John Spencer v John Pulman 1973 Norwich Open

[@paulbennett4009]

Great cueist both players were here. A few older guys remember Pulman doing an exhibiton at our club. Said he was a great man

[@MegaChabrol]

Love watching these old snooker videos, it was so different back then, i know the balls were not the same quality as today and the table cloths were slow but the standard does seem to be a lot lower than todays players, it always seems like even a 30 break is an accomplishment. No fear of taking a pot on and missing as their opponent would miss soon enough anyway.

[@dlhrjt]

Another gem, Thanks so much fir finding this. John Pulman was a great player

[@Wally-H]

He was better at billiards.

[@Treviscoe]

@@Wally-H I think a lot of the pro snooker players in this era, like Joe Davis and Rex Williams, were billiards players as well.

[@Wally-H]

@@Treviscoe Correct.

[@pondermatic]

Thanks for this. Nice to see footage of John Pulman in decent form. Edit: It’s probably a fair representation of how their 1977 world SF went.

[@davidelcox9762]

Great to see the referee guessing where the white goes after cleaning it 😂😅

[@julianmulloy3772]

Lol 😆

[@guinnessharvey4476]

If football is like snooker, there is no way players of the 70s could live with today’s players. This is a poor quality final. Fun to watch though:)

[@christopherlogan9315]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing this. I never knew footage even existed of this match. That was shocking on poor John Pulman at the end, I really thought he had done the hard work once the yellow went in.

[@Treviscoe]

Yes, snooker can be a heartbreaker sometimes. That one ball apart though, what a terrific ending.

[@BritinSchleswig]

Fantastic find, enjoyed every minute

[@darrenmcgowan3932]

Fantastic video 👍 Higgins vs Charlton on the other table

[@sdrtcacgnrjrc]

Thanks for this great footage! I see that in 1973 the camera people were already indulging in fancy camerwork that ended up showing us only half the game. (The classic today is to zoom in on the pot and completely ignore the white even when obvious there's going to be a canon or a journey around the table).

[@davidsmith5523]

Interesting viewing. Pulman is very clinical at blacks from the spot. Was great to see. My first favourite player was John Spencer though. Met him once. Very approachsble man.

[@bizbizley]

I loved the way he followed through (if you’ll pardon the expression)! I doubt either of them would make the top 200 nowadays. Nice to see again though.

[@davidsmith5523]

@@bizbizley Funny how people think that. Today the conditions are so different. All, cloth, ability to watch themselves on video. More tournaments. More money. Having read players auto biographies from that era, many had jobs too. So the comparison is impossible. Steve Davis was the first I can recall never yo have a conventional job. Look at how being able to fully dedicated himself aided his career. Aided his performance. Yet on their day Reardon, Spencer and notably Higgins were able to beat him.

[@AngrierGorilla]

@@davidsmith5523 I think he just made a comparison of how they used to play back then and how they play now. No "what if.. what if... and what if..." Just the the level of play we can admire on these videos.

[@davidsmith5523]

@@AngrierGorilla Do you? i replied to what he said.

[@johnsrabe]

A different hypothetical: If Efren “Bata” Reyes had been raised in a snooker hall instead of a pool hall, would he have been a top snooker player?

[@patrickcrowther9195]

Interesting how the pre-shot routine that is standard these days is notable by its absence. But you can tell these were good players. Some fine shots, especially considering the slowness of the cloth.

[@turkeytwizzler1930]

Another priceless bit of footage unearthed. Pulman reminds me of Mark Williams, both great players and multiple world champions. Pulman was nearing the end of being a proper contender in 1973

[@postscript67]

Having read the various smart-aleck comments below on the "poor standard" of these players, I think it would be a good experiment if two of today's top players played a few frames on the old heavier cloth with the original heavy Crystalate balls. No doubt their greater competition practice would stand them in good stead, but I can't imagine they would be as fluid or high-scoring in play.

[@tylerhay6560]

As far as seeing Pulman’s concerned, this is absolute gold!! Fantastic!

[@Eat-MyGoal]

lol at the half-wit who thought it was a good idea to get the cameraman to pan his camera to follow the path of the ball 🤣🤣

[@chrisbland6942]

The camera work was primitive to say the least. The amount of times the roving camera followed the object ball all the way home to the pocket whilst giving no regard to where the cue-ball was going for position. Keeping with the fixed camera showing the full table would've been preferable in most cases.

[@LeeBeardshall]

This another gem. Well done mjt get more from the 70s please.

[@Neil_Gibson]

Love the way the ref puts his finger on the table to mark the cue ball position while he cleans it!

[@doctorsocrates4413]

Slower table..narrow pockets...Higher skill level needed in those days..2 giants of the game in the golden era of snooker.Good lord i was only 1 year old when this was played lol.

[@siinternational7463]

I notice Alex higgins sat at the front

[@robbieclear465]

I doubt it, he was playing on the other table

[@johnsrabe]

No he joins at 42:41 - after losing on the other table. He sits on the stairs.

[@spleeeen4it]

Pulman was the greatest commentator.

[@johnmc3862]

Jack Karnehm.

[@nickycotton6137]

Blimey. Always a pleasure watching from 'back in the day'.. noice1

[@aloisberger8891]

50:30 Alex Higgins sitting anstatt staring at the table

[@tomwalsh6655]

Good spot

[@69elvisrocks]

None of the players today would be able to make big breaks in these conditions.

[@paulbennett4009]

I agree, apart from Ronnie. You needed a good long follow through which he has

[@markbailey1970]

You mean - 22 balls on a Green baize table? What rubbish

[@simonlevett4776]

Love how the players have a chat after the match is over, and strange to see that Ray Reardon wasn't even in the tournament.

[@danielkarmy4893]

Oh and 46:35 - there's Alex, fresh from his defeat to Eddie Charlton a few minutes prior in the third-place match, watching on beside the Norwich Union sign...

[@markcampbell1708]

Look and sound like crystalate balls rather than super cystalate which was first made in 1972. As I remember these were heavier and larger than SC balls and a world away from today’s balls

[@Swat-ed5bt]

Love this channel ❤

[@torquesteer2657]

Hell of a match that! Great play!

[@martyfrank]

Like watching paint dry but brings back good memories.

[@johnmc3862]

Snooker not for you.

[@italialainentapa]

Amazing Christmas gift, thanks! Didn't know that Pulman was considered one of the best rest players of his day, pity that his peak was probably in one of the most difficult period for professional snooker. People that met him told me that he had a special personality and alcohol basically was part of it.

[@danielkarmy4893]

Thought a bit of context might be interesting, as I've just been reading about the event in the Snooker Scene issue from January 1974; Clive Everton very helpfully always recorded any break over 30 (which it seems he continued doing well into the 2000s in Snooker Scene, even when centuries were commonplace!) and in these earlier issues, even breaks of 20 or above were considered notable. John Spencer, in winning the tournament, made 26 breaks over 30 (his highest 74, in reply to a 49 from Alex Higgins in the final frame of their semi-final). Pulman made only 9 in reaching the final, his best being a 44 (in the first frame of his semi-final v Charlton). Charlton actually outscored Pulman with 12 breaks of 30 or more; Alex made 9 of his own, but was out of sorts that week. Graham Miles made a 68, a 60, a 46, and three in the 30s; Sid Hood, an amateur, had 47, 31, 31, and 30; Ray Edmonds made 44, 38 and 27; David Taylor, the Silver Fox, 40, 39, 33 and 31; John Dunning the veteran Yorkshireman, 44, 38, 31 and 30; Arvind Savur the Indian billiards maestro, 38, 36 and 30; Marcus Owen had 41 and 36; Dennis Taylor only 53 and 47, and Cliff Thorburn a solitary run of 52; Pat Houlihan and Jim Meadowcroft, 37 and 36 respectively; Chris Ross, 34 and 30 - while John Virgo, Jack Karnehm, David Greaves, and Jackie Rea never registered anything above 19.

[@pauldurkee4764]

Never seen this before, i remember John Pulman as a very fine commentator. Listen to that floor creaking as they moved about.

[@tomsharkey243]

Great to see this, really enjoyed it

[@rogerscottcathey]

I must say, rather a heart breaker. Cheers to them both nonetheless.

[@patrickcrowther9195]

Ted Lowe ❤ I'd love to see some footage of Steady vs The Hurricane.

[@JJSnookerChannel]

Happy Christmas 🎅🏻

[@mickharrison9004]

John Spencer must of wondered what hit him ,when the hurricane came to town 👊🏆

[@paulbennett4009]

Spencer was twice the player Higgins was!

[@johnmc3862]

Looks like a ‘Holiday camp’ table.

[@gregoryrourke7417]

lol. The table would have been faster if it was covered in artificial grass. It’s like a big pool table. Ref and the cleaning of the cue ball. lol. Proper funny.

[@williambriggs79]

Whenever people talk about old snooker they say a lot about slow tables and much heavier balls. This is the first video I've watched where I can really see how heavy and slow they were. It's no wonder they couldn't make the cueball do much.

[@stuartwilliams-fw4vo]

Pulman won a four man world championship (without Fred Davis) in Jersey in ‘57, and then the event was discontinued until 1964. This most sociable of competitors then fended off a number of challengers for his title in both Britain and South Africa (including Davis, Rex Williams, and Eddie Charlton ) before his reign was ended by Spencer in the ‘69. Pulman was then defeated in the final of the ‘70 by Reardon. Had Reardon and Spencer and Cliff Wilson and Pat Houlihan turned professional in the early sixties, then Pulman’s prestige in the game would be much diminished today.

[@postscript67]

On the other hand, if they had turned professional then, the competition might have raised Pulman's game to meet it when he was still comparatively young. These questions are impossible to answer.

[@chrisbland6942]

@@postscript67 @stuartwilliams-fw4vo Very good point. There were many great players in the 60's -- those you mention plus Marcus and Gary Owen, Ronnie Gross, Jonathan Barron, Ray Edmonds just a few. Pulman, Davis and Williams (maybe to a slightly lesser extent Jackie Rea) as the "professionals" were always considered to be the best in the business but in reality they were well short of competitive match play. Whenever they did face the top amateurs they tended to fare rather badly. I agree that Pulman's standard would undoubtedly have been higher had there been more tournament opportunities available to him. What is almost certain, however, he wouldn't have enjoyed the same eleven year monopoly over the world professional title that he did have. He'd have been one of half a dozen or so to have been in the mix. All things being equal (and it's purely my gut feeling from what I have learned of all the players) I'm inclined to think John Pulman, Marcus Owen, Ray Reardon and Pat Houlihan would have been the leading exponents and towards the late 60's Spencer too. Fred Davis no doubt would've had the odd moment still.

[@ysgol3]

There was a kind of 'closed shop' in the pro game, controlled by Joe Davis, before which several potential champions bowed mysteriously! When this all fell apart, the old stagers, like Pulman, were destroyed by a range of brilliant new players. Had Cliff Wilson got his chance, especially when he had perfect eyesight before a factory accident destroyed one of his eyes, he would have annihilated Pulman and the others in the late 50s and early 60s.

[@JDLondon72]

Reardon was far and away the superior player of this era. He was miles in front of anyone else.

[@boogalaloopala2738]

Anyone know the manufacturer info of this style of table?

[@truthseeker6923]

It was called a Starline table and a few clubs had them in the 70's . We had one in a social club in Exeter from around that time

[@ysgol3]

Dead slow tables and snooker balls like rocks. it's a wonder they potted anything!

[@andrewsymons1907]

Were there any other recordings from this event: 1973 Norwich open?

[@ChrisShawUK]

The audience put on suit and tie for the final

[@daveborder7751]

John Pulman-where's me washboard.

[@Stantheman848]

The good old days of pro snooker ..when players had 47 visits each to the table and the winner won £2.50

[@ysgol3]

🤣🤣🤣

[@andrewmorton3344]

Haha. Reminds me of Pulman’s joke late in his career: when introduced by the words, “he’s not a five times World Champion for nothing”, he replied disconsolately “well…next to nothing.”

[@pauldurkee4764]

The table looks like one of those you put a couple of shillings in to get the balls back.

[@manephewlenny6401]

Fucking hell no wonder the mortality rate was so high during the 1970s, this calibre of snooker would bore you to fucking death.

[@frankpeters2587]

Alex Higgins sitting on the stairs in the background...

[@thesmithsmaf]

50:24 - thats Alex Higgins sitting in the stairwell, watching on

[@darrenleelayton6052]

I thought they were playing quite fast until I realized that I had speed on 1.5 from my last video😂

[@davidbrown9947]

good work

[@BeareTube]

Snooker from the dark ages but no smokers? Pockets seem very large by today's standards and cue-ball cleaning by finger pointing is novel. ;)

[@johnsrabe]

Yeah, not much haze or coughing!

[@chrisbland6942]

Yes, pockets don't seem particularly tight but the thicker nap would've made potting down the cushions more difficult. The napless cloth on the cushions these days help the ball to go in off the jaws.

[@heinzpasulke7981]

😂😂, great times.... everybody is smoking, and the players are not better than a good pubplayer today👍

[@timsandlemicrobiologist]

Classic find!

[@johnsmusicpassions9740]

i remember this

[@PlayMoreGolf-RipOff]

STEPHEN LEE was in attendance

[@yuryk1989]

1 year old?

[@PlayMoreGolf-RipOff]

@@yuryk1989 yes… there was an under 2’s eating contest taking place

[@yuryk1989]

@@PlayMoreGolf-RipOff this year his ban expires. Is he coming back to the tour?

[@pinkypunky2643]

John Pulman was 8 times World Champion

[@babaza1972]

Billiards I believe

[@JOHN-tk6vl]

John Pullman was ten times world champion.

[@chrisbland6942]

@@babaza1972 It certainly wasn't. Unlike many of his contemporaries of the 1950's, Pulman didn't like billiards and never even entered the World Billiards Championship.

[@JONNIE8OY]

Camerawork was absolutely atrocious in those days.

[@mikeyb0121]

These old school players would get obliterated in todays game

[@chrislewis-n3v]

wow, that first attempt at a pot by john spencer must have been about a foot off!

[@JJSnookerChannel]

Before I was born!! I know Spencer not the other guy though 🍀🤣

[@nigefal]

I more knew Pulman as a commentator.

[@TheZodiacz]

I vaguely recalled him from when I was a kid. World professional match play champion 1957, world champion 1964-68. Had a sad end, fell down stairs while home alone and stuck for almost a day on the floor. Died as a result on Christmas Day, 1998 aged 75. RIP John Pulman.

[@JJSnookerChannel]

@@TheZodiacz poor man not a nice way to go at all. RIP

[@mqb5151]

I love the vall cleaning method... where mm's matter it's very amateur

[@bobbyperu1000]

rare footage😁

[@britsfirstfitness5026]

To be fare us amateur players back in 80s would beat these guys 😅

[@LuNaaaaaR]

Looks like a pool table

[@gerardchatburn2301]

Looks like John pulman, was playing and also the referee 🤔

[@waynejackel2921]

Hello mjt Can you Post Upload These During The Arctic Polar Conditions Here in The UK 2024 By Popular Demand Request 1987 Mercantile Credit Classic Final Davis v White 1988 Mercantile Credit Classic Final Davis v Parrott 1992 Mercantile Credit Classic Final Davis v Hendry. 1988 Fidelity Unit International Final Davis v White 1989 Fidelity Unit International Final Davis v Hendry. Good Fortune in 2024 mjt. Cheers Wayne J.

[@waynebrown67]

funny looking table

[@Keithj136]

It's a Starline table, i use to play on them.🙂

[@lesliefuller1456]

These players wouldn’t stand a chance against the modern players.

[@pauldurkee4764]

Overall, the cloth was bad, and the balls weighed a ton, the floor creaked and the crowd are moving around, O Sullivan would have a fit trying to concentrate in that environment.

[@lesliefuller1456]

@@pauldurkee4764rubbish. That’s a fibre glass table, from the 1970s. I know, I was a table fitter and snooker player. The cloth was the same as today and the balls were super crystalate, as today. The pockets on those tables were massive, especially compared to today’s professional tournament tables. It’s the players that have improved, not so much the conditions. Maybe if you were going back to the 30s, or 40s, you could have a point.

[@pauldurkee4764]

@@lesliefuller1456 I have heard a number of people from television coverage who played the game talk about the change in cloth.

[@lesliefuller1456]

@@pauldurkee4764 it’s all west of England cloth, the best there is. (there are varying thicknesses). The only real difference is the slate temperature. Modern snooker tournament tables have heaters to keep the slates warm. Slate takes forever to warm up which makes the table play a little slower and less responsive. If the slates can be kept warm it is much better.

[@heresroddy5162]

Its hard watch this. The pair of them are glorified top armatures, really poor standard, and to think Higgins is in the back room playing for third 🤣.

[@wayneanthonyholmes4437]

V.Nice 👍

[@bregawn]

Ted Lowe, master of stating the obvious

[@DickiesDisintegratingWan-dt3ek]

Wow, the standard was so poor back then. They wouldn't make the top thousand today.

[@Happy-mh8xq]

The quality of play back then was so bad 😂😂😂

[@chris-w4n9w]

These 2 wouldn't even get through the qualifiers today

[@chrisbland6942]

Rather a mean statement. Not necessarily incorrect but it's hardly a fair comparison. This is 1973! That is very early in the games development... we're talking pre Crucible by 4 years, pre Masters by 2 years. There was virtually no snooker on TV then except half an hour a week on Pot Black. Not a single ball of the previous World Championship had even been televised! The top professionals earned 90% of their income from exhibitions in holiday camps, Working Men's Clubs and village institutes the length and breadth of the country. How do you suppose Judd Trump would've fared in such an environment? Todays players have learned from previous generations and had the benefit of TV exposure, near perfect playing conditions and regular match play week in week out. It's a different universe to todays game. For sheer natural ability and cuemanship, Pulman and Spencer are in no way inferior to the top players of today.

[@stephenhaskins5736]

Pullman wouldn't get on the tour today, wouldn't be good enough.

[@albertcross4275]

The standard is bad. 🤔🤔🇫🇷

[@davidjoyce976]

The quality of snooker now is a million miles away from this

[@davidjoyce976]

These 2 wouldnt have a beat a decent club player today

[@markdrinkwater1508]

Utter nonsense.

[@JDLondon72]

There are fewer decent club players in the uk today than at any time since the 1920’s.