World Matchplay (snooker)

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The World Matchplay tournament was established in the 1950s as an alternative to the Billiards Association and Control Council / World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association professional snooker world championship by some of the professional players following a dispute with the governing body. Following a decline in the popularity of snooker the event was discontinued after 1957.

A one off event was staged in 1976, this time sanctioned by the WPBSA. Held in Melbourne, the uninformed media had the public believing Eddie Charlton had won the World Professional Championship after he beat Ray Reardon 31-24 in the final.

In 1988 Barry Hearn resurrected the event as an invitational tournament for the top 12 players, and it ran for five years. The 1988 event was the first snooker tournament to offer a top prize of £100,000. It was sponsored by Everest in 1988 and 1989, and Coalite from 1990-1992. It was televised by ITV as a replacement for the World Doubles

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Season
1952	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	38–35	n/a
1953	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	37–34	n/a
1954	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	39–21	n/a
1955	Fred Davis	John Pulman	37–34	n/a
1956	Fred Davis	John Pulman	38–35	n/a
1957	John Pulman	Jackie Rea	39–34	n/a
1976	Eddie Charlton	Ray Reardon	31–24	197?/7?
1988	Steve Davis	John Parrott	9–5	1988/89
1989	Jimmy White	John Parrott	18-9	1989/90
1990	Jimmy White	Stephen Hendry	18-9	1990/91
1991	Gary Wilkinson	Steve Davis	18-11	1991/92
1992	James Wattana	Steve Davis	9-4	1992/93