Page "Ray Reardon" Paragraph 2

Aged 15 Reardon beat fellow Welshman Jack Cowey in the British youth championship.

Having won the Welsh amateur title from 1950 – 1955, Reardon failed to win the English title when he entered the event in 1956 and 1957.

Finally upon re-entering the 1964 event, he won the English Amateur title, defeating John Spencer 11 – 8 in the final.

This victory led to an invitation to tour South Africa.

This proved to be so successful that Reardon was offered the chance to tour it again as a professional.

On the back of this, Reardon resigned as a policeman and duly turned professional in 1967.