John Williams

John Williams (born 8 June 1937) is a retired Welsh snooker referee. He refereed eleven World Snooker Championship finals, nine at the Crucible Theatre, including the 1985 final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis – the most watched snooker match in history. Having begun refereeing in the 1960s, Williams left the civil service in 1981 to work as a referee full-time. Having the chance to referee tournaments at Pontins, he quickly took charge and organised the events for many years. He gained national attention following a match between Fred Davis and Alex Higgins where the roof collapsed after rainfall and flooded the . Williams was pictured in many national newspapers after the event, resulting in more television coverage.

He was the longstanding referee for snooker television show Pot Black, taking charge after Sydney Lee's retirement at the 1981 event. Williams was forced into retirement in 2002 due to contract negotiations with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, but made sporadic appearances at the World Seniors Championship until 2012.

Early life One of six siblings, Williams was born on 8 June 1937 in Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales. and his grandfather was British bar billiards champion in 1906. After passing his eleven-plus examination aged nine, Williams gained seven O Level qualifications at the end of his secondary education. after a short stint employed in quality control at Pilkington Glass. He played snooker in a local league, and had a personal best of 73. He married Joyce and they had one son. Following a divorce, Williams married Kathleen. He was offered to referee matches at Pontins, where he began to run and organise the events for decades. At the 1973 World Snooker Championship, he refereed a quarter-final match between Fred Davis and Alex Higgins at the Manchester Exhibition Hall. The ceiling of the Hall was a glass dome, which had been covered in a tarpaulin to keep the sun off the table. Under the weight of rain, the dome broke and the table was flooded. This led to the press picturing Williams with the headline reading "rain stops play". his first at the Crucible Theatre being the 1978 final between Ray Reardon and Perrie Mans. Williams took charge of eight other finals at the Crucible until 2002, including three that went to a . He refereed the most viewed snooker match in history, the 1985 World Snooker Championship final between Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor where Taylor won on the final in the deciding frame. In total, he officiated 11 World finals, including part of the finals in 1975 and 1976. In 1983, Williams received a two-year suspended prison sentence, after pleading guilty to selling non-existent snooker tables worth £6,500. This led to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) expelling him as a referee, although he later won a legal battle to be reinstated. In 2003, he sued the WPBSA for wrongful dismissal after the WPBSA contracts for referees included a mandatory retirement age of 64, at a time when Williams was 65. He had believed that he had an agreement with the WPBSA that meant he could continue to work, but his contract was terminated at the end of July 2002.

As the popularity of snooker on television grew during the 1980s, Williams became a household name along with fellow top referees Len Ganley and John Street. Between them, Ganley, Street and Williams refereed 17 of the first 20 World Championship finals held at the Crucible Theatre. He remained in the role for the remainder of the series and its revivals during the 1990s. He made a return to snooker refereeing when he officiated matches in the 2011 World Seniors Championship, and returned for the 2012 tournament.