Steve Davis looks forward to Blackpool visit to relive snooker's most famous match with Dennis Taylor

Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor visit Blackpool next month to relive the most famous match in snooker history at Viva Blackpool and

Davis was a loser that night but is happy to reflect on a time when he and his sport were on top of the world.

Perhaps it is the 18-3 annihilation of John Parrott in the final of the World Championships in 1989 which fans remember the most.

Or could it be the titanic 18-16 success over Jimmy White five years earlier at The Crucible in Sheffield, which stands out.

There is, of course, the first major tournament victory at the UK Championships in 1980 – when Alex Higgins was defeated 16-6 at Preston’s Guild Hall.

Having been crowned both world and UK champion an incredible six times, as well as winning the prestigious Masters on three occasions, there are many defining moments in the illustrious career of snooker great Steve Davis.

But without doubt the legend of the green baize’s best-remembered match is one he ended up losing!

His defeat to Dennis Taylor – the eccentric Irishman with the ‘upside down jam jar’ glasses – in the final of the 1985 World Championships remains snooker’s greatest ever spectacle.

The classic encounter at The Crucible had everything, with Davis getting off to a superb start to lead 8-0, before Taylor staged a remarkable comeback to claw his way to 9-7. Davis always appeared destined to win, though, as he continually edged ahead. At 17-15, he was just one frame from victory.

Taylor, though, refused to lie down, drawing level to take the final to the wire. The decider is perhaps the most famous frame in the history of the game.

More than 18m people tuned in to watch Taylor sink the final black to win his first – and only – world crown.

Davis said: “It is amazing that 35 years have passed since that match and yet people still want to talk about it. A ridiculous amount of time has passed but that match still captures the imagination.

“When I played Dennis, I had won three World Championships and was aiming for my fourth.

“At the time, to lose was devastating. But the good thing about snooker and sport is that you lose there is always another tournament around the corner.

“Whilst everybody was talking about that final, once the next season starts you’re off and running again.

“I think I won a tournament pretty soon afterwards and as a sportsman you’re always looking ahead all the time. But as the years have gone by, the significance of that final has grown, the folklore around it has grown.

“I suppose if I had not won the World Championship again, then it might be a different story. But because I went on to win it another three times, I don’t think losing to Dennis has really defined my career overall.”

Davis and his old foe Taylor will be discussing that particular match when they appear at Viva Blackpool, in Church Street, on March 8.

Davis said: “We will be re-enacting some of the shots of that final frame and talking about it. The amazing thing is that some of the people in the audience probably won’t have been even born when we played that match. But the great thing is people can go on YouTube and watch it back.”

The fact that Davis and Taylor remain such popular figures several years after they retired from playing owes much to the time when they were at their peak. The 1980s will always be the golden era of snooker, when the game and its exponents transcended the sport.

Davis, Taylor, Higgins, White, Thorburn and Griffiths were household names, their tournaments beamed live into every house across the UK.

Davis added: “We were sort of the first wave of the sport to get that kind of exposure.

“It was obviously a different period in time. In terms of entertainment at home, people only had three TV channels to choose from at the start of the 1980s. Back then all the family used to sit in front of one TV in the house. There was no social media, no video games and things like that, so we had effectively a trapped audience.

“That first wave of the sport was the golden period, but I am only talking about the UK. Nowadays the game is far more worldwide in terms of its popularity. But in the UK, that period created those famous names.

“It was great to be part of that. It was just so exciting. From being just a snooker player, we became recognised all over the UK. It was just so surreal.”

Davis was the greatest player of the 1980s, his metronomic style generally leading him to success against less consistent stars like White and Higgins.

He was labelled with the ‘Boring’ tag as fans tired of his serial success. They would, more often than not, root for his opponents.

Davis revealed that he took his perceived unpopularity among fans during his peak years as a compliment.

“It was understandable,” said Davis, who is now 62. “Human nature always goes down that road of rooting for the underdog. I never really saw it as a problem.

“The boring tag came as a result of winning. It was the ultimate compliment really in that you have outstayed your welcome in terms of how much you are supposed to win. That is something you are effectively aiming for as a sportsman – to dominate as much as you can.

“I just basically got on with my job, playing the game to the best of my abilities and seeing what would happen. For a long period, I had it all my own way, so they were happy days for me.”

Snooker legends Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor revive 1985 at Viva Blackpool, Church Street, on March 8, when host John Virgo will have a trick shot or two up his sleeve. Tickets are on sale via www.vivablackpool.com from £25.