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''Pot Black'' was a

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 ...

tournament in the United Kingdom broadcast on the

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. Each match was contested over a single , where other tournaments were significantly longer. The event carried no ranking points, but played a large part in the popularisation of the modern game of snooker. The event was first held in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

with a field of eight players and ran annually until

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. The event resurfaced for three years in both 1991 and 2005. The series was followed by events for other categories of players, with a juniors and seniors events, and a celebrity version held in 2006. The series was created by the

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

controller

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

, shortly after BBC2 began broadcasting in colour. Snooker, a game using coloured balls, was suggested as a suitable way to sell the new technology. The series helped transform snooker from a minority sport played by just a handful of professionals into one of the most popular sports in the UK. Mark Williams made the highest in the competition's history, a 119.

History

The

...
began broadcasting in colour in 1967 and was looking for programmes that could exploit the new technology. The idea of broadcasting snooker, then still a minor sport, was the brainchild of

who was the controller of

at the time. The game of snooker is based on , and was deemed a good way to sell the new technology. The first ''Pot Black'' event was held in 1969 at the BBC Studios in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and the programme was aired on BBC2 on 23 July 1969. This first contest featured eight players: Gary Owen,

Jackie Rea John Joseph "Jackie" Rea (6 April 1921 – 20 October 2013) was a Northern Irish snooker player. He was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins. Rea reached the semi-final of the 1952 World Championship losing to ...

John Pulman Herbert John Pulman (12 December 192325 December 1998) was an English professional snooker player who was the World Snooker Champion from 1957 to 1968. He won the title at the 1957 Championship, and retained it across seven challenges from 1 ...

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 ...

, Fred Davis,

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 ...

Kingsley Kennerley Kingsley Kennerley (27 December 1913 – 26 June 1982) was an English billiards and snooker player. Career In the period from 1937 to 1940 Kennerley enjoyed considerable success as an amateur in both billiards and snooker. He won the English Am ...

and John Spencer, with Reardon the eventual winner. The event continued until 1986, by which time an increasing number of snooker events were being televised and the ''Pot Black'' format was becoming outdated. The programme returned in 1990, but was discontinued after the 1993 event. A one-day ''Pot Black'' tournament, held on 29 October

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, was broadcast on the BBC's ''

Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...

''. The event featured eight players:

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

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 i ...

Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens (born 11 September 1977) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He has won two of the game's Triple Crown events, the Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been a two-time runner-up in the other triple c ...

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 ...

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

, with Stevens beating Murphy in the final. The 2006 edition of the tournament took place at the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range o ...

in Central London on 2 September 2006. Mark Williams defeated John Higgins in the final, achieving the highest break in the history of the tournament with a 119 clearance. The 2007 edition, the final ''Pot Black'' to date, was aired on Saturday 6 October 2007, with

Ken Doherty Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter. As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...

beating Shaun Murphy 71–36 in the final. There have been six

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

s at the event.

Eddie Charlton Edward Francis Charlton, (31 October 1929 – 8 November 2004) was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winn ...

compiled the first century in 1973, a break of 110, which stood as the event record for many years until overtaken by Shaun Murphy's 111 against Jimmy White in 2005, and Williams's 119 clearance in 2006.

Format

The tournament used many formats over its history. Eight players participated in the first event, but the number of players varied between six and sixteen over the years. It was originally played as a

knockout tournament A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking ...

, but later employed a round-robin format. The total number of points scored by the players could often become crucial, so matches always ended with the potting of the . Most matches were played over a single frame. Several formats were used for the final, which was initially also played over just one frame; an aggregate score over two frames was tried in 1974, but this format was abandoned and the single-frame final returned in 1975; from 1978 to 1986, and in 1991, the final was decided over three frames. A

shot clock A shot clock is a countdown timer used in a variety of games and sports, proving a set amount of time that a team may possess the object of play before attempting to score a goal. Shot clocks are used in several sports including basketball, wat ...

format was added in 1991, to limit the time each player could spend at the table. A ''Junior Pot Black'' ran from 1981 to 1983, and in 1991. The winners were

Dean Reynolds Dean Reynolds (born 11 January 1963 in Grimsby) is an English former professional snooker player whose career spanned twenty years from 1981 to 2001. Career Before turning professional, Reynolds won the first-ever Junior Pot Black in 1981, b ...

John Parrott John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within ...

and O'Sullivan. The event was revived as a side event to 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 ...

, with the final played on the main match table. A ''Seniors Pot Black'' was held in 1997, featuring players who were aged over 40 at the time. Joe Johnson won the event. A one frame ''Celebrity Pot Black'' was held on 15 July 2006 for

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educati ...

. It was contested between the team of Ronnie O'Sullivan and

Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and former professional footballer. Walsh is known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004–2006), as ...

and the team of

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

and

Vernon Kay Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television and radio presenter, and former model. He presented Channel 4's ''T4'' (2000–2005) and has presented various television shows for ITV, including ''All Star Family Fortunes'' (2 ...

. Davis and Kay won the contest. It was presented by

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ''T ...

, commentated by John Parrott, and refereed by

Michaela Tabb Michaela Tabb (born 11 December 1967, in Bath, Somerset, England) is a Scottish snooker and pool referee. She established significant milestones for female officials in professional cue sports, beginning in pool, where she officiated at top t ...

Production

The events were recorded in a single day at the BBC's

Pebble Mill Studios Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne o ...

in Birmingham, but the matches were shown in half-hour programmes over the winter. The press co-operated by revealing the scores only after a match had been transmitted. In 2005 and 2006, the whole tournament was broadcast on a single day. ''Pot Black''s theme tune was "

Black and White Rag The "Black and White Rag" is a 1908 ragtime composition by George Botsford. The song was recorded widely for both the phonograph and player piano, and was the third ragtime composition to sell over one million copies of sheet music. The song was ...

", composed by

George Botsford George Botsford (February 24, 1874 – February 1, 1949) was an American composer of ragtime and other forms of music. Early life and education Botsford was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but grew up mostly in Clermont, Iowa. He married s ...

and performed by

Winifred Atwell Una Winifred Atwell (27 February or 27 April 1910 or 1914There is some uncertainty over her date and year of birth. Many sources suggest 27 February 1914, but there is a strong suggestion that her birthday was 27 April. Most sources give her ye ...

. The first series of ''Pot Black'' in 1969 was hosted by

Keith Macklin Keith Macklin (19 January 1931 – 1 August 2009) was a British journalist, author, broadcaster and sports commentator. He began his career with the BBC in the north of England, where he commentated on rugby league for the North of England Home ...

. It was then hosted by

Alan Weeks Alan Frederick Weeks (8 September 1923, in Bristol – 11 June 1996, in Hove, East Sussex) was a British people, British television sports reporter and commentator. Personal life His family moved to Brighton when he was five when his father, C ...

until 1984, and

David Icke David Vaughan Icke (; born 29 April 1952) is an English conspiracy theorist and a former footballer and sports broadcaster. He has written over 20 books, self-published since the mid-1990s, and spoken in more than 25 countries. In 1990, Icke ...

took over in 1985 and 1986.

Eamonn Holmes Eamonn Holmes (; born 3 December 1959)Holmes receives honorary degree
BBC ...

hosted the event in 1991 and 1992, but was replaced by

David Vine David Martin Vine (3 January 1935 – 11 January 2009) was an English television sports presenter. He presented a wide variety of shows from the 1960s onwards, most notably his coverage of major snooker tournaments for the BBC. Early life Born i ...

in 1993. Vine also hosted ''Senior Pot Black'' in 1997. The latest revival of the event was hosted by

Hazel Irvine Hazel Irvine (born 24 May 1965) is a Scottish sports presenter. Early life Irvine was born in St Andrews, Scotland. Educated at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, she achieved an MA in History of Art at the University of St. Andrews, and compe ...

. ''Pot Black'' is credited with producing one of the most memorable British sports quotes: commentator

Ted Lowe Edwin Charles Ernest Lowe (1 November 19201 May 2011) was an English snooker commentator for the BBC and ITV. His husky, hushed tones earned him the nickname "Whispering Ted". Life and career Born in Lambourn, Berkshire, Lowe was general man ...

, aware that not all viewers had colour televisions, said "and for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green."

Winners

Below is a list of the winners by tournament.

Pot Black

Junior Pot Black

Seniors Pot Black

Notes

References

{{Snooker tournaments sidebar Snooker competitions in England Snooker non-ranking competitions Defunct snooker competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1969 Recurring sporting events established in 1981 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2007 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2010 1969 establishments in England 1981 establishments in England 2007 disestablishments in England 2010 disestablishments in Wales 1960s British sports television series 1970s British sports television series 1980s British sports television series 1990s British sports television series 2000s British sports television series