands". World Snooker. March 1972. pp. 8–9.
  47. ^ "The £3,000 Watney Open". Snooker Scene. December 1974. p. 19.
  48. ^ "Spencer first in Holsten lager international". Snooker Scene. February 1979. pp. 12–15.
  49. ^ Gough, Michael (April 1982). "Another Davis Benefit". Snooker Scene. pp. 14–15.
  50. ^ "1984 New Zealand Masters Results". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  51. ^
  52. ^ "International one-frame shoot-out". Snooker Scene. Everton's News Agency. November 1990. pp. 6–7.
  53. ^ Hale, Janice (11 October 1982). "Knowles Captures Title". The Daily Telegraph. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.

Books

  • Everton, Clive, ed. (1984). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (First ed.). London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0863690513.
  • Gouge, Michael (1984). "David Taylot". In Everton, Clive (ed.). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (First ed.). London: Virgin Books. p. 63. ISBN 0863690513.
  • Hale, Janice (1987). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987–88. Aylesbury: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0356146901.
  • Hayton, Eric; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
  • 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.
  • Russell, Alan, ed. (1986). Guinness Book of Records 1987. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 0851128742.
  • Smith, Terry, ed. (1989). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Sixth ed.). Aylesbury: Pelham Books. ISBN 978-0-7207-1944-4.
  • Virgo, John (2017). Say Goodnight, J.V. London: John Blake. ISBN 978-1-78606-444-8.
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