TABLE'S TURNED
I’m a former World Snooker Champion and quit my farm job to play – my boss chased me down the road when I resigned
The former world champion well and truly ticked off his old boss
CLIFF THORBURN was chased by his old boss after quitting his job to play snooker full-time.
Eleven years before he won the 1980 World Snooker Championships, the Canadian cueist decided to try to make ends meet by picking tobacco.
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But he soon realised the arduous gig wasn't for him and quit after just a day - using his pay as his stake in a tournament that night.
And the farmer who gave him the job - which paid a mere £9.40 (CA$16.51) a day - blew a gasket after he dropped the bombshell news.
Thorburrn, now 77, told the : “In 1969 I hadn’t won a major tournament yet and I was 21.
“I was picking tobacco in a place called Delhi, Ontario, and that was new to me.
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"It was a big industry there and still is. It was a slow process and I didn’t enjoy it.”
He continued: “They didn’t have lighting over the tables, it was just neon stuff.
"They had 15 yellow balls instead of reds.
"Afterwards, having been tired from working and playing snooker for five hours, I think I had to walk back to the farm.
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List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 - with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 - John Spencer
- 1970 - Ray Reardon
- 1971 - John Spencer
- 1972 - Alex Higgins
- 1973 - Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 - Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 - Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 - Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 - John Spencer (2)
- 1978 - Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 - Terry Griffiths
- 1980 - Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 - Steve Davis
- 1982 - Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 - Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 - Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 - Dennis Taylor
- 1986 - Joe Johnson
- 1987 - Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 - Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 - Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 - Stephen Hendry
- 1991 - John Parrott
- 1992 - Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 - Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 - Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 - Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 - Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 - Ken Doherty
- 1998 - John Higgins
- 1999 - Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 - Mark Williams
- 2001 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
- 2002 - Peter Ebdon
- 2003 - Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)
- 2005 - Shaun Murphy
- 2006 - Graeme Dott
- 2007 - John Higgins (2)
- 2008 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)
- 2009 - John Higgins (3)
- 2010 - Neil Robertson
- 2011 - John Higgins (4)
- 2012 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)
- 2013 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)
- 2014 - Mark Selby
- 2015 - Stuart Bingham
- 2016 - Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 - Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 - Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 - Judd Trump
- 2020 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)
- 2021 - Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)
- 2023 - Luca Brecel
- 2024 - Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 - Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan
- 6 - Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 - John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 - John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 - Alex Higgins
“I thought that I could have a little lie-in the next day, but of course the owner was there, and I was the last one to get up. I told him I was going to quit.
“The farmer said, ‘What?' He started looking mad and dropped the wheelbarrow he had been carrying.
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"Then he starts to come towards me and chases me towards the road and now I’m running back, with the $300, running back towards town.
“I was 21 years old too and didn’t even know that there was a World Championship until about a year before that.
"I had played about two or three tournaments and become barred from tournaments.
"Because I didn’t have a job.”
Thorburn, of course, etched his name into the snooker history books when he became the first player to complete a 147 break at the Crucible.
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He said of his stunning 1983 achievement: “I had a dream about making a 147 in the World Championship about two months beforehand.
“In the match, I wasn’t feeling well, I had a cold.
"I felt horrible. I slept about an hour the previous night and my nose was running.
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"Before I potted the black I was blowing my nose.
"Afterwards, I took a break and that settled me down a little bit."
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