The 1977 Pot Black was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which was held in the Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, and this year, the tournament expanded from 8 to 12 players. All matches were one-frame shoot-outs.
Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 21:00 on Friday 7 January 1977 Alan Weeks presented the programme with Ted Lowe as commentator and Sydney Lee as referee.
With 12 players now competing in this series, the round robin format has now become 4 groups of 3 players. The two debutants Perrie Mans and Doug Mountjoy faced each other in the final which Mans won 90–21.
Main draw
The draw for the group stages was done by Denis Howell, the Minister of Sport and shown before the first match.
Group 1
Player 1ScorePlayer 2Broadcast Date Eddie Charlton1–0 Rex Williams7 January 1977 Cliff Thorburn1–0 Rex Williams4 February 1977 Eddie Charlton0–1 Cliff Thorburn4 March 1977
Group 2
Player 1ScorePlayer 2Broadcast Date John Spencer0–1 Doug Mountjoy14 January 1977 Doug Mountjoy1–0 John Pulman11 February 1977 John Spencer0–1 John Pulman11 March 1977
Group 3
Player 1ScorePlayer 2Broadcast Date Fred Davis1–0 Ray Reardon21 January 1977 Perrie Mans1–0 Fred Davis18 February 1977 Ray Reardon0–1 Perrie Mans18 March 1977
Group 4
Player 1ScorePlayer 2Broadcast Date Graham Miles1–0 Dennis Taylor28 January 1977 Willie Thorne1–0 Dennis Taylor25 February 1977 Graham Miles0–1 Willie Thorne25 March 1977
Knockout stage
References