Ray Reardon

Ray Reardon
MBE

Reardon in 1949
Born	(1932-10-08)8 October 1932 Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales
Died	19 July 2024(2024-07-19) (aged 91)
Sport country	Wales
Nickname	Dracula[1]
Professional	1967–1991
Highest ranking	1 (1976–1981, 1982–1983)
Tournament wins
Ranking	5
World Champion	1970 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978

Raymond Reardon MBE (8 October 1932 – 19 July 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to his dark widow's peak and prominent eye teeth, he was nicknamed "Dracula".

Until his mid-thirties, Reardon worked as a coal miner and then as a police officer while pursuing snooker at an amateur level. His titles during this era included six consecutive Welsh Amateur Championships from 1950 to 1955 and the English Amateur Championship in 1964. He turned professional in 1967 and became World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1978; he was also runner-up in 1982. His other major tournament wins included the inaugural Pot Black tournament in 1969, the 1976 Masters, and the 1982 Professional Players Tournament. The first player to be ranked "world number one" when world rankings were introduced during the 1976–77 season, he held the position for the next five years. He regained the top ranking position in 1982, after which his form declined; he dropped out of the elite top-16 ranked players after the 1986–87 season.

In 1978, Reardon became the oldest world snooker champion, aged 45 years and 203 days, a record that he held until the 2022 event, when Ronnie O'Sullivan won his seventh world title at the age of 46 years and 148 days. Reardon remains the oldest player to win a ranking event, which he accomplished in 1982, aged 50 years and 14 days. He retired from professional competition in 1991, aged 58, never having achieved a maximum break in tournament play; his highest break in competition was 146. During his retirement, Reardon was president of Churston Ferrers golf club in Devon, where he was a member for over 40 years. He mentored O'Sullivan in preparation for his 2004 World Championship campaign, helping him lift his second world title. Appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1985, he died from cancer in July 2024, aged 91.