Born in 1901 in the Derbyshire village of Whitwell, Joe Davis is perhaps the man most responsible for making snooker the mass market sport it is today. Originally a billiards player, Joe won his first tournament at the age of 13 and at 25 reached his first professional billiards final. In 1928 he became world billiards champion.

It was Joe who approached the Billiards Association in 1926 to organise a World Professional Snooker Championship. Joe won the event in its first year in 1927 and went on to hold the title until 1946, at which stage he ceased to play in the Championships.

Even after his retirement Joe continued to dominate snooker, both on and off the table. He became chairman of the Professional Players Association and for many years was still widely recognised as the best snooker player in the world. As the primary figure in snooker at that time it was with him that the BBC negotiated.

It was during the 1978 World Snooker Championships that Joe became unwell. At the time he was taken ill he was watching his brother Fred play Perrie Manns in the semi-finals. Manns had led 8-6, 13-8 and 16-12 going into the final session, which meant that Davis had to win six of the remaining seven frames. Joe was living and playing every shot on behalf of his brother, until complaining of feeling unwell during the interval of the final session.

Joe was taken back to his hotel and then driven to London the following day. He was still poorly on arrival and was taken to St Mary's in Paddington. A lengthy operation saw him through the worst of the crisis, but he would never recover and died a few weeks later.