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

[21] David Taylor, recovering from tonsilitis, won in the deciding frame against Ron Gross.

[21] Warren Simpson, feeling ill from the effects of his diabetes, won seven consecutive frames from 1–3 against Jack Rea to progress.

[21] A report in Snooker Scene magazine described the general standard of play in the qualifying round as "disappointing".

[17] Simpson discharged himself from hospital, where he had spent several days due to influenza, one hour before his match against Bernard Bennett, and lost 2–8.

[23] Tournament debutant Bill Werbeniuk took five successive frames from 2–2 against Geoff Thompson, and won 8–3.

[23][24] Pulman followed his whitewash of Karnehm in qualifying with another win without losing a frame, against Sidney Lee.

[20] In the round's other matches, Marcus Owen eliminated Maurice Parkin 8–5; Ian Anderson won only the second frame against Perrie Mans; Kingsley Kennerley lost 5–8 to Jim Meadowcroft; and John Dunning defeated David Taylor 8–6.

[25] After completing a 15–3 victory,[26] Reardon questioned – in a tone that the ‘’Daily Telegraph’’ reported as "asking blandly" – "Who can beat me?

[26] Alex Higgins made breaks of 69, 67, 64 and 63 while taking a 6–0 lead against Bennett,[28] eventually eliminating him 15–4.

[31] The quality of Mans's potting compensated for his inaccurate positional play as he ran out a 15–13 winner.

Dunning then won five frames in succession to equalise, and, with both players making a number of errors, Miles went on to take the match 15–13.

[37] Williams, despite avoiding attacking play, made a series of errors,[36] and Miles won 15–7.

[38] Reardon and Miles faced each other in the final, which took place from 23 to 25 April, as a best-of-43 frames contest across six sessions.

[43] Reardon said "I don't feel that I played any better than mediocre in the final, but this is because Graham never put me under pressure.

Spencer won the plate by defeating Pulman 15–5 in the final, and recorded six century breaks during his four matches.