Joseph Johnson (born Joseph Malik, 29 July 1952) is an English former professional snooker player and a snooker commentator for Eurosport. As an amateur, he became the British champion in 1971, defeating George Crimes in the final. He turned professional in 1979, having reached the finals of both the English Amateur Championship and the World Amateur Championship the previous year. He appeared in his first ranking final at the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, where he was runner-up to Tony Knowles, and he progressed to the semi-finals of the 1985 Classic.

With first-round losses in his two previous World Snooker Championship appearances, Johnson started off as a 1501 outsider at the 1986 World Championship. He defeated Terry Griffiths 1312 in the quarter-finals, Knowles 168 in the semi-finals, and Steve Davis 1812 in the final to win the world title, the only ranking title of his career. As the defending champion in 1987, he defeated Stephen Hendry 1312 in the quarter-finals and Neal Foulds 169 in the semi-finals, before losing 1418 to Davis in the final. After reaching two consecutive World Championship finals, Johnson subsequently won only one match in the main stage of the competition, defeating Cliff Wilson in the first round in 1988.

His best performances in the other two Triple Crown events were a semi-final appearance at the 1987 UK Championship where he lost 49 to Jimmy White, and another at the 1988 Masters where he lost 36 to Davis. Having reached a career high of fifth place in the 1987–88 snooker world rankings, he dropped out of the world's top 16 after the 198990 season. Johnson made his last Crucible appearance at the 1991 World Championship, losing in the first round to Dennis Taylor. Johnson continued playing on the professional tour until 2005, when he retired at age 53 after breaking his ankle. He later competed in seniors events and won the 2019 Seniors Masters.

Early life and amateur career Joseph Malik was born on 29 July 1952, in Bradford, England. His mother's name was Margaret, and his father was engineer Malik Farooq, who was Pakistani and died in 1974. The couple separated when Joe was four years old. Margaret later married Ken Johnson, and Joe's surname was changed to Johnson. Ken encouraged his stepson to play snooker after he had become interested in the game at the age of about seven, and bought him a small table when he was 11. Johnson started playing on full-size tables four years later. Johnson became the national champion in 1971, defeating George Crimes 30 in the final, and was Yorkshire champion three times.

He set a record in 1978 for the highest compiled by an amateur player, recording a 140 break at the TUC Club in Middlesbrough. The same year, after finishing second to Terry Griffiths in the English Amateur Championship, Johnson represented England at the World Amateur Snooker Championship in Malta. He reached the final, where he was defeated 511 by Cliff Wilson; they were level at five each after the first , but Wilson won six consecutive frames for the victory. Johnson made the highest break of the tournament, a 101.

In 1979, he was accepted as a professional snooker player by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association along with Wilson, Tony Meo and Mike Hallett. Before taking up snooker professionally, Johnson worked as an apprentice motor mechanic and as a gasfitter.

Professional career Early years Johnson achieved little success in his early professional career. At the 1979 Canadian Open, he was exempted until the fifth round and defeated Steve Baruda 54 after making a 100 break in the first frame. He defeated John Bear 97 in the next round but then lost 29 to Kirk Stevens in the last 16. Johnson won the billiards competition that was running alongside the snooker event, defeating Ian Williamson 500284 in the final.

At the 1980 World Championship, he defeated Roy Andrewartha 95 in the first round of qualifying but lost his next match 69 to Pat Houlihan. At the 1981 World Championship, he took a 43 lead against Tony Meo after the first session but lost in the .

In the 1981–82 season, Johnson progressed through several rounds of the 1981 Jameson International. After beating Jim Donnelly 54 and Murdo MacLeod 51, he received a walkover against John Pulman. He next defeated Jim Wych 52 but then lost 35 to Graham Miles in the last 24.

He began the 1981 UK Championship with a 9–1 win against Tommy Murphy, followed by a 93 defeat of Mike Watterson and a 94 win against Cliff Wilson. In the next round, he beat the former world champion John Spencer 95, earning himself a tie against another former world champion, Ray Reardon, to whom he lost 79. Johnson defeated Vic Harris 94 in the qualifying rounds of the 1982 World Championship and reached the last 48, where he lost 89 to Mike Hallett.

1982–1985: Ranking event finalist In the qualifying competition for the 1982 Jameson International, Johnson received a walkover against John Phillips and then faced Cliff Wilson, losing 45 after building a 42 lead. He won the first ranking points of his career in October 1982, at the Professional Players Tournament, where he followed a 51 win against Graham Miles with a 51 win against sixth-ranked Kirk Stevens and a 54 win against Mark Wildman in the last 16. He took the first frame of the quarter-final against John Virgo but then lost five in a row to be defeated 15. As one of six players outside the world's "top eight" to have progressed furthest in the tournament, Johnson was awarded a place at the 1983 Masters; however, he lost his opening match 25 to Cliff Thorburn. At the 1983 World Championship, he recorded a 100 against Paul Watchorn in the first round of qualifying but then lost 810 to Wilson, missing his chance to reach the main stage of the event.

For the 1983–84 season, Johnson's points from the previous season placed him 23rd in the world rankings. He defeated Dennis Hughes 51 in the last 48 of the 1983 International Open, before losing 25 to Eddie Charlton in the last 32. He began the untelevised 1983 Professional Players Tournament with a 53 win against Pascal Burke, also defeating Jimmy White 53 and Charlton 50. He then beat Thorburn 51 in the quarter-finals and Tony Meo 96 in the semi-finals to reach his first major final, where he faced Tony Knowles. From 16 down, Johnson compiled a 135 break (the highest of the tournament) and levelled the match at 88, but Knowles secured the deciding frame for the title.

Johnson reached the quarter-finals of the 1983 UK Championship by defeating Matt Gibson and Virgo, both 96, and David Taylor 93. In the quarter-final against Terry Griffiths, which was Johnson's first televised match as a professional, he lost the first seven frames and was defeated 29. At the qualifying event for the 1984 World Championship, he won his encounter with Gibson 103 to earn his debut in the main competition at the Crucible Theatre, where he met Dennis Taylor in the first round for a 110 defeat.

Ranked 19th at the start of the 198485 season, Johnson recorded a 31 quarter-final win against Mick Fisher at the 1984 Costa Del Sol Classic, but he lost 23 to Dennis Taylor in the semi-finals. At the 1984 International Open, after beating Mario Morra 5‍–‍0 and Charlton 5‍–‍1, he was defeated again by Taylor, losing 2‍–‍5 in the last 16. At his next ranking event, the 1984 Grand Prix, Johnson defeated Paul Medati 51 but lost 45 to Ian Williamson in the last 32. He began the 1984 UK Championship by defeating John Rea 96, and John Spencer by the same score in the last 32, before losing 29 to Stevens in the last 16. At the 1985 Mercantile Credit Classic, he defeated Ray Edmonds and Knowles to reach the last 16, where he whitewashed Wilson 50 to achieve his first televised match victory after three defeats in other events. He then progressed to the semi-finals after a 53 win against Warren King. According to Janice Hale of The Daily Telegraph, Johnson "failed to reproduce any of the fighting form which he displayed in the final of last season's Professional Players Tournament" as he lost 29 to Thorburn.

In 1985, Johnson competed in the main stage of the World Championship for the second time, after defeating Geoff Foulds 106 in qualifying. He played Bill Werbeniuk in the first round; having not won a match all season, Werbeniuk made a 143 break in the tenth frame—the third-highest break ever recorded at the championship at that time—and defeated Johnson 108.

1986 World Champion

Johnson began the 1985–86 season ranked 16th, inside the top 16 for the first time in his career. He was relatively unheralded at the start of the 1986 World Championship, having only ever won one televised match. Johnson was rated a 1501 outsider going into the championship, his only two previous Crucible appearances having ended in first-round defeats. His best results during the season had been quarter-final finishes at the 1985 Matchroom Trophy (where he lost 35 to Neal Foulds) and at the 1986 Classic (where he lost 45 to Cliff Thorburn).

He defeated Dave Martin 10–3 in the first round, for his first win in three appearances at the main stage of the World Championship. In the second round, he took a 53 lead against Mike Hallett after the first session, eventually winning the match 136. He then met former world champion Terry Griffiths in the quarter-finals; Johnson was leading 97 before the final session, but Griffiths won five straight frames to lead 129; Johnson took the next four frames (including two century breaks) to triumph 1312. He defeated Tony Knowles in the semi-finals, despite being in severe pain from a cyst on his back, winning the last two frames of the match for a 168 victory. Leading by 75 at the halfway point, Johnson was in so much pain that he very nearly conceded the match, and a doctor had to be called in to administer pain relief.

His opponent in the final was world number one Steve Davis, this being their first professional match against one another. Davis—who had already won the World Championship three times—was considered highly likely to win the title, as reflected in the bookmakers' odds of 29 for Davis and 51 for Johnson. Davis won three of the first four frames, compiling century breaks of 108 and 107. Johnson responded by taking the next three frames to finish the first session 43 ahead. Davis started the second session by winning four frames in a row to lead 74. Johnson won four consecutive frames after the mid-session interval, before Davis clinched the last frame of the session to leave the match level at 88 overnight.

On the second day of the final, Johnson wore an unusual pair of red, pink and white leather shoes, subsequently gaining the nickname "The Shoe". Resuming the match, he won another run of four frames to take a 128 lead. Gordon Burn wrote in his book Pocket Money (1986), "From the beginning of the third session he played an open game full of flair and daring and the length-of-the-table, long-potting which had been so characteristic of Steve Davis in the days when he was still making his name." The session concluded with Johnson ahead 1311. In the final session of the match, the crowd appeared to favour Johnson, who had played with an attacking style throughout the tournament. After winning three of the next four frames to lead 1612 at the interval, he added frame 29 and compiled a break of 64 in frame 30 to win the match 1812. Claiming the world title helped to lift Johnson from 16th place in the world rankings to eighth for 198687.

When he was not playing in a match, Johnson was seen at the tournament wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Bradford's Bouncing Back"—a reference to the Bradford City stadium fire a year earlier. His victory at the World Championship led to an appearance on the television show Wogan and a personal appearance accompanying pop star Cliff Richard to watch Wimbledon.