Len Ganley

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Len Ganley (born April 27, 1943, Lurgan, Armagh, Northern Ireland) is a retired snooker referee. He visited England in 1971 to spend a ten-day holiday with his sister in Burton-on-Trent – and stayed.

He became a full-time referee after having jobs as a milkman and bus driver when he first arrived in Burton. He also played snooker when he lived in Northern Ireland and won various local titles in Britain and Ireland. He claims a top break of 136.

He refereed four World Snooker Championship finals between 1983 and 1993, including 1990 when Stephen Hendry became the youngest World Champion. Another career highlight was the 1983 UK Snooker Championship final between Alex Higgins and Steve Davis.Another famous match he refereed in his later career was Ronnie O'Sullivan's fastest 147 V Mick Price in the 1997 World Championship first round.

He also appeared in a Carling Black Label TV commercial in the early 1980s in which he crushed a snooker ball with his gloved hand in a match between Terry Griffiths and John Spencer, after Spencer had knocked the ball off the table.

He was immortalized in the Half Man Half Biscuit song "The Len Ganley Stance".

He retired in 2000 and suffered a heart attack in 2003. His son Mike Ganley is the WPBSA Tournament Director