Herbert John Pulman (12 December 192325 December 1998) was an English 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 who was the World Snooker Champion from 1957 to 1968. He first won the title at the 1957 Championship and retained it across seven challenges from 1964 to 1968, three of them against Fred Davis and two against Rex Williams. When the tournament reverted to a knockout event in 1969, he lost 18–25 in the first round to the eventual champion John Spencer. After finishing as runner-up to Ray Reardon in 1970, Pulman never again reached the final, although he was a losing semi-finalist in 1977. He turned professional in 1946, shortly after winning the English Amateur Championship, and achieved three

News of the World Snooker Tournament The News of the World Snooker Tournament was one of the leading professional tournaments of the 1950s, widely considered as more important than the World Snooker Championship, world championship due to the involvement of Joe Davis. The event was ...

titles, in 1954, 1957 and 1958. An emotional player, he was prone to venting his frustration and missing important shots. He generally played attacking snooker in his early career, but he made more use of tactics in the 1970s. Pulman became a television commentator towards the end of his playing career and retired from competitive play in 1981 after breaking his leg in a traffic accident. He died in 1998 following a fall down the stairs at his home. He was one of the inaugural inductees to the World Snooker Hall of Fame in 2011, alongside seven other winners of multiple world championships.

Early life

Herbert John Pulman, known as John Pulman, was born on 12 December 1923 in

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14 ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. His father was Ernest Charles Pulman, a master baker and confectioner, and his mother was Ernest's wife Gertrude Mary Pulman, née Kent. In 1929, Ernest Pulman sold his bakery and confectionery business, and the family moved to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, where he bought a billiard hall with two tables. Coached by his father, John Pulman started playing billiards at the age of nine and made his first billiards aged twelve. In his teenage years he also played

and participated in local league competitions. He attended Exeter Episcopal School, where he was a swimming champion and represented his county at

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

. In 1938, Pulman entered the British Boys Billiards Championship but left his cue on the train on his way to the event at

Burroughes Hall Burroughes Hall was an important English billiards, billiards and snooker venue in Soho Square, London from 1903 until it closed in 1967. The hall was in the premises of Burroughes & Watts Ltd., who had been at 19 Soho Square since 1836. Burroug ...

. He was invited to choose a cue from a selection at the venue, and he used that particular cue for the rest of his career. In his first match at the event, against Barrie Smith (later known professionally as John Barrie), Pulman was 199–196 ahead in a 200-up match when he . Smith then got the he needed to win. The cue that Pulman had chosen included a metal plate with professional Sidney Smith's name engraved on it; he later filed Smith's name off, as he felt he could not play exhibition matches with a cue bearing another professional's name. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Pulman was enlisted in the army for three months, making wings for

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

s, before being discharged on medical grounds; he later told journalist Terry Smith that he had varicose veins.

Snooker career

Early professional career (1946–1955)

In 1946, Pulman won the English Amateur Championship title, with a 5–3 win over Albert Brown in the final. Aged 20, Pulman was the youngest player to win the event since it was established in 1916. Working as an income tax clerk, he took the decision to become a professional player shortly after the championship, having taken advice from Joe Davis, the reigning World Champion. Later that year, he made his first two century breaks, just ten days apart. At the start of his professional career, Pulman was living at the home of his patron Bill Lampard, who was a baker from Bristol and a member of the Billiards Association and Control Council (BA&CC). Lampard built a billiard room at his house, where Pulman was able to practise. Snooker historian

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 ...

alleged that this arrangement ended after Pulman was discovered in bed with Lampard's wife. Pulman practised playing snooker for eight hours a day over several years, in pursuit of a level of consistency that would bring him to the standard of the top professionals. Shortly after turning professional, he had started wearing spectacles for playing snooker, using the same type of swivel-lens glasses that were worn by his fellow professional Fred Davis. Pulman made his first appearance at the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, losing 14–21 to Brown in the first round of qualification. The following season, he won the qualifying section of the 1948 World Championship, progressing through the first two matches and then defeating Willie Leigh 18–17 on the final in the of the last qualifying match. He lost 29–42 to Clark McConachy in the first round of the main draw. Later the same year, he won the qualifying event for the 1948 Sunday Empire News Tournament and, benefitting from a points handicap, finished second in the main event behind Joe Davis. Pulman's total prize money was £400 (), made up of £150 for his qualifying win and £250 for his second-place finish overall. At the 1949 World Championship, Pulman eliminated Brown in his first match but then lost 22–49 to Walter Donaldson in the semi-finals. He lost his opening match in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

and withdrew from the following year's championship due to influenza when trailing 14–22 against Fred Davis in their semi-final match. He also participated in the annual

, which was a round-robin event with points handicaps applied, first staged in 1949/1950. He was runner-up in the 1950/1951 edition and won in 1953/1954. He married Frances Anne Hayes in April 1953.

World snooker championship contests (1955–1968)

Pulman first reached the final of the World Professional Match-play Championship, which was now effectively the world championship, in 1955. He defeated Rex Williams 22–15 in the quarter-finals and Alec Brown 37–24 in the semi-finals before losing 35–38 to Fred Davis in the final, which was played at Blackpool Tower Circus. Davis was 10–2 ahead at the end of the first day, but Pulman had narrowed the gap, at 15–9, by the end of the second day of play. Davis led 20–16 after day three, 27–21 after day four and 33–27 after day five; he won the match on the sixth day to claim the title. Pulman made three century breaks during the final: 103 on day two, another 103 on day four, and 101 in the last of the . Davis defeated him again in the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

final, at 33–37, with the score finishing at 35–38 after dead frames. Pulman won all five of his matches at the 1956/1957 News of the World Snooker Tournament, to take the title for a second time. Fred Davis was not among the four entrants for the 1957 World Professional Match-play Championship. In the semi-finals, Pulman was level at 12–12 with Williams before winning the match 19–16. In the final, he trailed Jack Rea at 2–4, 5–8 and 8–11 before equalising at 11–11. Rea then opened up another lead to leave Pulman 15–20 behind. Pulman took four successive frames to narrow his deficit to 19–20, going on to take the lead 24–22, and starting the final day 32–27 ahead. He won the title at 37–29, and the score finished at 39–34 after dead frames. The tournament received little media coverage, and the championship was not staged again for another seven years. Public interest in the sport had been declining since 1946 when Joe Davis retired from competing in the world championship. In preference to finding an alternative career, Pulman continued to play exhibition matches, despite the limited income he was able to earn from this. In 1964, the Conayes Professional Tournament was held at the Rex Williams Snooker Centre in Blackheath, being the first commercially sponsored professional snooker event since 1960. Pulman was one of the four competitors, along with Fred Davis, Rea, and Williams, and won the event. Williams was the driving force behind the revival of the World Snooker Championship in 1964, obtaining sanction for the competition after an approach to the BA&CC chairman Harold Phillips. The championship was reinstated on a challenge basis, with the first match scheduled between Pulman, who had won the most recent championship in 1957, and the challenger Fred Davis. Pulman defeated Davis 19–16 at Burroughes Hall in April 1964 to retain the title that he had claimed seven years earlier. Davis had been leading 15–12 when he failed to audibly nominate a , and the referee called a ; despite both players disagreeing with the referee's decision, he refused to change his ruling, and commentators felt that Davis's reaction led to a noticeable deterioration in the standard of his play. Williams challenged Pulman for the title in October 1964. The match was played over 73 frames and took place from 12 to 17 October at Burroughes Hall. Williams led 8–4 at the end of the first day, but Pulman won 11 of the 12 frames on the second day to lead 15–9. He extended his lead to 31–17 after the fourth day of play, winning the match on the fifth day by taking a 37–23 lead. After playing the remaining 13 dead frames on the sixth and final day, Pulman finished 40–33 ahead. In March 1965, Pulman retained his title in a final-frame decider by defeating his challenger Fred Davis, 37–36, winning the last two frames from 35–36 behind. Williams and Pulman met again in late 1965 in a series of short matches in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, where Pulman won 25 of their 47 matches. At one of the venues, where there were no spectators present, the players reportedly spun a coin to determine the winner, instead of playing the match. In late 1965, Pulman defeated a further challenger, Fred Van Rensburg, 39–12. Fred Davis challenged Pulman for a third time in 1966, in a series of seven best-of-five-frames matches. Pulman won the series at four matches to Davis's two, also taking the seventh match to win 5–2. Pulman won the world title for the eighth time in 1968 by fending off a challenge from Eddie Charlton. After the first 30 frames, Charlton was ahead 16–14; Pulman then took five of the next six frames, three of them on the final black, leaving Charlton 17–19 behind. Pulman eventually reached a winning lead of 37–28 and finished 39–34 ahead after dead frames.

Later career and retirement (1968–1998)

In 1967, Pulman had spent time touring snooker clubs across the Midlands doing promotional work for the tobacco brand John Player, and in turn the company sponsored his 1968 world title challenge match against Eddie Charlton. The good attendances for the Pulman/Charlton match led to John Player's decision to sponsor the 1969 World Snooker Championship as a knockout tournament. The 1969 event, with its updated format, is generally regarded as the start of the modern snooker era. Unable to defend his title, Pulman was eliminated 18–25 by the eventual champion John Spencer in the first round of the competition. He reached the final of the 1970 World Championship but lost 33–37 to Ray Reardon, having earlier recovered from 14–27 behind to almost draw level at 33–34. The following year, he failed to qualify from the round-robin stages that determined the semi-finalists, and in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

he lost 23–31 to the eventual champion Alex Higgins in the quarter-finals. In October 1972, he was rescued, unconscious, from a road traffic collision, but he fully recovered in time to play in the Park Drive 2000 tournament that was held less than two weeks later. That December, he was runner-up to Higgins in the 1972 Ford Series Tournament, an invitational event with four world champions in competition. The following year, he reached the final of the 1973 Norwich Union Open. His opponent, Spencer, took a 5–2 lead before Pulman won five of the next seven frames to level the match at 7–7 and force a deciding frame. Spencer led by 57 points, but Pulman then made a break of 39 before failing to the , allowing Spencer to as far as the and win the match. Pulman did not progress to the quarter-final stage of the World Championship again until 1977, the first time the event was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. He reached the semi-finals, with wins over Fred Davis and Graham Miles, before losing 16–18 to Spencer, the eventual champion. After 1977, he was unable to win another World Championship match, although he continued to enter until 1982. He reached the final of the 1977 Pontins Professional event, where he was again defeated by Spencer, 5–7. After the introduction of snooker world rankings in 1976, Pulman achieved his highest position of seventh in the 1977/1978 ranking list. His book ''Tackle Snooker This Way'', which had first been published in 1965, was revised and published as ''Tackle Snooker'' in 1974. Pulman and his wife Frances divorced around 1978; they had three children. He was declared bankrupt on 7 February 1979 with personal debts of £5,916 (). By this time, he was suffering from severe motivational problems and living in a hotel in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

. He did not play professionally again after his leg was broken in five places when he was hit by a London bus in October 1981. He later said that he had already lost his enthusiasm for playing snooker by the time his accident happened. While he was being treated in hospital, he accepted an offer from ITV to work as a snooker commentator, having previously worked in that role for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and for STV. He continued to commentate until his death. Everton, who had taken Pulman to court in a dispute over payment for his contribution to Pulman's ''Tackle Snooker'', later wrote that Pulman had "the voice, the authority, and of course the knowledge" to be a good commentator. In 1998, he fell down the stairs at home while his girlfriend was away, broke his hip, and lay on the floor unable to move for almost 24 hours. He was transferred to hospital and died soon afterwards, on 25 December 1998, aged 75.

Playing style and influence

Pulman was an emotional player, prone to venting his frustration and missing important shots. For the first part of his career he generally played attacking snooker, but in the 1970s he made more use of tactics. Fred Davis reflected that Pulman's impatience and lapses in concentration had probably cost him frames in their world championship finals in the mid-1950s and that, as Pulman became more patient in his play, he became a stronger opponent. At 6feet 2inches (188cm), Pulman was unusually tall among the leading players of the 1940s, and adapted a stance where his legs were relatively close together, meaning that more weight was transferred to his back foot than was typical among professionals. This enabled him to take full advantage of his height and his reach while playing shots. In their 2005 book ''Masters of the Baize'', Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby commented that Pulman "suffered the unenviable fate of being world champion for the 11-year period between 1957 and 1968 in which professional snooker all but died". Commentator Ted Lowe, who had managed Leicester Square Hall from 1947 to 1955 and was a long-time snooker commentator for BBC Television, considered that Pulman's exciting style of play and sense of humour "did a tremendous salvage job for the game when it needed it most". Alex Higgins, the world champion in 1972 and 1982 whose popularity helped make snooker a growing sport in the 1970s and 1980s, wrote of Pulman: "If I ever had a hero as a kid, I guess it was John Pulman... henI was growing up, Pulman was invincible: a brilliant potter, a tactician, and foxy in the safety department." Pulman's all-round game was also praised by Ray Reardon. John Spencer admired Pulman's aptitude when using a . Steve Davis, who met Pulman in a match at the 1977 Pontins Open, observed how Pulman and Reardon both adapted to the poor quality of the snooker tables rather than complaining, and he found this to be a valuable lesson. Pulman was one of the inaugural inductees to the World Snooker Hall of Fame in 2011, alongside seven other winners of multiple world championships.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Amateur (1 title)

Non-ranking finals: 26 (15 titles)

, align="center" , , align="center" , , - , style="background:#ffa07a;" , Runner-up , 5. , 1958 ,

(2) , data-sort-value="Davis, Fred" , , align="center" , League , align="center" , , - bgcolor="#e5d1cb" , style="background:#98FB98" , Winner , 5. , 1964 ,

(2) , data-sort-value="Davis, Fred" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - bgcolor="#e5d1cb" , style="background:#98FB98" , Winner , 6. , 1964 ,

(3) , data-sort-value="Williams, Rex" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - , style="background:#98FB98", Winner , 7. , 1964 , Conayes Professional Tournament , data-sort-value="Davis, Fred" , , align="center" , League , align="center" , , - , - bgcolor="#e5d1cb" , style="background:#98FB98" , Winner , 8. ,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

(4) , data-sort-value="Davis, Fred" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - bgcolor="#e5d1cb" , style="background:#98FB98" , Winner , 9. ,

(5) , data-sort-value="Williams, Rex" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - bgcolor="#e5d1cb" , style="background:#98FB98" , Winner , 10. ,

(6) , data-sort-value="Van Rensburg, Fred" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - bgcolor="#e5d1cb" , style="background:#98FB98" , Winner , 11. ,

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

(7) , data-sort-value="Davis, Fred" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - bgcolor="#e5d1cb" , style="background:#98FB98" , Winner , 12. , 1968 ,

(8) , data-sort-value="Charlton, Eddie" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - bgcolor="#e5d1cb" , style="background:#ffa07a;" , Runner-up , 6. , 1970 ,

(3) , data-sort-value="Reardon, Ray" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - , style="background:#98FB98;", Winner , 13. , 1972 , Championship Plate , data-sort-value="Thorburn, Cliff" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - , style="background:#ffa07a;" , Runner-up , 7. ,

, Ford Series Tournament , data-sort-value="Higgins, Alex" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - , style="background:#ffa07a;" , Runner-up , 8. ,

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, Norwich Union Open , data-sort-value="Spencer, John" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - , style="background:#98fb98;" , Winner , 14. , 1973 , Championship Plate , data-sort-value="Thorburn, Cliff" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - , style="background:#ffa07a;" , Runner-up , 9. , 1974 , Championship Plate , data-sort-value="Spencer, John" , , align="center" , 5–15 , align="center" , , - , style="background:#ffa07a;" , Runner-up , 10. ,

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, Canadian Open , data-sort-value="Higgins, Alex" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , - , style="background:#98FB98;", Winner , 15. , 1976 , Castle Professional , data-sort-value="Fagm, Patsy" , , align="center" , League , align="center" , , - , style="background:#ffa07a;" , Runner-up , 11. , 1977 , Pontins Professional , data-sort-value="Spencer, John" , , align="center" , , align="center" , , -

Notes

References

Books * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulman, John English snooker players Snooker commentators 1923 births 1998 deaths Winners of the professional snooker world championship Accidental deaths in England British Army personnel of World War II Accidental deaths from falls