Jim Meadowcroft (15 December 1946 – 25 September 2015) was an English 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 who latterly was a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and a commentator on the game. His most successful years were during the 1970s; he was ranked number 12 in the world in 1976–77 and reached the second round of the

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

three times. Meadowcroft is the author of ''Higgins, Taylor and Me'' and served as a director of pro snooker's governing body the

WPBSA 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 ...

. Meadowcroft reached the last 16 of the World Championship in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, however he lost 10–16 to 6 times world champion

Ray Reardon Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gr ...

. He went one step further in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, reaching the quarter-final by beating

Rex Williams Desmond Rex Williams (born 20 July 1933) is a retired English professional snooker and billiards player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams won the Worl ...

15–7, before he was beaten 8–15 by

Perrie Mans Pierre "Perrie" Mans (born 14 October 1940) is a retired professional snooker player from South Africa, who first won the South African Professional Championship in 1965, and won the event 20 times. Mans won the Benson & Hedges Masters in 1979 ...

. He also progressed to the quarter-final of the

1977 UK Championship The 1977 UK Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Tower Circus in Blackpool between 26 November and 3 December 1977. Mike Watterson instituted this new championship with sponsorship from m ...

(The inaugural edition of the tournament), beating

Pat Houlihan Patrick Houlihan (7 November 1929 – 8 November 2006https://wst.tv/the-greatest-snooker-player-you-never-saw/) was an English snooker player. He was born in Deptford, London. Houlihan turned professional in 1971 at the age of 42 after many ...

and

both by 5–4 scoreline, before being beaten by eventual winner

Patsy Fagan Patsy Fagan (born 15 January 1951) is an Irish former professional snooker player. Having been runner-up in the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he turned professional in October 1976. He experienced early success with victories at the 1977 ...

, once again by a 5–4 score. He qualified for the World Championship in 1980 but lost 10–2 to

John Virgo John Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English former professional snooker player who has since developed a career as a snooker commentator and TV personality. Snooker career Early professional career (1973–1978) Virgo's first notable appear ...

. His final appearance at the Crucible was in 1983. On 27 January 1982, Meadowcroft made breaks of 105, 115, 117 and 125 (total 462) in four consecutive frames at the Connaught Leisure Centre, Worthing.

References

1946 births 2015 deaths English snooker players Snooker writers and broadcasters Snooker coaches, managers and promoters People from Bacup {{England-snooker-bio-stub