The End of the Line

Dale, Perry and Hamilton were stalwart members of the tour and will be missed

John Spencer had the best answer to a critic who challenged the three-time world champion as to what he had ever done for snooker.

Spencer’s response? “I played it.”

Sport needs stars to bring it attention but it is built largely around the foot-soldiers who turn up week in, week out and participate.

Sporting careers can be notoriously short, especially in physical pursuits where injuries can halt the progress of promising young prospects. At least in snooker there is the opportunity to go on longer, but the curtain will eventually fall and it has done at this World Championship for three stalwart members of the tour, all in their early 50s.

Anthony Hamilton, a professional since 1991, will have to go to Q School if he is to continue on the circuit. Dominic Dale and Joe Perry have both decided that now is the time to walk away.

Hamilton was mustard on the amateur scene of the late 80s, a devastating scorer whose practice partners attested to his relentlessness in terms of breaks, earning him the early nickname ‘The Machine.’

He rose to as high as tenth in the world without quite breaking through at the very top level, losing in the final of the 1999 British Open, 9-7 to Fergal O’Brien, and 9-8 from 8-5 up to Mark Williams in the 2002 China Open final.

He appeared in four World Championship quarter-finals but lost his top 16 place and seemed to be in decline before turning it all around to win the 2017 German Masters in Berlin, his parents having made the trip principally to see the city.

Hamilton’s easy going nature and self-deprecating humour made him a favourite with his fellow players and fans alike. Unlike many players he had a hinterland away from snooker, interests in music, film and other sports. He was always engaging company and remained committed to the game despite numerous health battles, in particular with his back and eyesight.

Dale and Perry are members of the Class of ’92, even though this bracket is usually referred to in terms of its star pupils, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams.

Dale was born in England but his family moved to Wales and he became proficient on the junior scene there, eventually reaching the 1992 world amateur championship final.

Like Hamilton, he was dedicated to snooker while also enjoying a wide range of other interests, including collecting watches and clocks, opera, ballet and 1960s culture. Because he did not seem like the average snooker player, he acquired the nickname ‘The Spaceman,’ but this perhaps says more about the nature of the circuit with its narrow world view than it does him.

Dale sought to break out of the confines of what is quite an introverted sport by using his personality, whether through his choice of waistcoats or dying his hair peroxide blonde. He celebrated victories by singing at press conferences.

But all of this should not disguise what a good player he was. He won the 1997 Grand Prix – at the time the BBC’s fourth major event – by beating Higgins in the final. He also won the inaugural Shanghai Masters in 2007 with victory over Ryan Day. He was successful at the Shootout and as recently as last year qualified for the Crucible at the age of 52.

The only surprise was that Dale did not obtain a top 16 ranking, although the system when he won his two titles did not immediately reward success like it does today.

Perry was another player with a strong reputation before turning professional. He enjoyed a memorable Crucible debut in 1999, beating Steve Davis 10-9 on the final black, and reached the World Championship semi-finals in 2008.

For a while he always seemed to be on the top 16 bubble, either just in or just out, but he got to as high as eighth and enjoyed several high profile moments, winning the Players Tour Championship finals in 2015 and reaching the Masters final in 2017, where he lost to O’Sullivan.

In 2022, he defeated Judd Trump to win the Welsh Open, proud to have his father, Peter, in the audience to share the moment, surely the best of his career.

Like Dale, Perry has become a popular television commentator. He has opened his own club in Cambridgeshire and coaches, as well as advising Neil Robertson.

These three players deserve respect for the way they have conducted their careers and they each still have plenty to give to the game of snooker. Not everybody is going to be world champion, but they stood on the greatest stages, playing the greatest players, and collected trophies despite the competitiveness of the various eras they straddled.

They can walk away with their heads held high. Like John Spencer, they played snooker. For that, we thank them.