The defending champion was John Spencer, who had defeated Gary Owen 37–24 in the final of the 1969 World Snooker Championship.

Spencer was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1970 event with a 33–37 loss to Ray Reardon, who claimed the title with a 37–33 final victory over John Pulman.

[1] The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India.

[12] The 1969 championship is regarded as the first of the modern snooker era, and was won by John Spencer, who defeated Gary Owen 37–24 in the final.

[18] Prize money was awarded as follows:[17][19] There was one first round match, which was played as the best of 21 frames between Taylor and Bernard Bennett at the Yew Tree Labour Club, West Bromwich, from 15 to 17 October 1969.

Taylor ensured qualification for the next round by securing a winning margin at 11–8, with the score 12–9 after dead frames.

Owen met Williams at West Bromwich Community Centre from 1 to 6 December,[16] and won all six frames in their first session.

With Williams missing many attempts to pot balls, Owen took a winning lead at 31–11, and finished 46–15 ahead.

[21] Spencer played Jackie Rea at the Co-Op Hall, Bolton, from 8 to 12 December, and won 31–15.

[22] The last quarter-final, between Pulman and Taylor, was held from 12 to 16 January 1970, at Grimsby and Cleethorpes Transport Recreation Club.

[24] In his 1982 autobiography, Reardon recalled that the pockets of the billiard table were "far too tight for a championship" and that "You could not pot the black off the spot at speed with much confidence.

[26][17] Writing for Billiards and Snooker magazine, Norman Haseldine thought that Reardon started to manage the "peculiar running" of the balls on the table better than Spencer did, although "both players were guilty of innumerable misses ... and the match never attained the high standard expected".