Reardon was the
first player to be ranked "world number one" when world rankings were introduced during the
1976–77 season, a position that he held for the next five years. He regained the top-ranking position in
1982, after which his form declined and he dropped out of the elite top-16 ranked players after the
1986–87 season. He remained one of snooker's top players into his 50s, setting several records. In 1978, Reardon became the oldest world snooker champion, aged 45 years and 203 days, a record that lasted until 2022 when
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the title, aged 46 years and 148 days. Reardon also became the oldest player to win a ranking event, which he accomplished in 1982, aged 50 years and 14 days. He never achieved a
maximum break in tournament play, his highest
break in competition being 146, and he retired from professional competition in 1991.
Reardon
mentored O'Sullivan in preparation for his
2004 World Championship campaign, helping him to lift his second world title. Before turning professional in 1978,
Steve Davis was inspired to emulate certain aspects of Reardon's playing style that he felt would improve his own game. Reardon's dark
widow's peak and prominent
eye teeth earned him the nickname "
Dracula". He was the president of
Churston golf club in
Devon, where he was a member for over 40 years. Reardon was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1985.
Reardon was born on 8th October, 1932, in the coal mining community of
Tredegar in
Monmouthshire, Wales. When eight years old he was introduced to a version of
snooker by his uncle, and at ten he was practising
cue sports twice-weekly at Tredegar Workmen's Institute as well as on a scaled-down
billiard table at home. He primarily played
English billiards rather than snooker, which, according to authors Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby, helped to improve his control of the
cue ball and his
potting. At the age of 14, following in the footsteps of his father, Reardon turned down a place at a grammar school to become a miner at
Ty Trist Colliery. He wore white gloves while mining, to protect his hands for snooker.
In March 1959, Reardon married Sue, a pottery painter. After a rockfall in which he was buried for three hours, and with Sue's encouragement, he quit mining and became a police officer in 1960 when his family moved to
Stoke-on-Trent.
