John Spencer won the first World Snooker Championship held at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
The 1977 championship was the first to use the Crucible Theatre as its venue. Spencer defeated Canada’s Cliff Thorburn 25–21 in the final, securing the title at a location that soon became inseparable from the sport’s biggest event. The Crucible has hosted the championship every year since 1977, apart from the 2020 event, which was played there despite pandemic restrictions.
Spencer was already an established champion by 1977. He had won the world title in 1969 and 1971, and his victory at the Crucible made him the first player to lift the trophy there. Thorburn later became the first player to make a maximum break at the Crucible, in 1983.
The venue’s compact auditorium and long-running association with the championship helped create the event’s distinctive atmosphere. “The Crucible” is therefore a venue name, not an alternative name for the championship itself.