| Born | 29 July 1952 Bradford, England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
| Nickname | The Shoe[1] |
| Professional | 1979–2004 |
| Highest ranking | 5 (1987–88) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 1 |
| World Champion | 1986 |
Joe Johnson (born 29 July 1952) is an English former professional snooker player and snooker commentator for Eurosport. He became the British under-19 champion in 1971 as an amateur, defeating Tony Knowles in the final. After reaching the finals of the 1978 English Amateur Championship (losing to Terry Griffiths) and the 1978 World Amateur Championship (losing to Cliff Wilson), Johnson turned professional in 1979. He reached his first ranking final at the 1983 Professional Players Tournament (losing to Knowles), and reached the semi-finals of the 1985 Classic (losing to Cliff Thorburn).
Johnson began the 1986 World Snooker Championship as a 150–1 outsider, with first-round losses in both of his previous Crucible appearances. He defeated Griffiths 13–12 in the quarter-finals, Knowles 16–8 in the semi-finals, and Steve Davis 18–12 in the final to win his only world title and the only ranking title of his career. The following year, in the World Championship, Johnson defeated Stephen Hendry 13–12 in the quarter-finals and Neal Foulds 16–9 in the semi-finals. In the final, however, he lost 14–18 to Davis. Johnson won only one match in the final stages of the World Championship thereafter, defeating Wilson in the first round of the 1988 event.
His best performances in the other Triple Crown events were reaching the semi-finals of the 1987 UK Championship (losing 4–9 to Jimmy White) and the semi-finals of the 1988 Masters (losing 3–6 to Davis). Johnson dropped out of the top 16 after the 1989–90 snooker season and made his last Crucible appearance in 1991, losing in the first round to Dennis Taylor. He continued playing on the professional tour until 2005, when he retired at age 53 after breaking his ankle. Johnson later competed on the World Seniors Tour and won the 2019 Seniors Masters.
- ^ Carter, Jo (15 April 2010). "Joe Johnson: The man who stunned the Crucible". ESPN. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.