John Rea (born 5 December 1951) is a retired Scottish 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.

Career

Rea turned professional in 1984, recording his first victory over

Jack Fitzmaurice Jack Fitzmaurice (25 April 1928 – January 2005) was an English professional snooker player. Career Born in Solihull, Fitzmaurice was runner-up in the English Amateur Championship in 1958, defeated 8–11 by Marcus Owen in the final. He tu ...

in the Grand Prix; he reached the last 32 of this tournament, losing 1–5 to David Taylor. A run to the last 48 at the UK Championship followed this, but Joe Johnson eliminated Rea 9–6 at this stage. Rea's campaign at the next season's UK Championship ended at the first attempt, as he recovered from 4–8 to 8–8, but eventually succumbed 8–9 to three-time world champion Fred Davis, who became, aged seventy-two, the oldest player ever to win a professional match. He defeated another multiple 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 (gra ...

, in the 1986 British Open, but lost in the last 32, 5–0 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 appea ...

. Several quiet years ensued, but the 1988/1989 season provided an upturn in form for Rea; a run to the last 32 at the International Open - where he lost 4–5 to Taylor - was followed by the only professional title of his career - the 1989 Scottish Professional Championship. In his first-round match against Ian Black, he recorded a 147

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...

. He defeated

Murdo MacLeod Murdo Davidson MacLeod (born 24 September 1958 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. MacLeod, who played as a midfielder, made 20 appearances for Scotland and played in the 1990 World Cup Finals. He had a ...

9–7 in the final. In the 1989 World Championship, he defeated Dennis Hughes 10–3,

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 ...

10–5 and

Ray Edmonds Ray Edmonds (born 25 April 1936 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire) is a former English professional player of English billiards and snooker. He twice won the World Amateur Snooker title, and won the World Professional Billiards Championship in 1985. Pla ...

10–7 to reach the last 48. Requiring one more victory to make his debut 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 m ...

, Rea was drawn against Steve James but, despite recovering from 2–9 to trail only 7–9, he lost the match 7–10. The next season bore only £7,563 in prize money, the most notable point being Rea's 1–5 loss to three-time world champion John Spencer, in the European Open. At the 1992 UK Championship, he defeated David Rippon, Brian Cassidy,

Les Dodd Les Dodd (born 11 February 1954) is an English former professional snooker player. He was runner-up in the 1987 English Professional Championship. Career Dodd was born on 11 February 1954 in Stockport, and turned professional in 1982. In his ...

and Tony Jones before losing 9–3 to Jason Ferguson. Having won only one match during the 1993/1994 season, he finished it ranked 128th, and lost his place on the main tour, aged 43. Rea entered the 2011 Scottish Professional Championship when it was revived after a twenty-two year hiatus, but was unable to defend his title, losing his first match 1–5 to Stephen Wylie. In 2012 and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, he entered the

World Seniors Championship The World Seniors Championship is an invitational seniors snooker tournament which has been played under different formats. As of 2020 the minimum age is 40, but it was 45 in 2011 and 2012. History The event was first held in 1991 with 16 pla ...

, losing to

Bill Oliver Bill Oliver may refer to: *Bill Oliver (American football) (born 1939), American football player and coach * Bill Oliver (politician), Canadian politician *Bill Oliver (snooker player) Bill Oliver (born 3 December 1948) is an English former pro ...

in the former and

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

in the latter.

Personal life

Rea owns the Lucky Break snooker club in

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

. Guests at Rea's club have included

Stephen Maguire Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...

, who he managed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, John Scottish snooker players 1951 births Living people Sportspeople from Edinburgh