45 Facts About Joe Davis

Joseph Davis was an English professional snooker and English billiards player.

Joe Davis was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is played, such as -building.

Joe Davis won the first 15 world championships from 1927 to 1946, and he is the only undefeated player in World Snooker Championship history.

Joe Davis was the first person to win world championship titles in both billiards and snooker.

Joe Davis continued to wield considerable influence over the professional game through his chairmanship of the professional players' association, his co-ownership of the Leicester Square Hall venue, and his negotiation of television contracts.

In 1955, Joe Davis was the first player to make an officially recognised maximum break.

Joe Davis collapsed whilst watching his brother Fred play Perrie Mans in the semi-final of the 1978 World Snooker Championship.

Joe Davis's father was a miner when Joe was born, and had become a publican by the time Joe was two years old, managing the Travellers Rest pub at Whittington Moor.

Joe Davis was sent to live with his grandparents in Newbold for several years.

Joe Davis started playing English billiards at the age of eleven.

Joe Davis acted as the for this match, giving him the chance to closely observe the technique of the two professional players.

At the age of 13, Joe Davis beat Dickens to win the Chesterfield and District Amateur Billiards Championship.

Joe Davis became a professional billiards player in 1919 at the age of 18.

Joe Davis had eliminated Scottish champion Tom Aiken in his previous match.

Joe Davis lost to Lawrence in the final of his first open professional championship, the 1921 Midlands Counties Billiards Championship.

Joe Davis faced the Welsh champion, Tom Carpenter, in a match to 7,000 points at Cardiff in January 1922, winning just one point.

Joe Davis failed to qualify for the 1923 professional championship, losing to Lawrence in the Second Division semi-final at Chesterfield in February.

In 1926, Joe Davis and defending champion Newman were the only two players to enter the professional billiards championship, which is regarded as the world championship.

Joe Davis reached the final the next year and was again defeated by Newman.

Joe Davis used the, which had recently been introduced by Reece, during this break.

Joe Davis won by 485 points in this match of the first to 16,000, after being given a 2,000 start.

Joe Davis defeated Newman in 1928 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.

Joe Davis thereby became the first player to hold the professional titles in both billiards and snooker, an achievement not matched until his brother Fred Joe Davis won the billiards championship in 1980.

Joe Davis successfully defended his title for the next three years.

Joe Davis's break continued in the evening session and finished on 1,247.

Joe Davis considered this break, in many respects, to have been his finest.

In 1932, Joe Davis faced New Zealander Clark McConachy in the final.

Joe Davis reached the final again in 1933 and 1934, losing on both occasions to Lindrum.

The Billiards Association and Control Council agreed to this, and Joe Davis travelled to Australia for the 1934 Championship, where he was disappointed by the lack of planning for the tournament, and found it hard to raise the money for his return to the UK.

Joe Davis defeated Newman in each annual UK championship final up to 1939.

Joe Davis took the first post-war UK title, with a walkover over John Barrie.

In February 1925, Joe Davis played Newman in a game of snooker, and made a break of 96, which was a new record for a professional match, exceeding the existing record of 89 set by Newman in 1919.

Joe Davis won the World Championship every year until 1940, and again in 1946 when it was next held after being interrupted by the war.

Joe Davis compiled his first snooker century break against Fred Pugh in January 1928, and made the first official century break of the World Snooker Championship, in 1930.

In 1934, Joe Davis travelled to Australia to play Horace Lindrum in an invitational match, the World Snooker Challenge.

From 1935, the World Championship became more remunerative for players, after public interest increased when Joe Davis set a new championship record break of 110 against Newman in their semi-final.

Joe Davis won against Lindrum in the 1936 and 1937 finals.

Joe Davis successfully defended his title in 1946, his 15th consecutive win, and thereby held the title for 20 consecutive years.

Joe Davis retired from the event following this victory, having won the title at all 15 events from 1927 to 1946, making him, as of 2022, the only undefeated player in the history of the World Championship.

In 1959, Joe Davis attempted to popularise a new version of the game called snooker plus, which had two extra, an orange and a purple.

Joe Davis was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1963.

Joe Davis died from a chest infection that he contracted during his recuperation.

Over a 20-year period, Joe Davis won four World Billiards Championship titles and 15 World Snooker Championship titles.

Joe Davis was not able to focus with his right eye; he played with his cue to the left of his chin.

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 was the better player.