He first played in the World Snooker Championship in 1937 but lost 17–14 to Welshman Bill Withers in the first round, a defeat that Davis put down to ignoring his worsening eyesight.

Joe's fury with his brother's performance persuaded Fred to consult an optician, who devised a pair of glasses with swivel lens joints to help his play.

[18][19] Following a disagreement between some of the players and the governing body, Davis played in an alternative tournament – the World Professional Match-play Championship.

This proved a wise move; by the early 1960s Davis was playing exhibitions in aid of cancer charities, but soon even this limited amount of snooker activity dried up.

Following tours of Canada and Australia (where he won an international tournament in 1960) and after an exhibition in Pontefract where he performed in front of only a handful of people, Davis effectively went into retirement.

Davis's familiarity with long matches contested over several weeks in his prime meant he was not immediately suited to the single-frame format of the event; however, he adapted well to it, finishing as runner-up to John Spencer in the 1971 series.

[28] Soon after winning a Professional Snooker Association of Canada's Invitation Event, in which he defeated Paul Thornley in the final in May 1970,[29] Davis suffered the first of two heart attacks, and did not participate in the 1970 World Championship, which was held in Australia and won by John Spencer.

[30] He lost 31–21 to Spencer in his first match in the 1972 championship, but defeated David Greaves 16–1 in the second round of the 1973 championship before losing to Alex Higgins, the defending champion, 16–14 in the quarter-finals, a match most notable for a leak in the roof which forced rain to stop play while a cover was found and the position of each ball marked.

[34] In 1975, Davis travelled to Australia to compete in the World Championship, where he played Dennis Taylor,[35] but lost by a single frame, 15–14.

[35] The 1975 Watney Open in Leeds provided some consolation, and Davis beat Patsy Fagan 13–9 and John Spencer 13–12 before losing 17–11 in the final to Alex Higgins.

Davis missed a crucial brown ball in the deciding frame, having made a break of 107 during the match, and Reardon won 10–9.

[38] He reached the semi-finals of the 1978 World Snooker Championship, at the age of 64, having defeated John Virgo 9–8, Dennis Taylor 13–9 and Patsy Fagan 13–10.

[42] In early 1979 Davis met Alex Higgins in the final of the Castle Open (an event hosted at Bernard Bennett's club in Southampton).

This match was to be his last victory at the Crucible Theatre, but Davis compiled the first century of the championship, a break of 109 in the sixth frame — an effort even applauded by the referee.

[45] During the first World Challenge Cup in 1979 Davis acted as England's captain (the team was completed by John Spencer and Graham Miles).

[49] Earlier in the season he played in his last Masters, beating Kirk Stevens 5–4 in the first round before losing to Terry Griffiths 5–2 in the quarter-finals.

[57] At the press conference, Davis announced he was now retired from competitive snooker but would keep playing in UK-based billiard tournaments.

However, he was quick to point out that standards differed markedly from those of the 1930s when the top players made such large breaks that they killed the game as popular entertainment.

Davis beat Paddy Morgan 1907–978, John Barrie 1253-1153 and Mark Wildman 3037–2064 in the final to pocket £4000, then a record for a billiards event.

In March 1982 he was defeated by a record narrow margin of six points in the semi-finals whilst defending his world title, as eventual champion Rex Williams beat him 1500–1494.

[64] In the 1983 event he beat Clive Everton and Eddie Charlton en route to the final where he lost to Rex Williams 1500–605, but took the highest break prize for an effort of 427.

[citation needed] In the 1985 World Championship he defeated Clive Everton 3–1 in round one, but fell 3–0 to Australian Robby Foldvari in the quarter-finals.

[76] Davis retired in 1993, aged 79, having lost to future world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–1 in the Grand Prix qualifying during his last season.

[77][78] Four months later he lost 5–0 to Mark King in the sixth round of qualifying for the 1993 event; it was Davis' last World Championship match.

He said then that he would have loved to continue playing, but was prevented from doing so by the severe arthritis in his left knee which made it painful to walk.

Davis withdrew because of intense discomfort caused by his arthritis and confirmed his withdrawal twice with the tournament director, David Harrison.

Davis was furious that his unblemished 60-year career had been called into question by a disciplinary board and took up his case via association member Ian Doyle.