Eirian Williams (born 3 September 1955) is a former professional snooker referee. He was formerly a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

with the Dyfed-Powys Police in the Welsh town of

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

for 18 years.

Early life

Williams was born in Llanelli, Wales, and joined the Dyfed-Powys Police in April 1975 and was stationed at Llanelli where he was mainly in the Road Traffic Department during which time he achieved the coveted Grade 1 Police Advanced Driving Certificate. He is also a trained Police Motorcyclist. Following spells at

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated at the crossing of the River Towy by the A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. Its population was 1,795 at the 2011 Census. It is adjacent to the westernmost point of the ...

and Ammanford Police Stations (where he had spells in the

CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...

), he retired in February 1993.

Refereeing career

Williams attained the Class C Snooker Referees accreditation in 1981 and within five years, was the Senior Welsh Referee in the Home International Series. By 1991, his Refereeing Classification had twice been upgraded and he now held the Class 1 (formerly A) certificate. In 1991, the Professional tour, run by the

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...

(WPBSA) opened the Professional game to an unlimited number of players thus requiring more Referees to officiate at the subsequent extra matches. He was invited to join the Professional Referees Association and became one of a significant number of new Referees from around the globe to give their services to the Professional game. Following his retirement from the Police Service, he undertook several jobs to subsidise his income while he climbed his way up the Professional Refereeing ladder. By 1993, he had been appointed as a Referee Examiner with the Welsh Referees Association. He is now a Tutor with the European Billiards and Snooker Association. He refereed his first World Ranking final in January 1998 at the Regal Welsh tournament in Newport, Monmouthshire where Paul Hunter won his first Ranking event title by defeating John Higgins by 9 frames to 5. He has since refereed many more Ranking finals including the Seniors Championship, Welsh Open Championship, Australian Goldfields Open, German Masters, UK Championship, Irish Masters, Wembley Masters, Malta Cup, China Masters, China Open, Thailand Open, British Open, Grand Prix, Bahrain Snooker Championship, World Open and four World Championship Finals at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2010. In November 2014, his retirement from the professional circuit was announced.

Personal life

Williams was raised in a small mining village called Cynheidre in the Gwendraeth Valley in South Wales, but now lives five miles away in Llanelli. He has three children, Geraint, Rhian and Bethan together with seven granddaughters, Evie, Amelia, Aylah, Alis, Gracie, Elsie and Mila. Since 2007, he has been utilising his spare time by Volunteer driving with the Welsh Ambulance Service, transporting patients to medical appointments and procedures around the UK.

References

profile on World Snooker.com
1955 births Living people Welsh police officers Dyfed-Powys Police officers Sportspeople from Llanelli Snooker referees and officials Place of birth missing (living people) Welsh referees and umpires {{UK-snooker-bio-stub https://wst.tv/referee-eirian-williams-retires/