Geoffrey Foulds (born 20 November 1939) is an
English former professional
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
player. He is the father of fellow professional snooker player
Neal Foulds
Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Bla ...
.
Career
Born in 1939, Foulds turned professional in 1981
after a successful amateur career that included winning the London championship in 1971 and each year from 1975 to 1979.
His first two seasons brought little success, but in the
1983–84 snooker season
The 1983–84 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 4 July 1983 and 19 May 1984. The following table outlines the results for the ranking and the invitational events.
__TOC__
New professional players
The ...
, he reached the last 32 at the UK Championship, where he defeated
Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan (born 10 April 1958) is an English former professional snooker player, who competed on the professional snooker circuit from 1983 to 1996. He reached the quarter-finals of the 1985 Matchroom Trophy.
Biography
Steve Duggan was bo ...
9–8 and
Les Dodd 9–7, before losing 1–9 to
Steve Davis
Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...
.
The next season saw Foulds progress to the last 48 at the
1985 Classic, beating
Bob Chaperon,
Frank Jonik and
Jack Fitzmaurice to set up a meeting with
Mike Hallett
Mike Hallett (born 6 July 1959) is an English former professional snooker player and commentator. He won the 1989 Hong Kong Open.
Career
Hallett was born in Grimsby on 6 July 1959. Having won the British Junior Snooker Championship, national ...
.
Foulds lost 4–5. A run to the same stage of the
1985 World Snooker Championship, featuring victories over
Maurice Parkin
Maurice Parkin is an English former professional snooker player.
Career
Parkin turned professional in September 1968, entering the 1972 World Championship that season. He won his first qualifying round match 11–10 against Geoff Thompson, ...
,
Clive Everton
Clive Harold Everton (7 September 1937 – 27 September 2024) was an English sports commentator, journalist, author and professional snooker and English billiards player. He founded '' Snooker Scene'' magazine, which was first published (as ...
and
Colin Roscoe, was ended with a 6–10 loss to
Joe Johnson.
Foulds' son,
Neal,
had joined him in the professional ranks in 1983 and the two met in competition at the 1986 English Professional Championship;
At the 1986 International Open, Foulds defeated
Leon Heywood,
Vic Harris and
Bill Werbeniuk
William Alexander Werbeniuk ( ; 14 January 1947 – 20 January 2003) was a Canadian professional snooker and pool player. Recognisable for his girth, he was nicknamed "Big Bill". Werbeniuk was a four-time World Championship quarter-finalist and ...
, but was beaten in the last 32, again by his son. This time the match was less evenly contested, as Neal won 5–0.
Runs to the last 64 at several other tournaments meant Geoff Foulds entered the next season ranked 62nd, a career best.
Foulds recorded his final victory in the last 128 at the
1990 Dubai Classic, defeating
Mark Rowing
Mark Derek Rowing
(born March 24, 1966) is a former professional snooker player from Doncaster. A winner of the 1987 English Amateur title before turning pro, he reached a high end of season ranking of 57.
Career
From Doncaster, he took up the sp ...
5–4.
A 5–10 loss to Australian Greg Jenkins in qualifying for the 1990 World Championship was Foulds' last match as a professional.
He was a director of the
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards. It is headquartered in Bristol, England. Founded as the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) in ...
(WPBSA) from December 1989 to 11 April 1997 and served as the Association's chair from December 1996 until 1 April 1997. In 1995 Foulds was part of a three-man expert panel that adjudicated on a WPBSA panel that ruled against
Peter Francisco
Peter Francisco (born Pedro Francisco; July 9, 1760 – January 16, 1831) was a Portuguese-born American blacksmith and soldier best known for his service in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Early life
Francisco' ...
who had been accused of match fixing to manipulate a 10–2 defeat to
Jimmy White
James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...
at the
1995 World Snooker Championship. Francisco was subsequently banned from snooker activity for five years.
Foulds was the snooker consultant for the 1985 British musical film ''
Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foulds, Geoff
English snooker players
1939 births
Living people