Alex Higgins v John Spencer 1980

[bigcherry99]

the cue could not have screwed back if it was a push shot!

.

how can they do this to our beloved alex?

.

the peoples champion always had to fight against the odds, but he still won our hearts!

[Keithj136]

good lord Clive wot an enormous push stroke that is....have you been drinking ?

[hearts76100]

Hard to say! Poor quality vid so im not sure.

[phdgraffiti]

Clearly a foul. Move the arrow on your screen to where the cueball contacts the yellow. When he shoots the cueball goes ahead of where the yellow was instead of starting off 90 degree's to the potting line and then screwing back as in a legal stroke. You can still get decent screw on the cueball on a push shot.

[Mrphilharmonic]

The action that Higgins put on the cue ball precludes any notion that it could have been a foul. Had the cue fouled the cue ball it would not have taken the path that it did. Any referee should know that. Bad call Jim!!

[Allanbruun]

Clearly foul..

[shakercoola]

Scandal...he did the same thing in 1974 to Higgins as you hear. He was biased towards him.

[jordansoleil]

Clive Everton probably even commentated when Adam & Eve played in Paradise.

[dagreatmogul]

@jordansoleil Clive Everton IS Adam!

[dudewithpool]

not a clean stroke... foul, and i even like Higgins as a player

[JohnRagoon]

if you look really closely you can clearly see Jim Thorpe is an idiot.

[Laurat543]

Who the hell do you think you are to say that??! Even alex higgins wrote in his book that jim thorpe was the most honest ref in the game. After this particular match they showed it in slow motion and jim thorpe was right.

[Laurat543]

The ref was absolutely right and id like to know what you mean by the referee "who was prone to the odd gaff"

[jjddww12345]

@Laurat543 Thorpe was not a very good referee and did make a good few mistakes.

[AFT3623]

@jjddww12345 A brave ref. Always fair. Checkout Kevinleverne explanation below, this is absolutly correct

[conostar]

@Laurat543 never a push shot

[Laurat543]

@conostar - obviously dont know what ur on about

[boxxichampion]

@Laurat543 I agree with you. The white ball skidded forward before the spin took over. The tip, cue ball and object ball certainly all came into contact with each other causing the foul.

[gavpots]

The ref was right in this instance. A brave call and a correct one. The white is about a ball width "through" where the object ball had been before the screw takes hold; not possible on a legal stroke.

[thechessstick]

Spencer should have just resigned the frame. That would have made the referee think twice.

[lausie66]

and they wonder why he ended up headbutting one of them

[Anonomousxxx]

hmmm

doesn't look a push shot at all

he was screwing back and there was plenty of distance between the balls

[kevinleverne]

Clearly a push shot. Pause the video at 50 sec. and hold a pen at 90 degree's to the line of the pot where the cue ball and yellow make contact. On a legal screw shot the cueball leaves the yellow at about 90 degrees to the line of the pot and then curves as the screw grips the cloth. Using a pen as a 90 degree marker you can clearly see the cue ball comes way ahead of 90 which can only be done with a push or double hit. Check out youtube video "Byrne's foul shot explanation" for examples.

[jambamz]

WTF is this ref all about

[jpjames1]

Strange shot either way. He wasn't gonna get on a red from there anyway

[eatalettuce]

What I find interesting about this is the way Higgins, near the top of his game, accepts a controvertial decision with next to no protestations.  Contrast this with the rants at officials that followed in later years as his play began to slide...

Fascinating clip thanks for posting

[piggymichael]

Ref could have been right, you can hit the cue ball twice and still get back spin on the white.

[BackwoodPictures]

Quite right. I don't think he did in this case though. Even though Alex's technique doesn't help him.

[darrencjones]

well.....dear me . the ref made a rite hash of that. although john spencer was glad ! spencer in i think 72 played a shot down table to hit a red that was touching the pink. ref called foul !!! ref thought he hit the pink. what goes around hey ..

[geekyviking]

Both players look utterly confused.

[jjddww12345]

Yes it was a terrible decison by the referee who was prone to the odd gaff

[corbyswifts]

never never never, were was the ref he should have been behind the play anyway, no wonder alex went on benders.