1976 World Snooker Championship

The 1976 World Snooker Championship (officially known as the 1976 Embassy World Snooker Championship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at two venues, Middlesbrough Town Hall, and Wythenshawe Forum, Manchester, from 7 to 23 April 1976. Qualifying matches were played at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Southport, and at the Park House Hotel, Blackpool from 29 March to 2 April. The tournament was promoted by Maurice Hayes's company Q Promotions on behalf of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The winner received £6,000 from a total prize fund of £15,300. The winner of the title was Ray Reardon, who defeated Alex Higgins 27–16 in the final at Wythenshawe Forum, to claim his fifth World Championship. Reardon was the defending champion, having won 31–30 against Eddie Charlton in the 1975 final. During the 1976 final, Reardon made several complaints about the environment, which was adjusted to accommodate him. Charlton had complained earlier about a table, which was found to be non standard, invalidating his break of 137. There were seven century breaks in the championship, the highest of which was 138 by John Spencer. It was the last World Championship before the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield became the regular venue. For the first time, the tournament was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy; the relationship endured for 30 years.

The World Snooker Championship is the preeminent tournament in professional snooker. Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, organised by the Billiards Association and Control Council, the final match being held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England. Staged annually until 1940, the tournament was put on hiatus during World War II and went into decline in the post war era; the 1952 World Snooker Championship was contested by only two players and was replaced by the World Professional Match play Championship, which was also discontinued in 1957. The title was contested on an occasional challenge basis until 1969, when the World Championship reverted to a knockout tournament format. The 1976 championship featured sixteen professional players competing in one on one snooker matches in a single elimination format, each match played over several These competitors in the main tournament were selected using a combination of the top players based on results from the three previous years and the winners of a pre tournament qualification stage. There were 27 entrants for the 1976 tournament. In addition to Reardon, several former champions entered. Multiple time champions Fred Davis and John Pulman had first entered in 1937 and 1947 respectively. The draw for the tournament was due to be televised on the BBC Television current affairs programme Nationwide, with recorded footage of three players as part of the segment. WPBSA officials met actress Glenda Jackson at Lime Grove by chance, and she agreed to make the draw. As part of the arrangement, they also sponsored a Women's Open tournament, an international amateur tournament, and an open tournament for players in the UK. It was the last world championship before the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield became the regular venue.

The winner of the event received £6,000 from a total prize fund of £15,300. The planned breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below, but it was later decided that there would not be a playoff for third and fourth place. At Blackpool, veteran Jackie Rea, who had made his tournament debut in 1949, eliminated Ian Anderson 8–5, and then saw off Bernard Bennett by the same score. There were two of play each day, at 2:00 pm and at 7:30 pm. Defending champion Ray Reardon won 15–7 against John Dunning and made a break of 106. Gary Owen lost 9–15 to Dennis Taylor. It was Owen's last appearance at the world championship. Snooker historian Clive Everton later wrote that Owen "seemed to have lost all heart for the game" and was a lesser player than in the days when he had won two World Amateur Snooker Championships. Spencer took a 12–1 lead against David Taylor and won 15–5, finishing the match with a 138 break in the 20th frame. After two sessions, Cliff Thorburn led Higgins 8–6, but he lost the first four frames in the next session and, going into the concluding session, the pair were tied at 10–10. Thorburn held a lead at 13–13 and 14–13, but Higgins won the 28th frame to take the match to a deciding frame, which Higgins won after breaks of 33 and 32. A quarter final between two of the unseeded players was set as Meadowcroft won five of the next six frames after leading Williams 9–5; and Miles lost 10–15 to Perrie Mans. According to article in The Times, Williams "struggled all through" his match. Davis held a 15–7 lead against Bill Werbeniuk, but lost the first four frames of their concluding session before going three frames clear at 14–11.

The quarter finals were played from 14 to 15 April at Middlesbrough, and from 15 to 16 April at Manchester, as the best of 29 frames. After the match, Mans accepted Reardon's offer of a 30 minute session of advice about shot selection. Charlton was only one frame behind at 16–17. After the session, Reardon complained to the organisers that he could not see the balls properly due to the bright lighting that had been installed for television, and the lighting levels were reduced. In frame 32, with Reardon well ahead on points, Timms awarded Higgins a free ball, a decision disputed by Reardon. Part of the final was shown on BBC Television.

The Sponsored Events Manager for W. D. & H. O. Wills, Peter Dyke, commented that it had been an "interesting and rewarding involvement" and said that the company would be interested in maintaining an involvement with snooker. Mike Watterson, whose first sporting promotion had been a match between Higgins and Reardon in 1972, subsequently became the promoter for the 1977 Championship. Sports historian Ian Morrison wrote that following the "near disaster" of 1976 for the sponsors, "Watterson convinced them that he could make the championships work, and the following year he proved himself correct."

The following century breaks were made at the tournament. She defeated Muriel Hazeldene 4–1 in the final, and won £500 and a wristwatch worth £500. The matches were played over a single frame.

All matches were the best of seven frames. Winning players are denoted in bold.