The 1973 tournament was promoted by Peter West and Patrick Nally, and sponsored by tobacco brand Park Drive, with £8,000 prize money.

Higgins's quarter-final match against Fred Davis was interrupted when rainwater leaked onto the snooker table they were using.

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

[3] In 1927, the final of the first professional snooker championship was held at Camkin's Hall; Davis won the tournament.

[9] The 1969 championship, when the tournament reverted to a knockout format, is regarded as the first of the modern snooker era, and was won by John Spencer.

[12][13] From 1972, the championship was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), which was the renamed PBPA.

[2]: 8 The 1973 competition took place over two weeks, rather than the months it had taken to complete previous championships in the preceding years.

[15] It was promoted by Peter West and Patrick Nally, and sponsored by tobacco brand Park Drive, with £8,000 prize money.

[17] In order to break even, the event required 15,000 paying spectators across the matches;[18] the actual attendance was 25,000.

[19] At the start of the tournament, the bookmakers rated Spencer as the favourite to win, at odds of 9–4, with Higgins second at 3–1.

[17] Jackie Rea's cue, which he had used since the age of nine, was stolen a few days before his match against Pat Houlihan, and it was returned to him only near the end of their contest.

[23] Houlihan took a 2–0 lead, and Rea drew level at 2–2, but he then lost seven frames in a row and was eliminated from the competition.

[23] In the other matches of the first round, Perrie Mans eliminated Ron Gross 9–2, David Taylor beat John Dunning 9–4, and the 1970 runner-up Warren Simpson defeated Maurice Parkin 9–3.

[24][27] Jim Meadowcroft received a bye when his scheduled opponent Kingsley Kennerley withdrew due to illness.

[17] Higgins was admonished by tournament director Bruce Donkin for arriving more than 20 minutes late for his match against Houlihan, and was later fined £100 by the WPBSA for his behaviour.

[33] Spencer made the highest break of the tournament with 139,[34] in the sixth frame of his match against David Taylor, which he won 16–5.

[6]: 35–36  At the start of the eighth session, Reardon was affected by the bright lighting that had been installed for the purposes of television coverage, and he lost the first three frames.

[6]: 36  According to snooker historian Clive Everton, "Charlton's dogged consistency proved no match for Reardon's flair and wider range of shots.