The 1987 Rothmans Matchroom League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from January to May 1987. It featured the seven players under contract from Barry Hearn's Matchroom stable which were Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, Terry Griffiths, Willie Thorne, Tony Meo, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds along with invited player Cliff Thorburn. Matches were played mostly around sports and leisure centres and town halls across the UK.
Steve Davis topped the table and won the tournament. __TOC__
League phase
Ranking DAV FOU GRI TAY WHI MEO THO THO FrameW-L MatchW-D-L Pld-Pts Winner Steve Davis x 6 4 6 3 7 3 7 36–20 4–1–2 7–13 Neal Foulds 2 x 4 5 6 4 6 4 31–25 3–3–1 7–12 3 Jimmy White 5 2 6 5 x 1 4 4 27–29 3–2–2 7–11 4 Terry Griffiths 4 4 x 4 2 5 6 3 28–28 2–3–2 7–9 5 Dennis Taylor 2 3 4 x 3 7 5 4 28–28 2–2–3 7–8 6 Tony Meo 1 4 3 1 7 x 4 6 26–30 2–2–3 7–8 7 Cliff Thorburn 5 2 2 3 4 4 x 5 25–31 2–2–3 7–8 8 Willie Thorne 1 4 5 4 4 2 3 x 23–33 1–3–3 7–6
The table points were decided by frame wins, followed by match wins to determine players' positions. If two players had an identical record then the result in their match determined their positions. If that ended 4–4 then the player who got to four first was higher.
17 January – Torbay Leisure Centre Dennis Taylor 4–4 Terry Griffiths Steve Davis 7–1 Willie Thorne 18 January – St David's Hall, Cardiff Dennis Taylor 7–1 Tony Meo Steve Davis 4–4 Terry Griffiths 24 January – Central Hall, York Terry Griffiths 5–3 Tony Meo Jimmy White 5–3 Dennis Taylor 14 February – Granby Halls Leisure Centre, Leicester Neal Foulds 6–2 Cliff Thorburn Willie Thorne 4–4 Jimmy White 14 March – Woodford Leisure Centre, Kingston-upon-Hull Neal Foulds 4–4 Terry Griffiths Steve Davis 7–1 Tony Meo 15 March – Mansfield Leisure Centre Willie Thorne 5–3 Terry Griffiths Steve Davis 6–2 Neal Foulds 4 April – Brighton Centre Cliff Thorburn 5–3 Willie Thorne Steve Davis 6–2 Dennis Taylor 5 April – Derngate, Northampton Neal Foulds 5–3 Dennis Taylor Cliff Thorburn 5–3 Steve Davis 11 April – Richard Dunn Sports Centre, Bradford Neal Foulds 4–4 Willie Thorne Tony Meo 7–1 Jimmy White 12 April – Fairfield Halls, Croydon Jimmy White 6–2 Terry Griffiths Dennis Taylor 5–3 Cliff Thorburn 9 May – Gloucester Leisure Centre Tony Meo 6–2 Willie Thorne Cliff Thorburn 4–4 Jimmy White 10 May – Assembly Rooms, Derby Terry Griffiths 6–2 Cliff Thorburn Jimmy White 5–3 Steve Davis 16 May – Cleethorpes Leisure Centre 'Tony Meo 4–4 Cliff Thorburn Neal Foulds 6–2 Jimmy White 17 May – Everton Park Sports Centre, Liverpool Neal Foulds 4–4 Tony Meo Dennis Taylor 4–4 Willie Thorne
References