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JOE DAVIS
The Founding Father
SNOOKER: Reports from the Golden Age
Reprinted complete and basically unchanged from “World Snooker with Jack Karnehm” by John Carty and Jack Karnehm – Pelham Books, London (1980) © John James Carty 1980 – 2011. All rights reserved.
Jack Karnehm, introduction: Talking about Joe Davis is easy for me for one simple reason – he had it all. I could go into all the reasons why, in the technical sense and as a professional artist, he was the greatest there has ever been.
His skills at billiards were so tremendous, allied to a burning desire to lead the field, that he was invincible – as the records show.
The ‘touch’ and cue ball control he had acquired through billiards, which was the game of his early years, gave him combined physical and mental qualities which have yet to be achieved by other players I have seen.
Of course the arguments will always arise as to whether Joe Davis would have beaten Ray Reardon or Alex Higgins, or how he would have stood up to modern competition. Obviously this is a question that must carry an element of doubt in the minds of young players of today, which is perfectly natural.
Perhaps the best way I can answer the question is to parry it with another: I wonder how Joe would have done with conditions as they are today?
In these modern times we have amateur players who have made more century breaks in a short lifetime than Joe made in fifty years of play. This eliminates any valid argument arising from that type of comparison.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was to have been such a tough fearsome character when it was necessary, immaculate in presentation, never condescending to fellow professionals and always willing to help when asked for advice. He has left behind him a memory of warmth and affection from his public and critics alike.
During The Masters tournament in London in 1977, we were having a drink together before play and, as so often happens, someone made comparisons between then and now. His reply was simply one of admiration for all the professionals of today, and how pleased he was that the game had at last made it big.
Interview held at The Savoy Snooker Centre, Lewisham, South London, with former multiple world champion John Pulman, Bruce Donkin and John James Carty (JJC):
 John Pulman and Bruce Donkin were close friends and associates of Joe Davis for many years. Pulman, the aspiring young professional, was one of the fiercest contenders for Joe’s title, but great player though he was, he never managed to beat Joe on level terms.
In a match no quarter was given or asked, but away from the table there developed between Joe and John the greates respect and affection.
John Pulman
 Bruce Donkin, one of the most influential men behind the scenes in Snooker, was Joe’s close friend for many years. Starting as a young referee at Leicester Square Hall, London, Bruce was to become an associate of the great man and Joe’s greatest successes were witnessed (and usually refereed by) Bruce.
When Joe collapsed at Sheffield in 1978, Bruce drove him straight to The London Clinic. Joe appeared to make a good recovery from the massive operations he underwent but he died in a Surrey nursing home on 10 July 1978.
Bruce Donkin
Perhaps it is inevitable that these two old friends confirm
the opinion that Joe Davis was the greatest, but let’s hear it in their own words:
JJC: How good was Joe Davis really?
John Pulman: He was the W.G. Grace of Snooker. He reached a position that no man has ever equaled in Snooker, probably never will. Look at this (waves a hand around the matchroom of the Savoy Centre, which is called “The Joe Davis Room”) – this is the sort of thing people do in memory of Joe Davis. He was the tops.
Bruce Donkin: He was the greatest player who ever lived. How else can I say it?
JJC: It has sometimes been suggested that Joe helped to maintain his position by avoiding opponents he didn’t want to meet?
John Pulman: Name one!
Bruce Donkin: No player of any class or ability failed to meet Joe Davis – look at the records, he played them all.
Joe Davis, Walter Donaldson, John Pulman, Fred Davis
John Pulman: There weren’t that many players around, but he didn’t dodge anybody – he had to play them all. No one was kept out of the professional game. I was welcomed as a professional at the age of twenty six.
Bruce Donkin: I always remember that the most common conversation in the dressing room during a Joe Davis match was the opponent saying to Joe (who’d be about ten frames in front) ‘For God’s sake, Joe, ease up and give me a chance. Let’s put on a bit of a show!’ Joe’s reply would be, ‘if you want to beat me do it by playing snooker.’ He was so hard; even if he was fifteen frames in front he’d want to make it sixteen.
John Pulman: And then snooker you behind the green! Absolutely relentless, he never gave an inch.
JJC: So why was he so good?
John Pulman: Most people will say that the Australian, Walter Lindrum, was the best there ever was at billiards. Possibly he was, but between Walter and Joe at billiards there was nothing in it. In other words, Joe was a very fine billiards player.
When it came to snooker, the cue ball control that he had achieved because of his wonderful knowledge of billiards put him streets ahead. He could – lovely phrase, this – he could drop the cue ball on a sixpence (a very small British coin pre-1971).
Bruce Donkin: And he really made that cue ball control work for him: when he was on a break he was rarely more than eighteen inches from the ball he was aiming at. Of course, as he always said, his purpose was to leave himself easy shots all the time.
John Pulman: He was a great long potter too – if you left him half a chance he was in again.
Bruce Donkin: One thing that’s often overlooked – he persisted with practice always, even when he was the undisputed master.
John Pulman: No, I wouldn’t agree with that. I mean, after the war he was playing matches and exhibitions six nights a week – he didn’t need any practice with the playing schedule he had.
JJC: How did his earnings compare with those of other professionals?
John Pulman: He was a very shrewd businessman and he had developed areas we wouldn’t have thought of; his theatre shows, for example. I suppose in the late 1940s the average man’s weekly wage was about seven or eight pounds sterling.
In a week-long match at Leicester Square Hall I would make about a hundred pounds for the week – if I were playing Joe. He probably made two or three times that much. But he was the star: no matter who the opponent was, the place would be packed if Joe was playing. As a crowd-puller he was the Alex Higgins of his day.
Bruce Donkin: Ted Lowe was the Master of Ceremonies at Leicester Square and I was the referee. We made a nice little extra income from it – but it wasn’t many years before when Ted and I used to walk home to South London trying to guess if we’d walked far enough to be able to afford a taxi! Sometimes we used to walk the whole way.
JJC: Joe’s style – it might be called classic, but wasn’t it rather methodical and … unexciting?
John Pulman: Far from it. He was the most aggressive player I ever saw. He was always attacking – and don’t forget, most of the time he was playing shots the people had never seen before.
Bruce Donkin: He was the first to split the pack of reds selectively. He would just nudge out three or four where he wanted them.
John Pulman: It was much more difficult to pot balls in those days. If you weren’t right on the ball it wouldn’t go in. The audience knew how hard it was and he’d go on making it look easy.
JJC: It’s said that only Joe’s brother, Fred Davis, was a match for him?
John Pulman: Well, they were two entirely different players. It’s true there were occasions when Fred got the better of Joe – he was the only man to beat him on level terms, after all – but I think Fred beat Joe on temperament. Fred had the right temperament but Joe could crack a bit if you put him under pressure. If you had him under stress you had a chance – the problem was to get him under stress!
Bruce Donkin: With respect to Fred, I think you have to remember that on the two occasions when he beat Joe on level terms Joe had retired from championship play.
JJC: That’s another point: he retired from championship play in 1947 yet continued, busier than ever, with exhibitions and things until 1963. Isn’t it a question mark on his record that he didn’t remain in competitive snooker?
John Pulman (looks uncomfortable, stares into middle distance): He had been undefeated for twenty years – it was a nice round figure. He just thought it was time to step aside.
 Funnily enough, with Joe out of the way the title would stay in the family. Fred was a hot favourite , but in the first World Championship without Joe the Scotsman Walter Donaldson won it.
Bruce Donkin: Joe had proved everything in competitive snooker. Financially he didn’t need it.
JJC: What about the other professional players of those days? How much better was he?
Walter Donaldson poses for a photo
with Joe Davis
John Pulman: None of them came within a hundred miles of him. I beat him a few times, but always with one black (7 points) start. Joe had great regard for me – bless his heart, I loved him.
Most of the other pros were losers before they started against him but I used to get stuck in and he had a high regard for me because of that.
Bruce Donkin: You remember what Tommy Leng used to call you?
John Pulman: Ha! Tommy was a great old snooker character and he used to call me ‘Killer’ Pulman.
Bruce Donkin: Fred won the World Championship three times.…
John Pulman: Yes, and even when he was world champion you had this extraordinary position of having Joe around, playing exhibitions everywhere, still regarded as the best. It wasn’t very nice for Fred. Mind you, even later, when I was world champion, Joe’s fees for an exhibition were still double what I could charge.
JJC: And the other players?
John Pulman: Walter Donaldson won the world title twice and was a losing finalist three times. He was the greatest potter of a ball at that time but he didn’t quite have all the other skills. He was very much a ‘plain ball’ player – he was the Eddie Charlton of his time.
He was the first man to pot balls into the middle pockets from really acute angles. He was a fine safety player too and of course that’s why they called him ‘the dour Scot’.
Horace Lindrum of Australia? (nephew of Walter Lindrum): He won the world title in 1952 – but the first round was also the final. The professional players had had a dispute with the ruling governing body, the BA&SCC, and they all boycotted it. Horace and Clark McConachy were the only two competitors.
JJC: How would Joe Davis have fared against the inspirational play of Alex Higgins?
John Pulman: In my opinion he would have murdered Alex. Alex leaves so many chances. Joe only needed one chance per frame and that was it – goodnight. Even Ray Reardon at his best wouldn’t have taken Joe Davis.
Bruce Donkin: Joe was very interested in the modern snooker players. He was watching snooker right to the end….
John Pulman: It’s very difficult: would Joe Louis have beaten Mohammad Ali? The thing about the modern players is that most of them never saw Joe play. Some of them won’t believe how good he was, but those of us who were there can tell them. I’m a modest man….
Bruce Donkin: Well, don’t be modest, say it. You were world champion from 1964 to 1968 and during the middle sixties you were the highest-earning player in the world.
John Pulman: I’m a modest man but I have the second best record to Joe Davis and I say he was the greatest there ever was. I’ve seen them all and I still say it – he was the complete snooker player in every respect.
Bruce Donkin: He was unique. There will never be another player like him.
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DO YOU KNOW? The best snooker players practice
EVERY day. Do you practice (revise) your
English every day?
 See:
Pages in English
Pages in English – Verbs
Comprehension Exercises
Photo: Tony Drago (Malta) winning a Pool title.
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