Talk:Jimmy White/GA1

Review

Reviewer: Metalicat (talk) 13:10, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

This is a thorough and well-researched article on one of snooker's most recognisable figures. The sourcing is strong throughout, with good use of newspaper archives, Snooker Scene magazine, books and reliable web sources. I've read through the article in detail and have some points below, mostly minor prose and MoS issues with a few sourcing queries.

Colour coding: "suggested new text" and "existing text that could be changed".

General comments

1. The lead is well-written and covers the key aspects of his career. One small point: the lead says he has "won ten ranking events" in the first sentence, which is then repeated almost verbatim in the third paragraph with "White's ten ranking event titles currently place him twelfth...". Consider trimming the repetition.

Amended. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 22:09, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, that reads much better now. Metalicat (talk) 23:19, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

1. Throughout the article, there are several instances where "however" and "despite" are used quite frequently, sometimes in close succession. A pass to vary the connectives would tighten the prose.I've removed a fair few. Canary757
2. The article uses "he" and "White" alternation well for the most part, but in a few places two or three sentences in a row begin with "White" or "He", which becomes a bit repetitive. A light restructuring in those spots would improve the flow. ce to improve. Canary757

Early life and influences

1. "He never achieved academic success, as he was often truant from school from the age of eight or nine, spending more and more time at Ted Zanincelli's snooker hall, Zan's." This sentence does a lot of work. Consider splitting it: "He never achieved academic success and was often truant from school from the age of eight or nine. He spent increasing amounts of time at Ted Zanincelli's snooker hall, Zan's."
2. "with stakes put up by taxi driver "Dodgy Bob" Davis, who also drove them to the venues." The nickname is colourful but is it how the sources refer to him? If so, fine; just flagging in case this is informal shorthand. (I suspect from the book sources it is the standard way he's referred to, in which case no issue.)
3. The Belfast Telegraph source has a typo in the original URL: "ecapades" rather than "escapades". This doesn't affect the citation itself, but worth noting.
4. "Speaking much later about Higgins' influence on his career, White said that watching Higgins play in the 1970s was..." Two uses of "Higgins" in quick succession. Consider: "Speaking much later about Higgins' influence on his career, White said that watching him play in the 1970s was..."
5. "In 1976, club owner Henry West, who managed leading snooker prospect Patsy Fagan, met White at Zan's and became the manager for him and Meo." "...became his and Meo's manager" or "...became manager for both White and Meo" would read more naturally.

1,4,5. Amended per suggestion.

2. As some examples, this appears in Burn (1986), White & Kingsland (1998), Malone (2009), and Everton (2012).

3. Noted. According to WP:SIC, "For the sake of accuracy and indexing, the titles of referenced sources should not be corrected for spelling". BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 22:39, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for confirming the sources and making the changes. fair point on WP:SIC. Metalicat (talk) 23:19, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Career: 1977–1991

1. "White lost 2–3 to Meo in the final of the 1977 Pontins Junior Championship" Good to start with the early career, but since the previous section ends in 1976, the transition is smooth.
2. "He won the London Section of the tournament by defeating Danny Adds 4–1 in the final" Should "Section" be capitalised? If that's the official name used in sources then fine, but if not, lowercase may be more appropriate.
3. "The Billiards and Snooker Control Council decided to exclude White from the 1980 World Amateur Snooker Championship as a punishment because he appeared to have been impaired by drinking alcohol during a Home International match against Steve Newbury, but reversed that decision the following week." This is a long sentence. Consider splitting after "Steve Newbury" with a full stop, then starting a new sentence: "The decision was reversed the following week."
4. "He sealed victory with an 11–2 win against Ron Atkins and became the youngest winner of the title." The "sealed victory" phrasing implies he was already winning. Since this was the final, perhaps "He won the final 11–2 against Ron Atkins, becoming the youngest winner of the title."
5. "A photoshoot with Patrick Lichfield was arranaged to provide press pictures." Typo: "arranged".
6. "At the start of the 1981–82 snooker season, White won his first professional title, the non-ranking Scottish Masters, having defeated Ray Reardon and Davis in matches that went to a deciding frame before beating Cliff Thorburn 9–4 in the final." Another long sentence. Consider splitting after "deciding frame".
7. "White trailed 0–3 and 1–4 but then won eight frames in succession to win the title and the £8,000 first prize." This works, but "in succession" could be "consecutively" or just "in a row" to vary from the formal tone.
8. "but Davis whitewashed him 0–9 in their semi-final at the 1981 UK Championship" The term "whitewashed" is used in snooker circles but it's worth checking it appears naturally elsewhere in the article too. It does appear once more ("was whitewashed in the first session 0–7" in the 1991 World Championship paragraph), which is fine for consistency.
9. "He led Alex Higgins 15–14 in their semi-final, and was 59 points ahead in the penultimate frame." The shift from "semi-final" to "penultimate frame" is slightly abrupt. Consider: "He led Alex Higgins 15–14 in their semi-final. In the penultimate frame, White was 59 points ahead when..." to improve the flow into the next sentence.
10. "Reflecting on the match many years later, White said 'facing him (Alex Higgins) at the Crucible in Sheffield is what I had dreamt about from when I was 10 years old.'" The parenthetical "(Alex Higgins)" within the quote is presumably an editorial insertion for clarity. If so, it should be in square brackets per standard convention: "facing him [Alex Higgins]".
11. "White reached the final of the second of these, the 1982 Professional Players Tournament where he was defeated 8–10 by Reardon." Comma needed after "Tournament": "...the 1982 Professional Players Tournament, where he was defeated 8–10 by Reardon.".
12. "White took a 7–0 lead against Thorburn in the 1985 Matchroom Trophy final, but was beaten 10–12." Given the remarkable nature of this collapse (7–0 to 10–12), is there a source that describes what happened in between? If so, a brief note would strengthen this.
13. "However, he defeated Thorburn in a final-frame decider to win his first ranking title, the Classic." The "However" at the start contrasts with the previous paragraph (Masters final loss), which works, but consider whether a more direct transition might be smoother given the paragraph break.
14. "In the deciding frame of the third session, White required one snooker; he snookered Thorburn on the final pink ball and after Thorburn failed to hit the pink, White potted pink and black for victory." Good dramatic detail. Minor point: "potted pink and black" could be "potted the pink and black" for clarity.
15. "the addition of White meant that Matchroom managed seven of the top 13 players." Should "top 13" be "top thirteen"? Per MOS:NUMERAL, numbers under twenty in running prose are generally spelled out, but sporting context sometimes uses numerals. Either way, consistency with the rest of the article is the key thing.
16. "White was part of the England team that were crowned the 1988 Snooker World Cup winners." Consider: "White was part of the England team that won the 1988 Snooker World Cup." More direct.
17. "He played Griffiths and, trailing 11–13, lost a tied frame on a re-spotted black. Griffiths went on to reach the final courtesy of an 11–16 win." The "11–16 win" is the match result, not just the frame. This is clear in context but a very minor rewording could help: "Griffiths went on to win the match 16–11 and reach the final." (Also note the score should read with the winner's score first if describing Griffiths' victory.)
18. "The reprieve was short-lived as White was beaten 7–13 by eventual finalist John Parrott in the quarter-finals." "reprieve" is a slightly loaded term. Consider "The win was short-lived consolation" or simply restructuring.

2. I dont know whether this is the official title, so amended.

3,4,5,6,7. Amended per suggestions. 8-18 all done bar 12. I unfortunately have no access to the source. Canary757

I've expanded a bit on 12 and also added an online reference. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 01:00, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

Career: 1992–2002

1. "In 1992. White collected his second British Open title" Typo: full stop should be a comma. "In 1992, White collected...".
2. "Reflecting back on the game in 2025, White said ' I was 14–8 up against Hendry...'" There is a space before "I" inside the quotation marks. Remove the extra space.
3. "Your brain just gets fuzzled." This is a direct quote so it's fine as is, but the shift from third person narration to "Your" in the quote is slightly jarring. A brief framing word before the quote would help: "White said: 'I was 14–8 up...'" (which is already there, so this is fine on reflection).
4. "White has stated that this was among the best matches he has ever played." The citation is just ^[1] with no page number. Can a page number be added for verification?
5. "White won twelve successive frames during his match against Wattana en route to a 16–9 victory." This is in the 1993 World Championship section but the match was the semi-final. Consider clarifying: "...during his semi-final match against Wattana...".
6. "For the fourth time in five years, White's opponent in the final was Hendry and the defending champion opened up a 1–5 lead." Comma after "Hendry": "...the final was Hendry, and the defending champion opened up a 1–5 lead.".
7. "After the match, White, speaking about Hendry, said 'He's beginning to annoy me.'" The comma placement creates a slightly awkward construction. Consider: "After the match, White said of Hendry: 'He's beginning to annoy me.'".
8. "During the 1994–95 season, White was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He recovered after receiving treatment." This is handled with appropriate brevity, which is good.
9. "Shortly after it emerged that large sums of money had been placed on White to win the match by the eventual scoreline." This could benefit from a slight rewrite: "Shortly afterwards, it emerged that large sums of money had been placed on White to win the match by the exact scoreline.".
10. "White's wait for an elusive world crown continued as he was knocked out of the first round of the 1999 World Championship by McManus 7–10." "elusive world crown" is slightly editorialising. Consider "White was knocked out of the first round of the 1999 World Championship by McManus 7–10.".
11. "White entered the 1999 World Pool Championship where he was knocked out of the tournament by Efren Reyes in a final-frame decider in their last 32 clash." This is a lot of information in one sentence. Consider splitting: "White entered the 1999 World Pool Championship. He was knocked out in the last 32 by Efren Reyes in a final-frame decider.".
12. "After regaining his top 16 ranking in the 1999–2000 season, White started 2000 by reaching the semi-finals of the Welsh Open" Slight awkwardness in "started 2000 by reaching". Consider: "After regaining his top 16 ranking in the 1999–2000 season, White reached the semi-finals of the 2000 Welsh Open".
13. "issued an immediate apology after hitting the cue ball off the table in frustration when trailing 2–5." Good detail. No issue.

Done bar 4, missing page number (for now) Canary757

Page ref has been added for 4. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 23:19, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Career: 2003–2009

1. "White showed some return to form." Slightly vague. What follows demonstrates it well, so this introductory phrase is fine.
2. "This sealed his first ranking title since 1992" The inline citation here seems to be a SnookerHQ.com article specifically about the UK Championship, but it's being used to support a claim about the Players Championship. Is this the right source?
3. "Before the invitational 2005 Masters, White temporarily changed his name by deed poll to James Brown, due to a sponsorship deal with HP Sauce." Entertaining detail, well-sourced.
4. "White lost in the first round of the 2006 World Championship to David Gray 5–10." Then: "As a result, he fell out of the top 32 at the end of the 2005–06 season, having been ranked eighth one year earlier." The drop from 8th to outside the top 32 is dramatic. Is this correct? The previous section says he won a ranking title in 2004 which pushed him "back into the top 10", but going from 8th to outside the top 32 in one season seems unusually steep. If correct, it's fine; just flagging as worth double-checking.
5. "White said he was 'devastated' by the defeat." Good use of brief quote.
6. "This result contributed to his drop down to number 75 in the provisional world rankings." "This result contributed to his drop to number 75 in the provisional world rankings." (Remove "down" as "drop" already implies the direction.)

Done, checked sources and looks accurate, ref supports first ranking title since... Canary757

Career: 2009–2016

1. "Due to this, and skipping the UK Championship for I'm a Celebrity...Get Me out of Here!" The programme title here says "out" but later in the Media section it says "Out" (capitalised). Check which is correct and make consistent. (The official title capitalises "Out".)
2. "After 12 out of 12 events White was ranked 34th in the Order of Merit." Comma after "events": "After 12 out of 12 events, White was ranked 34th in the Order of Merit.".
3. "unusual for the fact that he potted the first ball off the break, meaning his opponent never played a shot in the frame." This is interesting detail. Consider whether "unusual for the fact that" could be tightened: "unusually, he potted the first ball off the break, meaning his opponent never played a shot in the frame.".
4. "In November 2014, while speaking about the World Championship, White said, 'I'm not finished yet...I still have very strong belief I can win it.'" The ellipsis in the quote: is this in the original source or has text been omitted? If omitted, it should be [...] per MOS:ELLIPSIS.
5. "Despite this optimism, both the 2014–15 season and 2015–16 season ended in disappointment when White lost in qualifying for the World Championship, to Matthew Selt and Gerard Greene respectively." "...both the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons ended in disappointment..." (avoids repeating "season").

Done. Canary757

Career: 2016–present

1. "White made it to the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in over a decade at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic in Germany, but he exited the tournament with a 2–4 defeat against Dale." Dale hasn't been mentioned for a while. "...a 2–4 defeat against Dominic Dale." First mention in a new section should use the full name.
2. "He finished the 2016–17 season outside the top 64 and lost his tour card after 37 years as a professional, but World Snooker Tour decided to give White a two-year invitational tour card." Missing article: "but the World Snooker Tour decided...".
3. "becoming the oldest player to reach the last 32 since Eddie Charlton in 1993." Good historical context.
4. "White then proceeded to reach the last 16 of the WST Classic in March, beating Judd Trump 4–2 along the way." "proceeded to reach" is a bit wordy. "White then reached the last 16 of the WST Classic in March, beating Judd Trump 4–2 along the way.".
5. "White's run to the last 32 of the Northern Ireland Open was his best result of the 2024–25 season and his ranking subsequently dropped to 93, thus relegating him from the World Snooker Tour." The causal link here is slightly unclear: his best result was the last 32, but his ranking still dropped? Consider restructuring: "White's best result of the 2024–25 season was a run to the last 32 of the Northern Ireland Open. His ranking dropped to 93, which meant he was relegated from the World Snooker Tour.".

Done bar 1. I think 'career' counts as one 'major' section. Canary757

Legacy

1. "White has been labelled 'The People's Champion' by the media" Good, well-sourced.
2. "Brendan Cooper wrote in his 2023 book..." and "The snooker historian Clive Everton concluded in 2012..." These two assessments work well to round out the section. However, the section is quite short for a player of White's stature. Is there anything else that could be said about his broader cultural impact or influence on the game? This isn't a barrier to passing, just a suggestion for future development.

I expanded this section a bit. Let me know what you think. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 22:08, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

The new material on Davis, O'Sullivan, and the Williams & Gadsby and Cooper assessments strengthens the section well; thanks for adding that. Metalicat (talk) 23:19, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Personal life

1. "White has five children with his ex-wife Maureen." Then later: "In 2018, White began a relationship with beauty queen Jade Slusarczyk, over 20 years his junior." The phrase "over 20 years his junior" doesn't add encyclopaedic value and reads slightly tabloid-ish. Consider removing or replacing with something more neutral.
2. "White recalled going with friends to retrieve his brother's body from a coffin before the funeral, and bringing it to a table where the group played cards and drank." This is striking and sourced. Fine as is.
3. "White has also shared his experiences with alcohol and gambling issues, claiming he believes that he lost around £2m to gambling alone." "claiming he believes" is double-hedging. "stating that he believes" or simply "estimating that he lost around £2m to gambling alone" would be cleaner.
4. "In 2025, White revealed that he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a year or two previously." The comma before "a year or two previously" creates a slightly awkward pause. "In 2025, White revealed that he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) a year or two previously.".

1,3,4. Amended - does ""White has five children with his ex-wife Maureen." need something? BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 23:36, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

In the media

1. "Jimmy White, Alex Higgins, Kirk Stevens, and Tony Knowles, with Status Quo, released a cover of 'The Wanderer'" The Oxford comma before "and Tony Knowles" is fine, but the sentence structure with the second comma-separated clause "with Status Quo" is a bit tangled. Consider: "Jimmy White, Alex Higgins, Kirk Stevens and Tony Knowles released a cover of 'The Wanderer' by Dion, recorded with Status Quo.".
2. "The following year, after he had signed to Matchroom, White was one of the players who recorded 'Romford Rap' with Chas & Dave." Fine.
3. "His instructional book Jimmy White's Snooker Masterclass (1988), co-written with coach Charles Poole, was aimed at players who had already grasped the basics of the game." This sits a bit oddly between music releases and film appearances. Consider grouping media appearances by type (music, books, film/TV, video games) for better flow. Not essential, but would improve readability.
4. "White played himself (as the World Billiards Champion) in Stephen Chow's 1990 kung fu and billiards comedy film" Is "World Billiards Champion" his character's title in the film? If so, fine, but if not, it could be confusing since White was never World Billiards Champion in real life.
5. "On 23 September 2019, White published an apology on his official Facebook page to Kirk Stevens" This paragraph about the Stevens apology is quite detailed for what is essentially a correction to his autobiography. Consider whether it could be trimmed slightly without losing the key information.
6. The video games paragraph at the end works well.

Done. Canary757

Performance and rankings timeline

1. The table is comprehensive and well-formatted. No issues.

Career finals

1. The tables are thorough and well-sourced. The non-ranking finals table includes 49 entries which demonstrates the depth of research.
2. One minor point: in the ranking finals table, there are two shades used for runner-up results in the European Open row (one uses "thistle" background, the other doesn't). Check these are consistent. Looking more closely, this may be intentional to distinguish a different era of the tournament, but it's not immediately clear.

I'm not sure which rows the European Open comment is about - please could you ley me know which years? Thanks. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 20:36, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Apologies, please disregard that point. I was misreading the performance timeline table, not the career finals. The tables are consistent. Metalicat (talk) 22:46, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Sourcing

1. The sourcing is generally excellent. Strong use of contemporary newspaper sources via Newspapers.com, Snooker Scene magazine, BBC Sport, and multiple books.
2. Several archive URLs are provided which is good practice.
3. The SnookerHQ.com source is used frequently. While it appears to be a well-regarded snooker news site run by David Caulfield, it is essentially a blog/enthusiast site. For the claims it supports (mostly factual match results and career milestones), this is acceptable, but for any evaluative or interpretive claims, stronger sources would be preferable. I don't think any current uses are problematic, but worth keeping in mind.
4. The spin.ph source used for the Efren Reyes pool match seems a bit obscure. Is there a more mainstream source available for this?
5. "White has stated that this was among the best matches he has ever played." cites ^[1] without a page number. A page number would be helpful.
6. The GiveMeSport source for the "shot of the century" claim: GiveMeSport is generally considered a weak source. However, it's supporting a fairly minor claim and is supplementary to other sourcing, so not a major concern.

I've noted your points and made some changes relating to 4,5 and 6. Please let me know if anything else is required on sourcing. Thanks. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 20:30, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for addressing those; I can see the page number has been added, which resolves that query. Metalicat (talk) 23:19, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

GA criteria assessment

Overall this is a strong article that needs only minor prose and MoS fixes to pass. Happy to discuss any of the points above. Metalicat (talk) 13:10, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Hello METALICAT. Thank you for such a descriptive and thorough review, it's really appreciated. Just to be transparent, in a London buses idiomatic way, it's all been happening for me the last few days and I need to crack on with Talk:Elinor Barker/GA1 which opened a couple of days ago. I hope to do the next stage of that in the next day or so and this will then be my number one priority. Kind regards. Canary757 (talk) 14:10, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Hi Canary757. No rush and no worries. have also noted that one editor keeps trying to add changes without consensus. Im content you have the experience to deal with it in the correct way if required. I also see that the editor has approached your co-nominator via their talk page. Metalicat (talk) 14:34, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Hi @METALICAT, this has been annoying, you're right to flag it. It has been an occasional issue on a number of snooker pages, Stephen Hendry in October/February, Stuart Bingham in January, Ken Doherty in October and Jamie Burnett recently too. On Talk:Stephen Hendry and Talk:Stuart Bingham a registered editor has rightly initiated a talk page discussion on the subject but the IP has not replied. I started one myself on the Talk:Jimmy White which BennyOnTheLoose and another editor shared their thoughts. There have been discussions about qualifying events and snooker 900 events (these do not have a wiki page) but there seems to be no consensus to add these into the 'titles' at the present moment. There has been some small discussions in the recent past that are still visible on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Snooker. Thanks. Canary757 (talk) 11:29, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

Thanks to BennyOnTheLoose and Canary757 for working through all the points so thoroughly. I've verified the fixes against the current article text and everything from the original review has been addressed.

On criterion 5, the IP editing issue flagged earlier appears to have settled down with no further reversions, and there is a talk page discussion on the subject. I'm satisfied this meets the stability requirement. All six criteria are now met. Passing this as a Good Article. Well done to both nominators on a comprehensive and well-sourced article.

Metalicat (talk) 10:33, 16 February 2026 (UTC)