The Snooker Season Starts Here Don’t Miss Our UK Championship Special | Other | Sport
First held in Blackpool in 1977, initially as a non-ranking event, it has gone from strength to strength over the years. Along with the Masters and the World Championship, it is one of the sport’s Triple Crown events.
And our Star special edition is the perfect way to get ready for this year’s tournament – order your copy online today.
The Championship’s list of winners is a who’s who of snooker stardom. Ronnie O’Sullivan took a record-extending eighth UK title in 2023. In doing so, the Rocket became the tournament’s oldest winner, surpassing 1988’s victor Doug Mountjoy.
Steve Davis is next on the list with six titles, with Stephen Hendry in third on five. The Scottish legend was a runner-up on five other occasions.
Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson and John Higgins each have three UK titles to their name, while Mountjoy, Mark Williams, Mark Selby and last year’s winner, Judd Trump, have all won it twice.
Its first winner was Irishman Patsy Fagan, who defeated Mountjoy in the 1977 final.
One of the tournament’s early winners was Big Break legend and BBC commentator John Virgo, who triumphed in 1979. Virgo’s victory was chaotic, to say the least.
He defeated Terry Griffiths 14-13 despite being docked two frames for arriving late for the final session, which was brought forward to midday to accommodate live TV coverage on the BBC’s long-running weekend sports show, Grandstand.
However, Virgo wasn’t aware and was 30 minutes late to the arena. Despite his penalty, he still managed to fend off a fightback from Welshman Griffiths. Sadly, those final few frames were not aired due to a strike by BBC staff.
By that point, the tournament had moved to the Guild Hall in Preston, where it remained until the late 1990s.
It switched to the BIC in Bournemouth in 1998, but was on the move again, to York, in 2001.
There was a four-year stint at the Telford International Centre before the tournament returned in 2011 to the Barbican, which will see 32 of the world’s best battle it out over the next few weeks.
The UK Championship remains one of the most lucrative tournaments on the snooker calendar with a prize fund of just over £1.2m.
The winner will pocket £250,000, with the runner-up taking home £100,000.
In our special edition we hear from some of the leading contenders – including world No.1 Judd Trump – profile the world’s top 16, chat to legends of the game over the importance of the tournament and examine why snooker is at a crossroads. Don’t hang around order your copy online today.
Available to purchase in participating supermarkets, high street retailers and independent newsagents from November 19, 2025. Online purchase excludes postage and packaging.
