How lovely is that atmosphere? Playing by the light of a single candle. A polite, civilised round of applause from the crowd, who are lurking somewhere deep within the void. Stop the modernisation of snooker right now. It's just heartbreaking that he missed that difficult grey in the end.

@lfmm97

7 жыл бұрын

Yup, I'm pretty sure that I've just read the greatest comment ever.

@FirehouseDub

7 жыл бұрын

97channel This is one funny comment.

@jasonanderson4550

6 жыл бұрын

Bang on mate...snooker is way too serious now

@chrisbland6942

6 жыл бұрын

97channel, I bow to your poetic genius.

@fauntleeeeroy

6 жыл бұрын

97channel . Sshhh, quiet please

For years I made the mistake that most people make, thinking that the players of old weren't as good as the players of today. But of course, if they had had modern cloths, cushions, balls and most importantly, 6 hours a day practice, they would have had the same level of break building. And in Joes case, a superior level. Joe Davis was only ever beaten off level terms 4 times in his life. And all of those defeats were in later life, and at the hands of his own brother who was himself 8 times world champion. That's how good Joe Davis was.

@2gMaske

4 ай бұрын

Easy to not lose if you don't play the best players...

@amac1657

Ай бұрын

@@2gMaskehe did play the best players

@amac1657

Ай бұрын

Exactly, i doubt the pros of today would make 50 in those conditions

@2gMaske

Ай бұрын

@@amac1657 lol. 4 time amateur champion Marcus Owen didn't get a shot at the world's til 1973 when he was 39. Only inviting people you can easily beat is not playing the best players. English amateur was the real world championship.

I have a copy of Joe's "How I Play Snooker" book which was signed by Joe in 1953. This was the book which Steve Davis learned to play from as his "bible" (not the same copy!) and a few days after Steve retired in 2016 I met him and got his signature underneath Joe's. To have both the legendary Davis' signatures on the same page of the book showing Joe Davis 1953 and Steve Davis 2016 is something I'm very happy to have 🙂

@andyrules999

3 жыл бұрын

I'm sure ronnie would sign it too, he's read the snooker bible also and praises it

@weSnooker

3 жыл бұрын

I want the book but can’t find it anywhere

@paulriggall8370

2 жыл бұрын

I'll give you a fiver for it?

@Michael-cz6ob

2 жыл бұрын

Nice , keep it safe

@amazingb7823

2 жыл бұрын

20000 us dollars...I'll pay for its....if you have genuine papers to prove that's it authentic legends signature....

This man hadn't had the chance to learn the thecniques which every player knows nowadays.He had to create them. That's why he is one of the greatest.

I was a county player and had 100 breaks But those old balls where a nightmare pre crystallite balls Heavy and real lack of control,Joe was the godfather father of the game.

R.I.P. Ted Lowe the great voice of the commentator of the first tv century. Joe was amazing.

This man was pure class in every sense. Be interesting to see the modern day players play with these balls, pre super crystalite! Joe had the cue ball on a piece of string and was so fast too!

@aberjed

8 жыл бұрын

+thurstons It was his positional play that made him great. he never left himself a difficult pot

@flappospammo

2 жыл бұрын

Reminds me of Ronnie - amazing ball control

At the end of the day Joe Davis dominated snooker for 20 odd years. He won the world championship 15 consecutive times, people say he wouldn't be that good now, probably not, but he was back then. How was Joe Davis to know that in 80 years time players would be making 800 centuries throughout their career and 10 or more maximum breaks? For what the game was back then Joe Davis was the best and for that he can be considered one of the greats.

@chrismooney9275

7 жыл бұрын

I disagree on this one. Joe Davis retired with 690 career centuries. That's twice as many as Steve Davis. A century is a century. It doesn't matter the quality of your opposition. And Joe made almost as many as Ronnie O'Sullivan has. I think Joe would win 4-5 world titles if he played today. And if he played in the 70s and 80s I think he would have won about 10. He was a much better scorer than anyone in the 1980s. It's only really the 1990s that players have caught him up

@wideernie

7 жыл бұрын

Joe made 690 centuries but that is counting exhibitions.

@thurstons

6 жыл бұрын

wideernie To be fair, exhibitions were pretty much all there was to play in then. Joe only counted centuries scored on standard tables where the public had paid admission.

@pizzaboy4463

5 жыл бұрын

I think we also have to bear in mind that the quality of balls and tables must have increased and, unlike now, there wasn't the wealth of other players to help raise the standard of the game.

@parster2010

5 жыл бұрын

I think you have to take into consideration that his usual matches were best of 70 odd frames and lasted days he probably played more frames in one year than most players these days in their careers. Also when you are playing the same person (usually his little brother) every week you are going to get good scores.

Awesome. That Joe could do such a century at 61 was first class! Just look at his position at 73... what a player!

@weSnooker

3 жыл бұрын

He’s so quick too, especially for that age, he was so ahead of his time.

The pockets were a little bigger, but the balls were much heavier and harder to put, cue ball harder to control. And the equipment and table were no where near as perfect! Joe Davis the great!

@marketingwithrobert

8 жыл бұрын

+Nazim Khan lmao... The pockets are MASSIVE... Century breaks galore I reckon!

@chrismooney9275

7 жыл бұрын

it's the exact opposite. Here's a good example. Joe Davis main rivals' were his brother Fred Davis, and John Pulman. Fred Davis retired with 7 career centuries, and Pulman retired with 9. And Joe Davis retired with 688! Believe me, he was a real genuine prodigy. A mozart of the snooker world. A million miles ahead of everyone else. He would be winning world championships if he played now

@tylerhay6560

4 жыл бұрын

Fred Davis and John Pulman made many more than 7 and 9 centuries in their careers! Davis was the first player to make a break of 140 in the world championship, beating his brothers best of 136. The trouble is that scoring records in tournament snooker before the late 60’s is very inaccurate and precarious. Hundreds of frames were never recorded and centuries have certainly been lost. Twice world champion Walter Donaldson has breaks of 142 and 143 in his career, neither of which were officially recorded. Joe Davis’s tally was counted over his lifetime by the way. Horace Lindrum made around 1000 centuries in his lifetime, so there were other heavy hitters around. Fred Davis made (at least) 40 recorded professional centuries, including a televised one in the 1980 world championship aged 66. I don’t think that achievement will ever be matched.

@siddharthmehta6220

3 жыл бұрын

@@chrismooney9275 A niche sport which requires specialized equipment played by a very small country. And this holds true for snooker even today to some extent, imagine back then. Sure, Joe Davis had a great z-score, but the sample size is piss poor to be making comparisons to his contemporaries. He'd very likely be among the greats even in this generation, but it's just best to not make comparisons (in any sports) when the dynamics of the sport change so much.

@paulbennett4009

3 жыл бұрын

The pockets are actually smaller as there was no undercut on the old tables which meant it threw the ball out instead of in!

Those people saying the pockets are 'huge' are basing it on a very poor quality picture. There is practically no real definition, the pockets aren't defined at all and appear 'spread' out. I used to play on an old table as a teenager - those pockets were damn tight! Joe Davis was a wonderful player. Look at the compact cue action, the rock solid stance, and the way he has to strike through with power on so many shots due to those heavy old balls. With today's equipment he would be a true force in the game just as he was in his prime, which by the way he was well past here, aged 61.

joe Davis was an innovator of the game.People should have some respect !

To me, this man is the true genius of the game. Before Joe, players potted two or three reds and colours, then played safe. Joe totally transformed the game and elevated the game into an art form. Even today, relatively little has been added to Joe's contribution.

He taught me how to hold a cue at my father's billiard hall! He was very smartly dressed, I remember, with a waistcoat and brilliantined hair. We went up some stairs, away from the other tables to a quiet room with a light flooding the table and he stepped forward into the light's glow.

@davidcopson5800

2 жыл бұрын

I had brilliant hair in my teens.

Keep in mind Joe was 61 years old here, well past his peak, and still managed to pull this off.

@eskertoo

6 жыл бұрын

Joe was born in 1915.

@eskertoo

6 жыл бұрын

SORRY that was Fred...Joe was 1901

This is great, thanks. I’d never seen Joe Davis play before. Great to see how he played so quickly. And Ted Lowe sounding just the same all those years ago!

Jesus, I remember during the war.......snooker balls were like rugby balls made of solid lead and cues were sweeping brushes. I used to have to walk 50miles to the nearest snooker hall in the pissins of rain and get pneumonia twice a week. They have it too handy today. Even the toss for the break was much harder to win.

That was an absolutely marvelous century break

Let's not forget the Grandads of the game. Joe pretty much invented break building and this frame is THE classic!!

What a great and legendary player! Thanks so much!

All this with only one eye. The all time greatest ever

@tomdude75

8 жыл бұрын

was he blind in one eye or something

@aberjed

8 жыл бұрын

+Tom CFC yes he was

@tomdude75

8 жыл бұрын

+aberjed oh wow

@aberjed

8 жыл бұрын

+Tom CFC If you look at his stance you can see that he is using his left eye to strike/ align the shot/

@davids736

6 жыл бұрын

Wow, never know that.....

Brilliant video. Thanks for uploading this!

absolute legend! quality break

My dad loved snooker and talked a lot about Joe Davis, so it's wonderful to get to see the legend in action.

BLOODY HELL!! Please tone down the intro sound pressure - it just about sent me on a premature date with Joe at the Heavenly Snooker Halls!

Great movement of positional play from Joe at 3:50 and again on 4:40 (to get on the next red after the pink). What always impresses me is not just his great cue ball control but his speed, considering he was 61 when he made this break! I'd love to see todays players playing with the old heavy balls. They'd need to adapt their technique's I feel. Joe, Fred, Horace Lindrum et al, all had very powerful stances and their cue arm went fully through each stroke.

Amazing…you can tell from the sound that the balls are so much heavier than modern ones. Remarkable break given the balls and heavy cloth. Nice to hear a younger Ted Lowe too.

Wish there was more footage of him.

Just great to watch.

What a talented player and on a slow table like that

thanks for posting a bit of history.

thankyou Priam231, i watched this thinking it was 'fred' davis, what a great surprise! i never thought i'd get to see the great man himself playing, AMAZING!!!

Why are people so hostile about videos?...Joe is an absolute legend. If it wasn't for him all the modern players wouldnt even exist..he was the original snooker genius

Amazing to see the speed Joe played, really exciting to watch. Perhaps it slowed down in the 70s when the stakes got higher.

@chrisbland6942

4 жыл бұрын

Terry Clark or maybe they just weren’t as good as Joe?

That was a pretty quick ton... Fantastic video, thanks for the upload! ⚪️🔴🔵⚫️❤️

GREATEST snooker player OF ALL TIME . UNMATCHED.His right eye could not focus so he played with the cue under the left of his chin and shot using his LEFT eye . He WAS right handed.

I never saw Joe play, only brother Fred. Thank you.

I can't believe whispering Ted was commenting as early as this!

the greatest ever. the stats back it up

My father was having a game with his brother; J.D. was watching with interest. He spoke to them, 'I never realised that snooker was such a difficult game'!

I remember seeing this footage many years ago on a programme called, 100 Great Sporting Moments.

No wonder he was virtually unbeatable in his day - his positional play and cueball control is like a (very very good) modern player. He would fit in just fine in the modern game, unlike many who dominated in the 70s and 80s

People questioning whether Joe Davis would have been able to compete in today's game. But today's game would not be what it is without him. He literally wrote the book on how to play snooker and without him the standard of the game would be behind what it currently is

Sad loss. One of the great BBC sports commentators.And a lovely gentleman. RIP.

Amazing to watch from the father of modern snooker!. I wonder what Joe would think of modern snooker players?

Wow! This is the first time I have seen Joe Davis play and I didn't know what to expect. People have always said he was great and this is the proof. Were the tables and the balls the same dimensions then?

@trappenweisseguy27

8 жыл бұрын

The tables certainly were and I'm pretty sure the balls were the same size. The balls were made of a different and less lively material than used today and the cloth was much slower. Overall, more difficult than today.

Joe Davis a lot faster around the table than I thought

Leicester Square Hall (previously Thurston's)was in Leicester Square, London. It was the home of profesional billiards and snooker. Owned by the Automobile Association, it was closed shortly after Joe's 147 (against Willie Smith in 1955). Fred Davis made the last century break (against Joe) there, which was in fact televised. Shame the camera's weren't there a couple of weeks before!

A very nice stroke. A delightful little screw.

A Star of his day!😃😃😃

very good. the crowd act like they've just witnessed a 155 break lol. the standard has changed so much and this man started it all

And he got round the table quick enough, too.

poziom jaki jest pokazany na tym filmie jest na wysokości dzisiejszych mistrzów a może i Wyżej . 10/10 ___________PERFECT______________

cheers m8 quality

One of my regrets is that I never got to see him play live.

CARAMBA... EU ASSISTIR ESSE VIDEO A VÁRIOS MINTOS E NÃO VÍ A CARA DO ADVERSÁRIO DESSE VELHINHO... JOE DAVIS... O MELHOR DA SINUCA EM TODOS OS TEMPOS...!!!!!!!!!!

To think that was a 60/61 year old man, making a century. Just shows you, age is not a barrier to anything.

tis nice to watch abit of history :P

Loved snooker in b&w

To make a 100 break in black and white is good by anyone’s standards

Right handed with his first shot, I hope Alain robidoux isn't watching this😁

@dazburnside7340

6 жыл бұрын

BAMBOOLOUNGE or 1st shot left handed 😋

Joe was Horace Lindrums lifetime nemesis.

it was a nice break

How spoiled are we in todays world to be able to watch snooker in such high quality sound and picture quality? None of it may not have happened tho if it wasn't for Joe paving the way to putting snooker into the spotlight! Many thanks Joe

Where is the guy in the crowd yelling "C'MON DAVIS!!!"

For those of you with black and white televisions, the blue ball is the one next to the brown .

Snooker was a very different game back then Joe Davis must of been a real class act to be making big breaks back then under totally different conditions to what the players have now one of snookers first real greats

R.I.P TED!

Ha ha! Some funny comment!s!Aged 10, I actually saw this break on my parents tv. Joe was the best of his generation. On demo matches, he'd ask someone to put the cue ball, a red and a handkerchief anywhere on the table. He'd guarantee to pot the red and leave the cue ball on the handkerchief. Remember that in those days, as others commenters have said, the cushions were much less responsive and the balls much heavier than now, so the brilliant screw shots etc. that stars like Ronnie O and others can do now weren't possible then. Nice comments though!

I remember people giving Ronnie flack for playing left-handed, and here's Joe Davis doing exactly that. Can hardly call Joe a bad example.

Check out the loop bridge at 3 mins 30. That's something rarely seen nowadays.

"A tender stun shot". They would never say that today.

If you want to know how good Joe Davis was............ His main rivals throughout his career were his brother, Fred Davis and John Pulman. Fred Davis retired with 7 career centuries. Pulman retired with 9 career centuries. Joe Davis retired with 687 career centuries. That's 10x as many as Ray Reardon. And twice as many as Steve Davis. And nearly 100x as many as anyone else in his era. A century is a century. It doesn't matter who the opponent, sat there watching you is. I'm certain Joe Davis would have absolutely dominated the 1970s and 1980s if he was playing then. It was only really in the 1990s when players started to match his sheer scoring. But I think Joe Davis would have even won multiple world titles in the 1990s. And he'd certainly be in the mix in the 2000s as well. Players just didn't retire with hundreds of career centuries, until the 1990s. The top players in the 70s and 80s were retiring with 60-70 career centuries. They just didn't score heavily enough. And Joes Davis was retiring with almost 700 career centuries in the 1950s! Put the 1940s Joe Davis on a table with present day Ronnie O'Sullivan right now, and it would be a close game. Believe me

@kingtut147

7 жыл бұрын

you twat...Joe's 687 centuries included all his exhibitions and shows...he only made a handful in tournament play (because there were hardly any tournaments), If Steve Davis added all his exhibition tons it would dwarf Joe's tally. That's not a criticism of Joe, it's just a criticism of you comparing stats that aren't comparable.

@dnbmania

7 жыл бұрын

CJ Mooney They are incomparable due to the eras that they play in. But one thing I guarantee is that Ronnie would smash him in 1930 or 2017.

@leebarker5520

6 жыл бұрын

dnbmania here we go, another one up ronnies ass, typical o'scrubivan fanboy 😒😒😴😴😴

@eskertoo

6 жыл бұрын

And let's not forget that Joe only played in the final of most of those world championships.Alex Higgins won the 1972 championship and I don't think he got one century in the tournament.He certainly did not get one in the final...and it was best of 75 frames!Spencer got a 123 and Higgins' best was 93.Ronnie O'Sullivan's strike rate is a century every 11 frames throughout his career.Alex Higgins used to advertise that he had made over 16000 centuries in exhibitions.I saw Alex in his prime back in the late seventies and he only made 1 century in about 30 frames I watched.But the shots he played!

@parster2010

5 жыл бұрын

His main rival was his little brother who he never took seriously - every clip I’ve seen when he’s spoke about Fred he’s been sarcastic. A century is a century but if the players today counted their practice and exhibition centuries like Joe did they would have double his tally.

Amazing! Colour TV really made a lot for snooker though.

Don't forget that the qualifying rules were diffrent then, with the reigning champ 'seeded' making it easier to get to the 'final'. Having said that, you can only beat what is around you and in 20, other's had the opportunity to become as good but they didn't, so Joe has to be considered a great. There are great players today, who have previous generations to watch and learn from, as the game is now global. Joe had no such luxuries, no TV, internet, sky sports he set the standards as the Daddy.

I remember on TV in the 1960’s Joe putting the cue ball on top of the cushion in the right hand corner, sending the ball round the table, going round the pockets and it dropping in the pocket where it started. How he did it I don’t know but I would love for someone to explain.

Something that I've not noticed before is that Joe, although right- handed appears to have a master left eye. Surely having a dominant left eye while being right-handed (or vice versa if left-handed) would put you at a disadvantage as your head would be in an unnatural position while looking and aiming along the cue. Therefore you would need to adapt your body position to allow for this.

when Joe was asked if he could make the difficult pos the mordern player does; he replied "No but the again I didn't leave myself difficult pots

B/W snooker is like listening to a fireworks show over the radio. lol

darts has sid waddell , f1 had murray walker , snooker had ted lowe , will be missed !

R.I.P Ted

Joe Davis was the best player ever to pick up a cue ,, not only was he playing on dead tables with very small badly cut pockets , but the cloth was thick and very slow , also the balls were not of what you would call quality ,and of course apart from that a lot of shots played today were invented by him for players today to copy , people tend to forget that,, Joe also won more titles that any player under very poor conditions , a record which will never be beaten ,try in your local club to bang ball along the black rail like players do on TV you will find all those type of shots wont go in , the pockets on those old tables were very small with sharp corners , shots had to be perfect , I think Joe would have had a field day playing on these tables today he would have thought the game was easy .

@dnbmania

7 жыл бұрын

AshStrat1 I think you should rewatch the video of you think these pockets are tight. They are massive. And the argument you've made about the cloth being thick just means you can control the cue ball with bigger margins for error. I think you're delusional - he wouldn't survive in today's game

@michaeltrumph121

6 жыл бұрын

Joe Davis would get beat by every player in the top 32 today. Some top pros would whitewash him.

@mikebest634

3 жыл бұрын

@@dnbmania agreed

Black and white snooker. Now I've seen everything.

@charlesaymard for every commentry listener mate no matter of which sport it is. Ted Lowe and Brain Johnston could make every sports interesting to watch and both r still alive between us with their voice. they will never die

Joe played a shot left handed. Thought O’Sullivan started that.Must have been a difficult game back then.When all the colours were the same colour.😂

With the equipment of that era, as well as the heavy balls (fnar!), to score a century almost defies belief.....

if there are true legends, you just saw the birth of them all!!!

Rip ted

the master

Well to be fair it was a tough grey he missed

That is a touch cruel as he actually was quite a nifty player if this break is anything to go by. And he is older here.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam "May his soul be on God's right side"

Joe Davis is the greatest Snooker Player of all times. Ronnie is still in half way.

What a player and quick even to todays standards

Interesting comment but think of it like this. When Joe Davis was playing they were Ivory balls, much heavier than aramith which are used today. The Ivory balls were not perfectly round. The nap on the table was much heavier making shots more difficult, cushions reacted differently. Pockets were tighter back then as well. No temperature controlled environment as they have today. In all,Davis notched up over 600 century breaks using Ivory balls.

@deankeith830

7 жыл бұрын

markyboy1704 sorry but they weren't ivory balls . they were a synthetic material that was heavier than modern balls and as for not being perfectly spherical that is ridiculous ! the technology to make spherical balls certainly existed otherwise we would not have ball bearings , which we certainly did

@eskertoo

6 жыл бұрын

Ivory balls were phased out by about 1930.One tusk provided 3 or 4 balls as only the thickest first part of the tusk could be used.So four dead elephants to make a set of balls was deemed excessive.The composition ball was introduced,made of phenol resin,which later became the trademark "Crystalate" and eventually "Super Crystalate."The Belgian made "Aramith" ball never seemed to catch on .I started with the old "Crystalate" back in 1972 and our club bought 2 sets of "Supers" but I preferred the older balls.Cant remember any "kicks"...but it was a long time ago!

@SHADOW.GGG-

2 жыл бұрын

@@eskertoo being an old gimmer i have played with bonzaline,cyrastalite, super cyristalite,and aramith, supers were the best balls of the lot, but joe only had bonzaline and he made them talk

The man was what o,sullivan is now.the most talented that picked up a cue

Godfather of snooker

He played in a modern way.

You can see here very good how much bigger the pockets were that time

I think they usually qualify it by saying Hendry has 7 world titles at The Crucible.Or 7 in the modern era.