Notable moments

• The 1974 World Championship turned out to be a disappointment after 1973's
  World Snooker Championship 1973
  The 1973 Park Drive World Snooker Championship snooker tournament took place at the City Exhibition Hall, Deansgate, Manchester between 16–28 April 1973.Ray Reardon won in the final 38–22 against Eddie Charlton.- Notable moments :...
  
   success. The building at Belle Vue was perhaps too reminiscent of a vast aircraft hangar and the pattern of results was a promoter's nightmare.
• Of the name players, John Spencer
  John Spencer (snooker player)
  John Spencer was an English professional snooker player who won the World Professional title at his first attempt, was the first winner at the Crucible Theatre, was the inaugural winner of the Masters and Irish Masters and was the first player to make a 147 break in competition...
  
   lost his first round match 13–15 to South Africa's Perrie Mans
  Perrie Mans
  Pierre "Perrie" Mans is a retired professional snooker player from South Africa, who first won the South African professional championship in 1965, and went on to win it 19 times in total.-Career:...
  
  ; Eddie Charlton
  Eddie Charlton
  Edward Francis Charlton AM was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning either title...
  
   went out to a lifetime best performance by John Dunning
  John Dunning (snooker player)
  John Dunning was an English professional player of snooker. Considered a Yorkshireman through and through, he was eleven times Yorkshire amateur champion. In 1964, he became CIU champion, beating Geoff Thompson in the final, making this his best win as an amateur...
  
  , a dour Yorkshireman also 13–15; and Alex Higgins
  Alex Higgins
  Alexander Gordon "Alex" Higgins , also known by his nickname of Hurricane Higgins, was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who was twice World Champion and twice runner-up. Higgins earned the nickname The Hurricane because of his speed of play...
  
   lost the last three frames to Fred Davis to lose their quarter-final by the odd frame. Ray Reardon
  Ray Reardon
  Ray Reardon, MBE is a retired Welsh snooker player. He dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning six World Championships in that decade...
  
   had his most difficult match in the quarter-final against Marcus Owen, The younger brother of Gary Owen who had turned professional after regaining the 1973 English Amateur title he won three time between 1958 and 1967. Reardon then went on to beat Birmingham's Graham Miles
  Graham Miles
  Graham Miles is a retired English snooker player.Miles turned professional in 1969. He first gained recognition in 1974, when he reached the final of the World Championship. Although he lost 22–12 to Ray Reardon, this turned out to be the highlight of his career...
  
   22–12 to win his third world title.
• First timers include Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
  's Bill Werbeniuk
  Bill Werbeniuk
  William Alexander "Bill" Werbeniuk was a Canadian professional snooker and pool player. Recognisable for his girth, he was nicknamed "Big Bill"...
  
   who beat Geoff Thompson 8–3 before losing to Fred Davis 5–15 in the second round.
• The total prize money for this years event was £10,000, with the winner picking £2,000 up.
• The final session was televised by the BBC.

Main draw

Qualification

Best of 15 frames
John Dunning John Dunning (snooker player) John Dunning was an English professional player of snooker. Considered a Yorkshireman through and through, he was eleven times Yorkshire amateur champion. In 1964, he became CIU champion, beating Geoff Thompson in the final, making this his best win as an amateur...	8–2	David Greaves
Warren Simpson Warren Simpson Warren Simpson was an Australian professional snooker player.In 1971, he reached the final of the World Snooker Championship, losing 37-29 to John Spencer which was played in Sydney, Australia in November 1970....	8–3	Jackie Rea Jackie Rea Jack 'Jackie' Rea is a retired snooker player from Northern Ireland.Rea was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland...
Jim Meadowcroft Jim Meadowcroft Jim Meadowcroft is a retired English professional snooker player who has latterly been a coach and a commentator on the game....	8–5	Pat Houlihan Pat Houlihan Patrick "Pat" Houlihan was an English snooker player. He was born in Deptford, London.He turned professional in 1971 at the age of 42 after many years as an amateur including beating future world champion John Spencer 11-3 at Blackpool Tower during the 1965 World Amateur Championship...
Cliff Thorburn Cliff Thorburn Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn CM, known as Cliff Thorburn is a retired professional Canadian snooker player...	8–3	A. McDonald
John Pulman John Pulman John Pulman was an English professional snooker player who dominated the game throughout the 1960s....	8–0	Jack Karnehm Jack Karnehm Jack Karnehm was a British snooker commentator, who was regularly heard on BBC television from 1978 until 1993, and a former amateur world champion and professional national champion at the game of English billiards.karnehmwas also a profesional snooker and billiards player.Besides his...
David Taylor David Taylor (snooker player) David Taylor is a semi-retired English professional snooker player. He won the World and English Amateur Championships in 1968, before the success of those wins encouraged him to turn professional. Although an excellent player, Taylor never quite reached the very top of the game...	8–7	Ron Gross
Marcus Owen	8–1	Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor is a retired snooker player, and current BBC snooker commentator. Winner of two ranking events, he is best known for winning the 1985 World Championship, beating World number one Steve Davis on the final black in one of the sport's most memorable finals...