Walter Donaldson (snooker player)
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Walter Weir Wilson Donaldson (2 February 1907 – 24 May 1973) was a 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 ...
and
billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...
player. He contested eight consecutive world championship finals against Fred Davis from
1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...
to
1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
, and won the title in 1947 and
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
. Donaldson was known for his long and his consistency when playing, and had an aversion to the use of . In 2012, he was inducted posthumously into 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 ...
's World Snooker Hall of Fame. Donaldson became a professional player shortly after winning the under-16's
British Junior English Billiards Championship The British Junior English Billiards championship is an English billiards competition for players in the UK. There are three divisions, the "Girls" Championship for all female players under 19 years, the "Boys" championship for players under 16, and ...
in 1922 and won the Scottish professional billiards title six times. He first competed in the World Snooker Championship in
1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
, but after a heavy defeat by
Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game i ...
did not enter again until
1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...
. After serving in the Fourth Indian Division during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Donaldson entered the 1946 World Championship, where he lost to Davis in his first match. As a player that did not reach the championship final, he was eligible to enter the 1946 Albany Club Professional Snooker Tournament, which he won. Following Joe Davis's retirement from the World Championship in 1946, Donaldson practised intensively and won the 1947 Championship by defeating Fred Davis in the final. Davis won the following two championships, with Donaldson taking the next and then being runner-up to Davis for the next four years. Donaldson then retired from World Championship competition, although he continued to play in the ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament until 1959.


Early life

Walter Weir Wilson Donaldson was born in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, on 2 February 1907, the son of a
billiard hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...
manager. The family moved to
Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...
when Donaldson was five. His father coached him in
English billiards English billiards, called simply billiards in the United Kingdom and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team us ...
from age five, having constructed a platform around one of the
billiard table A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that ...
s so that the younger Donaldson could reach the table to play. Donaldson told an interviewer for ''The Billiard Player'' in 1939 that starting to play at a young age was a common feature among many professional players, as "when a kiddie is brought up like that, the game gets fairly into his bones, and he has much more chance than other people of becoming a good player". His father also trained
Margaret Lennan Margaret Lennan was a Scottish snooker and billiards player. She was runner-up in the 1936 Women's Professional Billiards Championship. Biography Lennan started playing billiards at the age of 17, and received coaching from Alec Donaldson, ...
, who became the unofficial "British Isles Champion" of women's billiards in 1928. Donaldson won the under-16 division of the
British Junior English Billiards Championship The British Junior English Billiards championship is an English billiards competition for players in the UK. There are three divisions, the "Girls" Championship for all female players under 19 years, the "Boys" championship for players under 16, and ...
in 1922 at the age of 15, and turned professional the following year.


Career


Early professional career

Donaldson moved to
Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
in South Yorkshire, where he managed a billiard hall, and travelled to Glasgow to win the Scottish professional billiards and
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 ...
championships in the 1928/1929 season. He later became the owner of a billiard hall in
New Ollerton Ollerton and Boughton is a civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England. The main settlements are the town of Ollerton and the villages of New Ollerton and Boughton. The civil parish was formed in 1996, when the ...
, Nottinghamshire. He first entered 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 ...
in
1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
defeating
Willie Leigh William Ernest Leigh (190720 November 1972) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. Biography William Ernest Leigh was born in Derby in 1907. His father was the licensee of the Station Hotel, Derby. He won the 1923 u ...
13 to 11 before losing 1–13 in the semi-finals to
Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game i ...
. In 1939, Donaldson said he realised from watching Davis "annihilate" him that "there was far more in the game than I had ever dreamt of". He did not participate in the championship again until
1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...
. His six-year absence has been attributed to a commitment to practise and improve his standard of play following the resounding defeat by Davis. In 1939, he defeated Herbert Holt and Dickie Laws in the qualifying competition, both 18–13, then Claude Falkiner 21–10 in the first round, before losing 15–16 to Sidney Smith in the quarter-finals. He finished fourth of seven players in the 1939/1940 ''Daily Mail'' Gold Cup. The
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
radio station broadcast part of his match against Fred Davis. Donaldson spoke about his playing philosophy in 1939, saying he avoided playing risky shots because he believed matches were typically lost by one player making errors: "It isn't so much that one man wins the game but that the other man loses it." Asked by the interviewer for hints for ''The Billiard Player''s readers to help them improve their standard of play, Donaldson advised against the use of as "it spoils the shot in at least 90 per cent of cases when it's applied by any but a first class player. And generally it really isn't necessary." He also said he had claimed the title of Scottish snooker champion because despite issuing an invitation to any challenger to play for that title, no-one had taken up the challenge. In the 1940 World Championship, he eliminated Holt 24–7 in the first round; Joe Davis then defeated him 9–22 in the semi-final. The championship was suspended for the remainder of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Donaldson was called up in 1940, and served in Canada, North Africa, Greece and Italy as a
sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
in the
Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...
attached to the Fourth Indian Division, which was an original component of the Eighth Army when it was formed in September 1941. The championship resumed in
1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...
, with Joe Davis winning again, including a 21–10 victory over Donaldson in the quarter-finals. The professional players that did not reach the 1946 final were invited to participate in the 1946 Albany Club Professional Snooker Tournament. Donaldson won, some six months after being
demobilised Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...
, by defeating
Alec Brown Alec Thomas Brown (born July 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for BC Budivelnyk of the European North Basketball League and the Champions League. He played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Bro ...
20–11 in the final. Following his 1946 World Championship win, Davis retired from the event. In November 1946, Donaldson compiled what would have been a new world record for the highest break, 142, against
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 ...
, but as the billiard table being used was not of the standard type required for a record, it was not recognised as such.


World championship finals and later professional career

Donaldson practised intensively in preparation for the
1947 World Snooker Championship The 1947 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 January to 25 October 1947. The final was held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England, from 13 to 25 October. The semi-finals were completed ...
, using a billiard table in a neighbour's attic. He defeated Stanley Newman 46–25 and then eliminated
Horace Lindrum Horace Lindrum (born Horace Norman William Morrell, 15 January 1912 – 20 June 1974) was an Australian professional snooker and billiards player. A dominant snooker player in Australia, he lived in Britain for long periods and played in the maj ...
39–32 to reach the final. Building refurbishment delays postponed the final, held at
Leicester Square Hall Thurston's Hall was a major billiards and snooker venue between 1901 and 1955 in Leicester Square, London. The hall was in the premises of Thurston & Co. Ltd which relocated to Leicester Square in 1901. The building was bombed in 1940 and reopen ...
, for several weeks. Donaldson used the time to continue practising. In a two-week final over 145 frames against Fred Davis, Donaldson led 4–2 after the first and 7–5 after the second, later extending his lead to sixteen frames at 35–19. After this, Davis won six successive frames to reduce the lead to 35–25. Donaldson secured victory at 73–49 and finished the match at 82–63. His tactics during the championship involved compiling breaks of around 30 to 50 points, and playing rather than attempting difficult . Davis became frustrated with the lack of scoring chances Donaldson left for him, and missed a number of difficult pot attempts allowing Donaldson chances to win frames. There were three
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 during the match's 145 frames, all made by Davis. Joe Davis commented after the match that, "Donaldson's long potting at present is the equal of anything seen in snooker history," whilst Fred Davis said "he is playing the best snooker I have ever seen". In his book ''Talking Snooker'', first published in 1979, Fred Davis reflected that he had probably been "perhaps overconfident" and also had not expected Donaldson's standard to have improved so much as a result of his many hours of practice. This was the first of eight consecutive finals, from 1947 to 1954, featuring the two players. Two wins by Joe Davis in challenge matches against Donaldson after the 1947 championship reinforced the public perception that the 15-time champion Davis was still the best player. Donaldson took a playing break of several months on medical advice, having been diagnosed with
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after experiencing headaches. In the
1948 World Snooker Championship The 1948 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 9 March to 1 May 1948. It was an edition of the World Snooker Championship first held in 1927. A qualifying event with eight participants was held from ...
, held only six months after the 1947 tournament, Donaldson reached the final with wins against
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 Albert Brown. Fred Davis won 84–61 against Donaldson, having reached a winning margin at 73–52. In ''Talking Snooker'', Davis wrote that he had consciously used the same risk-averse tactics that had paid off for Donaldson in 1947. At the 1948 ''Sunday Empire News'' Tournament, which was a round-robin event with handicaps applied, Donaldson finished fourth of five players. In the
1949 World Snooker Championship The 1949 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England. For the third year running the final was contested by Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson. Davis became the second player to defend his ...
final, Fred Davis won 80–65 against Donaldson, having taken a winning lead of 73–58 on the previous day. The score had been 63–58 before Davis won 10 frames in a row to take the title. Donaldson made the highest break of the tournament with 115 on the last day of his semi-final match against Pulman. In the handicapped 1949/1950 ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament, Donaldson won only two of his seven round-robin matches and placed seventh out of the eight participants. Donaldson defeated Kennerley and Albert Brown to reach the
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
world final against Fred Davis. the final was played over 97 frames. Davis led 8–4 after the first day, but after two more days Donaldson levelled the match at 18–18, including winning five of the last six that day. He took a four-frame lead the following day, and maintained it for several days, eventually extending it to six frames at 45–39 on the penultimate day. Donaldson's victory was confirmed on the last day when the score was 49–32, with the match ending at 51–46. Almost 3,000 spectators watched one session of the match in Blackpool. ''The Billiard Player'' magazine attributed Donaldson's success to his strong safety play and a below-par performance from Davis. The highest break Donaldson achieved during the match was 80, with Davis's highest break 79. A column in the ''
Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'', after the final, commented that, "So afraid were Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson ... of making any rash move which would cost them a frame that play was painfully slow at times." With only one win from seven matches in the 1950/1951 ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament, Donaldson finished joint-last. Donaldson and Fred Davis played the
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...
world final in Blackpool, again over 97 frames, in front of a record crowd for a World Snooker Championship match. From 6–6, Davis moved into a 12–6 lead, reaching a winning margin at 49–36 before the match concluded 58–39. Donaldson won half of his matches at the 1951/1952 ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament, leading to a sixth-place ranking out of the nine players. Following a dispute between the
Professional Billiards Players' 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 ...
(PBPA) and the
Billiards Association and Control Council The Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC) (formerly called the Billiards Association and Control Council (BA&CC)) was the governing body of the games of English billiards and snooker and organised professional and amateur championships ...
(BA&CC), which derived partly from the PBPA members feeling that the BA&CC was taking too large a share of the income from tournaments, most professional players boycotted the
1952 World Snooker Championship The 1952 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held between 25 February and 8 March 1952 at Houldsworth Hall, in Manchester, England. The event featured only two entrants – Australian Horace Lindrum and New Zealander Clark McCon ...
and competed instead in their own 1952 World Professional Match-play Championship. As this event included most of the leading players, the public perceived it as the real world championship. The World Professional Match-play Championships are now accepted by snooker historians as part of the World Snooker Championship series. The 1952 World Professional Match-play Championship final featured Fred Davis and Donaldson and was contested across 73 frames. Davis won six of the eight frames in their first session, and led 7–5 after the first day. Donaldson had compiled a break of 104. Donaldson recorded another century break of 106 in the twentieth frame, but Davis increased his lead over him to 14–10 by the end of the second day. On the third day, Davis achieved a break of 140, a new World Championship record, and Donaldson made a 111. Davis finished the day 21–15 ahead. After another day's play, Davis was 29–19 ahead, after which Donaldson won eight of the next twelve frames. Davis won the title, finishing the last day at 38–35. The 1952/1953 ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament finished in January 1953, with Donaldson's three wins in eight matches enough to see him finish third. The 1953 World Professional Match-play Championship final in March saw Donaldson and Davis even at 6–6 after the first day of the 71-frame match. Donaldson took a 13–11 lead after day two, despite a break of 107 by Davis. Donaldson was ahead 20–16 after day three, but Davis tied the match at 24–24 after the fourth day which included a century of 102. Davis led 28–26, but Donaldson took a 31–29 lead at the end of the fifth day. The match was again level at 33–33 after the final afternoon session, before Davis won 37–34. Donaldson placed seventh in the 1953/1954 ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament, having lost five of his eight matches. In the
1954 World Professional Match-play Championship The 1954 World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional snooker tournament held from 5 October 1953 to 6 March 1954 across various locations in the British Isles. The final was held at Houldsworth Hall in Manchester, England. Fre ...
, Fred Davis and Donaldson met in their eighth successive final. It was the most one-sided of the finals, with Davis leading 33–15 after four days in the 71-frame contest. Even before losing the match, Donaldson said he would not enter the World Championship again because he could not give enough time to the practice he felt was necessary. Davis secured victory by winning the first three frames on the fifth day to lead 36–15. The final score was 45–26 with Donaldson making a break of 121 on the final day. After the 1954 World Match-play final, Donaldson announced that he would not be playing in any future World Snooker Championships, as he wanted to focus more on the management of his
smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...
, although he stated his intention to continue to play in other tournaments and in
exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
es. With three wins at the 1954/1955 ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament, he failed to gain a high placing. He finished third in 1955/1956, and last in 1956/1957. Donaldson inflicted Fred Davis's only defeat in the 1957/1958 ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament (21–16), before finishing third of five players in the final table. Earlier in the same tournament he defeated Joe Davis, also by 21–16, but had received a 14-point start. He did, however, make the highest break of the season, 141. He finished bottom of four players in the 1958 ''News of the World'' Snooker Tournament table, with one win in nine matches. In 1960, he retired completely from competitive play.


Retirement and legacy

Donaldson was married to Ida, whom he met whilst working in Rotherham in the 1920s. After retiring from the sport, he converted his snooker room into a
cowshed Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...
, breaking up the slates from his billiard table to make a path, and preferred to play
bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...
rather than snooker. In 1971, he stood as a
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
candidate for the
Newport Pagnell Urban District Newport Pagnell Urban District was a local government district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England, from 1897 to 1974. Origins When parish and district councils were established in December 1894 under the Local Government A ...
council and was elected. He died in an ambulance on his way to hospital after suffering a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
at his home in
Newport Pagnell Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area. It is separated from the rest of the urban ...
,
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, on 24 May 1973. He was considered one of the greatest long potters of all time, and a very consistent player, partly due to his avoidance of the use of side. Joe Davis wrote of Donaldson in 1948 that: Fred Davis praised Donaldson's potting ability and described him as a "fierce competitor" although "very limited technically". In noting that Fred Davis and Donaldson dominated the game of snooker for several years, Lindrum described their "new approach" to snooker of "extensive safety tactics", recalling that the pair once shared 32 strokes on a single , and suggesting that although safety play demanded skill, "if safety had continued to be used without regard to audience appreciation, it may eventually have brought about a sharp decline in popularity". Donaldson's obituary in ''
Snooker Scene ''Snooker Scene'' is a monthly magazine about snooker and other cue sports. It was established by Clive Everton in 1972 from the amalgamation of the Billiards and Snooker Control Council's ''Billiards and Snooker'' and his own ''World Snooker''. ...
'' highlighted his "imperturbability" as a playing strength and claimed "his long potting was the best the game has ever seen", whilst noting that his aversion to applying side was probably the reason that he did not achieve more century breaks, as it limited his . The 2005 book ''Masters of the Baize'' describes Donaldson as "one of the most underrated orld professional snookerchampions", who "redefined the standards of long potting", while a 1989 book by Ian Morrison describes him as "the first great Scottish snooker professional". In 2012, Donaldson was inducted into the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's World Snooker Hall of Fame.


Career finals


Snooker (4 titles)


English billiards (8 titles)


Notes


References


External links


World Snooker Tour profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Walter Scottish snooker players 1907 births 1973 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Winners of the professional snooker world championship Scottish players of English billiards Sportspeople from Edinburgh Sportspeople from Coatbridge