David Lilley (born 19 October 1975) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player. He turned professional in 2019, after 30 years as an amateur. Lilley is from

Washington, Tyne and Wear Washington is a town in the City of Sunderland district of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it is the ancestral settlement of the Washington family, which George Washington descended from. It is located between Ches ...

, and is a supporter of

Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Career

Lilley began playing snooker at the age of 13. His first big success was his victory at the (amateur)

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in 1995, defeating his compatriot David Gray 8–7. In the same year, he lost to

Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...

in the final of the Northern Amateur championship. In 1997, he reached the final of the

English Amateur Championship The English Amateur Championship, an annual snooker competition, is the highest-ranking and most prestigious amateur event in England. It is also the oldest and longest-running snooker tournament in the world, having been established in 1916, a ...

for the first time and won it with a score of 8–7 against Robert Marshall. However, unable to find sponsorship in the wake of the sport's ban on tobacco advertising, and with only around six tournaments a year at that point, he felt he could not afford to turn professional and so remained an amateur. In 1999, he won by an 8–5 victory in the final against

Andrew Norman Andrew Norman (born October 31, 1979) is an American composer of contemporary classical music whose texturally complex music is influenced by architecture and the visual arts. His string trio ''The Companion Guide to Rome'' (2010), was a runner- ...

.. In the same year, he reached the semifinals of the Amateur European Championships and the final of the World Amateur Snooker Championship, in which he was defeated by

Ian Preece Ian Preece (born 23 June 1982) is a Welsh former professional snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called b ...

11–8. In 2000, he lost the final of the English Amateur Championship, 5–8 against

Nick Marsh Nicholas Marsh (born January 31, 1986, Palo Alto, California, United States) (also known as "Public") is an American Grammy Award nominated record producer and songwriter, and 2012 ASCAP "most performed songs of the year" award winner. He has wo ...

. In February 2002, he participated for the first time in qualifying for the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 Wor ...

, but lost in the second qualifying round against Timothy Paling. In 2004, Lilley won the English Amateur Championship for a third time, with an 8–6 victory over Wayne Cooper in the final. In the 2004 World Amateur Snooker Championship, he was narrowly defeated in the semi-finals 6–8 by the eventual champion

Mark Allen Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

. In qualifying for the 2005 World Snooker Championship, he retired in the third round against

Stuart Mann Stuart Mann (born 30 December 1972) is an English former professional snooker player. He competed on the main tour over ten seasons between 1991 and 2006. Career Mann was born in 1972, and turned professional in 1991. His first six seasons on ...

. In the

2007, he lost in the of the final against

Martin Gould Martin Gould (born 14 September 1981) is an English professional snooker player from Pinner in the London Borough of Harrow. He has appeared in four ranking finals and won one ranking title, the 2016 German Masters. Career Gould began his prof ...

by 7–8. He participated in the

Players Tour Championship 2012/2013 – Event 2 The Players Tour Championship 2012/2013 – Event 2 was a professional minor-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 8–12 August 2012 at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester, England. Martin Gould won his first tournament ...

in August 2012 and lost in the first qualifying round against Ben Harrison. In May 2016, he tried to qualify for the Main Tour via Q School. In the first tournament he reached the final of his group but then lost against

Chen Zhe Chen Zhe (; born 28 February 1993) is a Chinese former professional snooker player from Shanxi who won five matches at Q School in 2012 to earn a two-year card to play on the World Snooker Tour starting in the 2012–13 season. He is based in R ...

; in the second tournament he retired in the second round. Although he missed the qualification for the Main Tour, as 17th on the Q-School Order of Merit he could participate as a substitute for tournaments of the season 2016/17. At the

2016 Indian Open The 2016 Indian Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 5–9 July 2016 at the HICC Novotel Hotel in Hyderabad, India. It was the second ranking event of the 2016/2017 season. Hyderabad hosted the event f ...

, the second world ranking tournament of the season, he qualified for a ranking tournament for the first time. After defeating

Tian Pengfei Tian Pengfei (, born 16 August 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He began his career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. Tian played on the Main Tour in 2006 and competed on the Wo ...

4–3 in qualifying, he eliminated Mike Dunn, Mark Williams and

Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player. Considered one of the most naturally talented and quickest players in the game, Milkins has been a mainstay on the tour since regaining his tour card in 1998. Milkins ...

in the main round to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to England's

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight Cue stick, cue action and his lo ...

2–4. He was first on the Q School Order of Merit in 2018. In the 18/19 season, he just missed out on gaining a tour card for the 19/20 season numerous times; he was 4th on the challenge tour list, and lost 5–4 to

Kacper Filipiak Kacper Filipiak (born 19 November 1995) is a former Polish professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2011 after winning the European Under-21 Championship, and became Poland's first player on snooker's professional Main Tour. He was t ...

in the 2019

EBSA European Snooker Championship The EBSA European Snooker Championship is the premier amateur snooker tournament in Europe. The event series is sanctioned by the European Billiards & Snooker Association. It first took place in 1988 and has been held annually since 1993. In most y ...

, where a win would have granted him a place on the tour. He appeared in

Snooker 19 ''Snooker 19'' is a 2019 sports video game developed by Lab42 and published by Ripstone Games, based on the cue sport snooker. The game was released on 17 April 2019 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with the Nintendo Switch ...

, making him the only player in the game who has never turned pro (the other amateurs in the game are former pros). On 23 May 2019, he beat Sean Maddocks 4–0 in the final qualifying round of Q School - Event 1, finally becoming a professional after 30 years as an amateur. While an amateur, he had worked in the insurance industry. Lilley later remarked that his timing was bad, as no sooner had he joined the professional tour then the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

led to the mass cancellation of tournaments. On 9 May 2021, Lilley overcame

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...

5–3 to become the World Seniors Champion, entitling him to play in the 2021 Champion of Champions tournament. On 7 January 2022, Lilley was runner up to

Peter Lines Peter Lines (born 11 December 1969) is an English professional snooker player. He has reached the semi-finals of one ranking tournament, the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic. He reached his highest ranking, 42nd in the world, in 1999. He is the father ...

in the 2022

UK Seniors Championship The UK Seniors Championship is a snooker tournament, part of the World Seniors Tour. History The event was created in 2017, as a part of the World Seniors Tour. The first UK Senior championship took place in October 2017, and was won by Jimmy W ...

, losing 4–1 in the final.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Amateur finals: 13 (6 titles)

References

External links

David Lilley
at ''worldsnooker.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilley, David 1975 births Living people English snooker players People from Washington, Tyne and Wear Sportspeople from Tyne and Wear