Editing Rex Williams (section)

===World professional billiards championship and the WPBSA===
Williams won the [[World Professional Billiards Championship]] seven times from 1968 to 1983, including a reign as champion from 1968 to 1980.<ref name="87HALE">{{cite book |last=Hale |first=Janice |date=1987 |title=Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987–88  |location=Aylesbury |publisher=Queen Anne Press |page=275 |isbn=0356146901 }}</ref> In 1968, Williams was on a trip to Australia, and decided to travel to Auckland in New Zealand to play the reigning champion [[Clark McConachy]] for the billiards title, which had not been contested since McConachy's 1951 win. By this time, McConachy was 73, and his play was affected by his [[Parkinson's disease]]. Williams won the title 5,499–5,234, and made the match's highest break, 293.<ref name="GUINNESS">{{cite book |last=Everton |first=Clive |date=1985 |title=Guinness Snooker – The Records |publisher=Guinness Superlatives Ltd |isbn=0851124488}}</ref>{{rp|154–156}}<ref name="HBIL" />{{rp|141–142, 213}}

[[Leslie Driffield]] was nominated as the BA&CC challenger to Williams for the professional Billiards Championship. Williams declined to play Driffield within the five months time limit that the BA&CC had set, which expired on 7 July 1970, and forfeited the title, which was then contested between Driffield and [[Jack Karnehm]] in June 1971. On 1 October 1970, the PBPA disaffiliated from the BA&CC. The PBPA changed its name to the [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]] on 12 December 1970, and declared itself the governing body for the professional game, recognising Williams as champion. Driffield and Karnehm were, at first, the only two professionals to recognise the BA&CC as continuing to have authority over the game.<ref name="EVERTONBFA">{{cite book|author=Clive Everton|title=Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards: The Inside Story of the Snooker World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7O7SQxTjSLIC|year= 2011|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|isbn=978-1-78057-399-1}}</ref>{{rp|44–45}}<ref name="HBIL" />{{rp|pages=146–147}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Everton |first=Clive |date=14 November 1988 |title=A great billiards amateur |work=The Guardian |page=39 |id={{ProQuest|<!--ProQuest data goes here--> }}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=30 September 1970 |title=Challenge taken |work=The Guardian |page=19 |via=ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer. Retrieved 20 September 2019.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/1174311.stm |title=WPBSA v TSN |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |date=16 February 2001 |access-date=20 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030101203136/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/1174311.stm |archive-date=1 January 2003 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wpbsa.com/about/history/history-of-the-wpbsa/ |title=History of The WPBSA |website=wpbsa.com |publisher=World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association |access-date=20 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810132839/https://www.wpbsa.com/about/history/history-of-the-wpbsa/ |archive-date=10 August 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During the 1970s, Williams made four successful defences of his title, against [[Bernard Bennett]] in 1971, Karnehm in 1973, and [[Eddie Charlton]] in 1974 and 1976.<ref name="HBIL" />{{rp|pages=214}} He also won the 1979 UK Championship, which was the first time the event had been held since Fred Davis won in 1951. Williams beat Karnehm in the semi-final and John Barrie 2,952–2,116 in the final. He reached the 1980 and 1981 UK finals, both against Karnehm, losing 2,423–2,518 in 1980 and winning 1,592–1,112 in 1981.<ref name="GUINNESS" />{{rp|113–115,118}}<ref name="HBIL" />{{rp|160}}<ref name="BDP79">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Rex Williams coasts to victory |work=Birmingham Daily Post |date=12 February 1979 |page=12}}</ref>

Williams lost the world title to Fred Davis in May 1980. Davis made a break of 583, the highest in the world championship for 46 years, in beating Williams 5,978–4,452. The championship then reverted to a knockout format, and was held in November 1980, with Williams losing to [[Mark Wildman]] in the semi-final. At the next staging, in 1982, Williams regained the title by beating Wildman 3,000–1,785 in the final; he retained it in 1983 with a 1,500–605 victory over Davis in the final. Unhappy at not being allowed to use a practice table near another match at the 1983 tournament, Williams had left the venue and returned late for his semi-final against [[Ray Edmonds]], causing the match to start 48 minutes late. There were no rules in place for penalties for late arrivals, but following complaints to the WPBSA, Williams was fined £500 by the association, and resigned as chairman, but remained on the board. Three weeks later, he accepted the board's invitation to become chairman again.<ref name="HBIL" />{{rp|162–164,214}} He continued as chairman until 1987, and took the role again from 1997 to 1999.<ref name="WPBSA1" /><ref name="Thompson"/> In 2001, he was expelled from the Association following alleged [[fiduciary]] irregularities and asked to repay legal costs of £28,268,<ref>{{cite news |last=Rowland |first=James |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/snooker-williams-is-expelled-after-investigation-9130183.html |location=London |work=The Independent |title=Snooker: Williams is expelled after investigation |access-date=3 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305084555/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/snooker-williams-is-expelled-after-investigation-9130183.html |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> but was reinstated as a full member the following year. The Association apologised for its actions "unequivocally".<ref>{{cite news |last=Dee |first=John |date=2 May 2002 |title=Snooker: O'Sullivan rides luck in grudge match |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/snooker/3027062/Snooker-OSullivan-rides-luck-in-grudge-match.html |work=The Daily Telegraph (London) |access-date=28 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229015332/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/snooker/3027062/Snooker-OSullivan-rides-luck-in-grudge-match.html |archive-date=29 February 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>