Joe Johnson’s snooker passion undimmed at 71: ‘I practice hard, I love it’

The biggest tournament in the sport proved to be his only ranking title, and while he will not be changing that record in his eighth decade, he is still competing.

The Yorkshireman will be playing at The 900 from 25 September, the one-frame event played under a shot-clock which he had a crack at in its first edition last year and thoroughly enjoyed.

‘I played alright actually,’ Johnson told Metro.co.uk of his first efforts in The 900. ‘I made a great clearance to win the first match so I was overjoyed really.

‘It suits me down to the ground, those 20 seconds [on the shot clock]. That was one of my failings when I was on the tour, people used to slow me down and it used to get to me abit. You can’t do that in this, you’ve got to get on with it and that suits me.’

When suggested to Johnson that his trademark long-potting skills were still very much on display, he said they should be, given the amount of work he still puts in on the table.

‘I practice it hard,’ he said. ‘I practice every day and I practice long-potting every day. It’s not as good as it used to be, but it’s alright.

‘I play every day except Sundays. I love the practice. I invite people to come and play me for the afternoon. I’ve got half a dozen of them that come on a regular basis. Good amateurs who push me. I don’t play anybody who hasn’t made century breaks.

‘Monday-Friday I practice by myself beforehand and then play someone. Saturdays I like to keep a full day to practice by myself.

‘I don’t practice all day. 10am-1pm and the rest of the day, whatever the wife’s got planned for me.’

It is an incredible dedication to the game which he has put unfathomable hours into over the vast majority of his life, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘When I first started out I’d play 10 or even 12 hours a day,’ he said. ‘Start at 10 in the morning, come out at 11 at night, just play all day long, so I was bound to get better.

‘I started that at about 14. I used to go to the local billiard hall at weekends, I was at school in the week, but my mum and dad had a liberal club, so I used to sneak in there when all the members had gone and I used to get practice there as well.

‘I went on to work on the gas board but came off that in 1979 and after that I played 7 or 8 hours a day then, continuous.

‘I never really practiced all day. I played all day, maybe for a little bit of money, so it kept me involved. I didn’t really practice all that much, I wish I’d practiced then like I do now. A bit like Jimmy White now. He still plays well, he still makes maximums. As do I, now and then.’

Luca Brecel sprung a huge surprise to claim the World Championship this year having never won a match at the Crucible before, doing it in buccaneering and flamboyant style.

Unsurprisingly it reminded many people of Johnson’s success, including the man himself, who downed some very big names along the way, just like Brecel.

‘Yeah it did,’ said Joe. ‘It was very much like it. I’d never won a match at the Crucible.

‘I’d never beaten [Terry] Griffiths in my career. He’d beaten me in the Egnlsih Amataur final, UK Championship twice, he got to me, he was a slow player but really good with it. It was very difficult to play against him, especially if you were like me and wanted to get on with things. He had my number, so that was my big win in the quarter-finals.

‘I’d always had pretty good results against Tony Knowles and I’d never lost to Steve Davis as an amateur, so I had no fears over Davis.’

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