Clive Everton
Encyclopedia
Clive Everton is a Welsh
veteran BBC
snooker
commentator
, journalist
and author. He began his BBC career on the radio, but has been commentating on the television from the 1978 World Championship
through to the present. He also commentates for Sky Sports
on the Premier League Snooker tournament.
, reaching both the 1975 and 1977 world semi-finals. In the latter he exacerbated a back injury, forcing a temporary retirement from the highest level of the game; he became a professional snooker and billiards
player in 1981.
Unlike snooker, billiards has never generated sustainable professional incomes for players, and Everton has enjoyed a varied career as a result. He has covered football
, rugby
and tennis
for various British newspaper
s, and is one of the most prolific authors of historical and instructions books on snooker, as well as being the founding editor of the long-running Snooker Scene magazine. He also played county-level tennis for Worcestershire
for 13 years, and has managed Jonah Barrington, the former world number 1 squash
player.
However, it is as a snooker commentator that Everton is best known to millions of UK fans who watch the BBC's coverage of the sport. During the hey-day of the game in the 1980s, he emerged as one of the top three commentators, alongside Jack Karnehm
and the famous 'whispering' Ted Lowe
. For many, he has become the 'voice of snooker' – particularly since the retirement of Lowe in the 1990s.
Everton's style always tended towards the dry and technical, as opposed to the more informal, conversational approach of his two senior colleagues and the various 'player-commentators' of today. His analytical mind, combined with his clear love of the game and the many hours of dedicated research he has put in over the years, have given him an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game and the ability to recite relevant facts and statistics, scorelines, and breaks of ancient matches etc., which he does frequently in commentary. He also tends towards the use of very formal English, often using words that would not find a place in everyday conversation. Hence, for example, his commentary has included the following statements:
Unlike most of the snooker commentators and 'summarisers,' Everton always refers to snooker players by their surnames. Any impression of distance implied by this is misleading, however. He is extremely well liked and respected as a father figure by most of the top professionals in the game.
A consummate professional, Everton – like all commentators – has nevertheless suffered inevitable embarrassments in the commentary box. One example is when he fell from his chair whilst covering a match with Dennis Taylor
. The pair were unable to continue commentary for some moments whilst they contained their laughter.
During the BBC's coverage of the 2007 World Snooker Final, it was reported by Hazel Irvine
that Everton "took a tumble" after the second session, and fractured his hip, missing the final sessions of the championship between John Higgins and Mark Selby
. After Steve Davis
joked that this was due to his penchant for skateboarding, Everton later reported that he slipped while getting out of the shower.
In September 2007 he published his autobiography, Black Farce and Cueball Wizards: The Inside Story of the Snooker World (Mainstream Publishing ISBN 9781845961992).
During the 2008 World Championships, while commenting on the psychological problems of Ronnie O'Sullivan
, Everton revealed that he had himself suffered from depression during his life.
In 2009, it was announced that Everton would effectively lose his position as the BBC's primary snooker commentator. He did not commentate at the 2009 Masters Tournament and only commentated on the World Championships until the quarter final stages. This has variously been attributed to his criticism of the game's Governing body, his age and old-fashioned style, and his lack of fame relative to the many former players in the BBC's commentary roster. Everton himself commented "I'm hurt and angry, because I find the reasons presented to me incomprehensible".
At the start of the 2009/10 season, Everton's role at the BBC was reduced still further. He only commentated on two matches during the Grand Prix tournament, and wasn't heard at all during the Wembley Masters. He commentated on days 1–4 of the 2010 World Snooker Championship and was heard again on day six, but that was to be his final commentary work of the tournament, and is likely to be the last work he does for the BBC.however he did commentate a few matches in the 2011 world championships
He does, however, continue to be heard frequently on Sky Sports' coverage of the Premier League, and, in October 2009, joined Eurosport
as a commentator for their World Series events (which ended after 2009), as well as covering three cushion billiards tournaments. He was previously heard on Eurosport and Screensport
in the 1990s on occasions. He also commentates on the Championship League, which is streamed to a number of betting websites, and is also screened in betting shops around the country. In October 2010, he joined ITV's commentary team for Power Snooker.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
veteran BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
commentator
Sportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author. He began his BBC career on the radio, but has been commentating on the television from the 1978 World Championship
World Snooker Championship 1978
The 1978 Embassy World Snooker Championship snooker tournament took place at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield between 17 and 29 April 1978.-Notable moments:...
through to the present. He also commentates for Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
on the Premier League Snooker tournament.
Biography
Everton was a talented amateur player of English billiardsEnglish billiards
English billiards, called simply billiards in many former British colonies and in Great Britain where it originated, is a hybrid form of carom and pocket billiards played on a billiard table. Billiards is less well known as "the English game", "the all-in game" and "the common game".The game is for...
, reaching both the 1975 and 1977 world semi-finals. In the latter he exacerbated a back injury, forcing a temporary retirement from the highest level of the game; he became a professional snooker and billiards
English billiards
English billiards, called simply billiards in many former British colonies and in Great Britain where it originated, is a hybrid form of carom and pocket billiards played on a billiard table. Billiards is less well known as "the English game", "the all-in game" and "the common game".The game is for...
player in 1981.
Unlike snooker, billiards has never generated sustainable professional incomes for players, and Everton has enjoyed a varied career as a result. He has covered football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
for various British newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s, and is one of the most prolific authors of historical and instructions books on snooker, as well as being the founding editor of the long-running Snooker Scene magazine. He also played county-level tennis for Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
for 13 years, and has managed Jonah Barrington, the former world number 1 squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
player.
However, it is as a snooker commentator that Everton is best known to millions of UK fans who watch the BBC's coverage of the sport. During the hey-day of the game in the 1980s, he emerged as one of the top three commentators, alongside Jack Karnehm
Jack Karnehm
Jack Karnehm was a British snooker commentator, who was regularly heard on BBC television from 1978 until 1993, and a former amateur world champion and professional national champion at the game of English billiards.karnehmwas also a profesional snooker and billiards player.Besides his...
and the famous 'whispering' Ted Lowe
Ted Lowe
Edwin Charles Ernest Lowe, MBE , known as Ted Lowe, was an English snooker commentator for the BBC. His unmistakably husky, hushed tones earned him the nickname "Whispering Ted".-Life and career:...
. For many, he has become the 'voice of snooker' – particularly since the retirement of Lowe in the 1990s.
Everton's style always tended towards the dry and technical, as opposed to the more informal, conversational approach of his two senior colleagues and the various 'player-commentators' of today. His analytical mind, combined with his clear love of the game and the many hours of dedicated research he has put in over the years, have given him an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game and the ability to recite relevant facts and statistics, scorelines, and breaks of ancient matches etc., which he does frequently in commentary. He also tends towards the use of very formal English, often using words that would not find a place in everyday conversation. Hence, for example, his commentary has included the following statements:
- "EbdonPeter EbdonPeter "Ebbo" Ebdon is an English professional snooker player and former world champion renowned for his remarkably focused, determined style of play.-Early years:...
's unforthcoming acceptance of the referee's replacement of the white has been called into question by his opponent despite the veracity of the location of the adjacent reds." - "O'SullivanRonnie O'SullivanRonald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan , is an English professional snooker player known for his rapid playing style and nicknamed "The Rocket". He has been World Champion on three occasions , and is second on the all-time prize-money list, with career earnings of over £6 million, behind only Stephen...
's fluency was undiminished during his completion of a challenging century break using a newly-affixed tip." - "DavisSteve DavisSteve Davis, OBE is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years and became the sport's first millionaire...
's inability to execute the quarter-ball cut to bottom left has presented his opponent with an unexpected opportunity to capitalise." - "When KingMark King (snooker player)Mark King is an English professional snooker player. He has not yet won a ranking tournament, but came close when he was a beaten finalist in the 1997 Regal Welsh Open and the 2004 Irish Masters.- Career :...
and PerryJoe Perry (snooker player)-External links:*...
resumed their contest with King enjoying a 6–2 advantage, the least feasible outcome was a 9–6 victory in Perry's favour. However, that is what materialised this evening." - "That was a particularly inopportune juncture at which to receive a kick"
Unlike most of the snooker commentators and 'summarisers,' Everton always refers to snooker players by their surnames. Any impression of distance implied by this is misleading, however. He is extremely well liked and respected as a father figure by most of the top professionals in the game.
A consummate professional, Everton – like all commentators – has nevertheless suffered inevitable embarrassments in the commentary box. One example is when he fell from his chair whilst covering a match with Dennis Taylor
Dennis Taylor
Dennis Taylor is a retired snooker player, and current BBC snooker commentator. Winner of two ranking events, he is best known for winning the 1985 World Championship, beating World number one Steve Davis on the final black in one of the sport's most memorable finals...
. The pair were unable to continue commentary for some moments whilst they contained their laughter.
During the BBC's coverage of the 2007 World Snooker Final, it was reported by Hazel Irvine
Hazel Irvine
Hazel Irvine , is a television presenter from the United Kingdom.- Life and career :Educated at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, she achieved an M.A. in History of Art at the University of St. Andrews, and competed in golf, netball and athletics at university level. In her final year she was...
that Everton "took a tumble" after the second session, and fractured his hip, missing the final sessions of the championship between John Higgins and Mark Selby
Mark Selby
Mark Anthony Selby is an English professional snooker and pool player. Runner up in the World Snooker Championship 2007, he was the 2006 WEPF World Eight-ball Champion. Selby has won the Masters on two occasions, the Welsh Open and the Shanghai Masters...
. After Steve Davis
Steve Davis
Steve Davis, OBE is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years and became the sport's first millionaire...
joked that this was due to his penchant for skateboarding, Everton later reported that he slipped while getting out of the shower.
In September 2007 he published his autobiography, Black Farce and Cueball Wizards: The Inside Story of the Snooker World (Mainstream Publishing ISBN 9781845961992).
During the 2008 World Championships, while commenting on the psychological problems of Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan , is an English professional snooker player known for his rapid playing style and nicknamed "The Rocket". He has been World Champion on three occasions , and is second on the all-time prize-money list, with career earnings of over £6 million, behind only Stephen...
, Everton revealed that he had himself suffered from depression during his life.
In 2009, it was announced that Everton would effectively lose his position as the BBC's primary snooker commentator. He did not commentate at the 2009 Masters Tournament and only commentated on the World Championships until the quarter final stages. This has variously been attributed to his criticism of the game's Governing body, his age and old-fashioned style, and his lack of fame relative to the many former players in the BBC's commentary roster. Everton himself commented "I'm hurt and angry, because I find the reasons presented to me incomprehensible".
At the start of the 2009/10 season, Everton's role at the BBC was reduced still further. He only commentated on two matches during the Grand Prix tournament, and wasn't heard at all during the Wembley Masters. He commentated on days 1–4 of the 2010 World Snooker Championship and was heard again on day six, but that was to be his final commentary work of the tournament, and is likely to be the last work he does for the BBC.however he did commentate a few matches in the 2011 world championships
He does, however, continue to be heard frequently on Sky Sports' coverage of the Premier League, and, in October 2009, joined Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...
as a commentator for their World Series events (which ended after 2009), as well as covering three cushion billiards tournaments. He was previously heard on Eurosport and Screensport
Screensport
Screensport was a pan-European sports television channel. The network was launched as a stand-alone channel in Manchester on 29th March 1984 and later acquired by the WH Smith Television Group in 1987...
in the 1990s on occasions. He also commentates on the Championship League, which is streamed to a number of betting websites, and is also screened in betting shops around the country. In October 2010, he joined ITV's commentary team for Power Snooker.
Amateur
- Welsh Amateur Billiards Championship; 1960, 1972, 1973, 1976,1999
- National (UK) Pairs Champion; 1977 (with Roger Bales)