Player Profile Fred Davis OBE Born: 14 August 1913. Whittingham Moor, Derbyshire, England Died: 16 April 1998 Professional Career: 1929 - 1992 Highest Break: 142 Highest Ranking 4th (1976/77) Fred Davis, younger brother by twelve years of the legendary Joe, was possibly the most charming and loveable player the game has produced. Always with a twinkle in his eye, and a ready smile, he was nevertheless a ruthless player and one of the hardest to beat right into his late 60s. He was the only man to beat Joe Davis in competition on level terms, which he did on four occasions.   Fred was born on 13 August 1913 near Chesterfield in Derbyshire. Although much younger than Joe, he was inspired by his brother’s success. Like Joe, he began with billiards becoming National Under-16 champion in 1929 following which he turned professional and was world junior professional billiards champion for three successive years. He played in his first world snooker championship in 1937 but lost in the first round to a virtual unknown. He had known he was short sighted and after this defeat decided to do something about it and got himself fitted with a pair of swivel-lens glasses. This made all the difference and the following year he reached the world semi-final. In 1939 he got to the semis again, this time meeting brother Joe who beat him 17-14. He got to the final in 1940 and gave Joe his closest ever match losing in the deciding 73rd frame 37-36.   Fred spent five years in the army during the war but came back with another semi-final in the 1946 world championship. By the time the 1947 championship came round, Joe had retired from the event and Fred was favourite to succeed him and keep the name of Davis on the trophy. In the event he was well beaten in the final by Walter Donaldson 82-63. Davis got his revenge in 1948 and enjoyed a run of ten consecutive world finals from 1947 to 1956. He won eight in all losing out to Donaldson again in 1950.   Following a sad decline in the game, there was a revival in 1969 with several new young professionals. Fred however was still a force in the game and reached three more world semi-finals, the last of them in 1978 at the age of nearly 65. He played his last world championship match at the Crucible in 1982 age 68 but he still competed in the event, and on the professional circuit, until 1992 when arthritis restricted his mobility. At that time he was, aged 78, the oldest active professional sportsman in the world.   Having been ranked as high as number 4 when the world rankings were introduced in 1976, he went on to captain England in the World Cup and was still in the top 16 at the age of 67. When he was 66 he decided to try and emulate his brother by winning the world billiards title which he duly did and successfully defended it in 1981.   During the late 1980s and early 1990s he continued to play all the ranking events insisting he would never retire although by then he was hardly able to win a frame against the new young professional coming into the game, but eventually his difficulty in moving round the table forced him to call it a day.   Fred always played for fun yet still played to win. He died on 16 April 1998 and had been awarded the OBE for services to billiards and snooker in 1977.    Career Highlights World Professional Snooker Champion 1948, 1949, 1951 World Professional Snooker Championship Runner up 1940, 1947, 1950, 1964, 1965, 1966. Professional Matchplay Champion* 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956. World Professional Billiards Champion 1980 (twice) News Of The World Tournament champion 1958, 1959 BBC Pot Black runner up 1971 World Cup runner up 1979 (England Team)  (* Between 1952 & 1957 the official world championship was not contested but the World Professional Match-Play Championship, held during those years following a dispute with the governing body, is generally regarded as the world championship by most followers of the game) © Chris Turner 2009 Back to top