Norman Dagley

IBSF World Amateur Championship Dagley won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in 1971, defeating Mannie Francisco in the final, and again in 1975, with Michael Ferreira as runner-up. He received a cigarette box from the Mayor of Hinckley to commemorate the second of his world championship wins. He was also runner-up in 1979 to Paul Mifsud and in 1981 to Michael Ferreira.

He did not turn professional until the age of 54, and even as a professional, retained his job as the manager of a snooker club in the town of Nuneaton.

Professional career In his first attempt at the World Professional Championship, when the matches were played as the best of five games of 400-up, he proceeded to the 1985 final without losing a game, with 3–0 wins over Jack Fitzmaurice, Jack Karnehm and Robby Foldvari. Dagley finished as runner up to Ray Edmonds 3–1, with most games being close. The game scores (Edmonds first) were 400–395, 307–400, 400–315 and 400–386.

The following year, 1986, he beat both Bernard Bennett and Eddie Charlton 3–0, before dropping his first game of the championship in a 3–1 defeat of the previous year's winner Ray Edmonds. In the final, he won the first game against Robby Foldvari but then lost the next three and the match. He won £9,500, then the largest prize ever seen in billiards, for the world championship, and with his other successes that season, including the UK and European titles, pocketed almost £20,000 of the nearly £50,000 total prize money on the circuit that season.

Aged 61 in 1991, he won the British Open trophy at the Barbican Centre. It was held there as part of the celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the death of the composer Mozart, who was a keen player of billiards. and there is also a street called Norman Dagley Close in the town.

Career highlights English Amateur billiards champion 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1982, 1984 CIU Champion 1964, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 1971 IBSF World Billiards Champion 1975 IBSF World Billiards Champion 1979 IBSF World Billiards Championship runner-up 1981 IBSF World Billiards Championship runner-up 1985 World Professional Billiards Championship runner-up 1986 World Professional Billiards Championship runner-up 1987 World Matchplay Champion 1987 European Billiards Champion 1987 UK Billiards Champion 1987 World Professional Billiards Champion 1988 World Professional Billiards Champion 1991 British Open Billiards Champion