YORK has become the UK Snooker Championship’s spiritual home, reckons the man who has won the event more than anyone else. Steve Davis talks to STEVE CARROLL.

EVEN the coldest of hearts were warmed when Steve Davis rolled back the years.

Sport and romance have always made cosy bedfellows, and as the Nugget produced his best snooker for a decade, a city willed him to get his hands on another trophy.

It was not to be.

Stephen Maguire, Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry gave way but, in the final, Ding Junhui stood firm. There would be no fairytale ending in the 2005 UK Championship.

Even so, the memories of that run at York’s Barbican Centre remain strong for Davis, a man who won the World Championship six times in the 1980s.

He has more reason than most to feel attached to the UK, now the game’s second biggest tournament, and which returns to York following a five-year absence in December.

It brought his first professional victory in 1980 – a 16-6 win over Alex Higgins – and Davis won it five times more and reached the final on a further three occasions.

Now 53, he probably won’t be too pleased to hear descriptions of being more of a part-time player – his television, coaching and work on the board of World Snooker occupying more of his time.

But, as the Minster city prepares to welcome the return of top-class snooker in a few months, Davis has his eyes on turning back time once more.

“I am going to try to play there. My first plan is to be taking part,” he said. “It would be nice to do it again. The year I played Ding in the final – that was a very exciting time for me.

“In recent times that, and beating John Higgins in the World Championship, have been my proud moments – even though I didn’t win anything.”

Snooker’s glitterati have rolled up to praise the tournament’s revival in York, highlighting the special nature of city and venue.

While Davis is at one with them on the former, he is more honest about the delights of the Barbican itself.

“If you are inside the room, it really could be anywhere,” he added. “It’s a good venue but, once you dress it, it looks like everywhere else.

“The big difference (in York) is that you know you are in a place where there is history and character. It’s a lovely place to walk round and it really gives everyone a sort of boost of spirit away from these events.

“Players get a day off and it’s a nice area to be around. The players always thought it was all right.

“I do think that it matters where you are. Within the confines of the venue, it has got eight legs and six pockets and two TV cameras but it was always a nice atmosphere and everyone is pleased to be going back.

“York is now its spiritual home. The UK always used to be held at the Guildhall in Preston. That was its original home. When it left, it went to a couple of other places.

“It found its home in York and it was always well attended. It’s far enough away from Sheffield and it’s important people travel distances and will stick around for the weekend for it.

“There is an argument to move venues around the country all the time – a bit like they do with The Open Championship and then you never get the same catchment area and keep it fresh.

“But I think there’s always a bit of tradition. People think ‘it’s that time of year’ and ‘we have always been to that’. There is a lot going for York. It’s a class area and we like to think that snooker is a classy game. It fits nicely.”

The tournament’s second coming in York was made possible as part of the wider transformation of the game by World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn.

He’s introduced new ranking events, pumped more prize money into the game, and has set about raising the worldwide profile of the sport.

Davis, of course, is biased when it comes to Hearn. The pair are not only great friends, Hearn was the manager who set Davis on the road to super-stardom in snooker’s boom of the 1980s.

While acknowledging that influence, however, Davis has little doubt as to his impact on snooker.

“I think anyone who initially doubted him has been answered,” he added. “The only thing now is how we progress it past this new level.

“There are a lot more tournaments, a lot of smaller ones. People want more money and bigger events and we have to look to Europe and the Far East.

“We can’t always rely on the BBC to help us out. They run the big three (tournaments). If, one day, that’s not the case we have enough of a following worldwide that the game can sustain itself. There will be a lot more travelling and that won’t necessarily be for the faint hearted.

“Like some of the overseas players have done in coming to play over here (players will have go over there).

“We did travel in the 80s because we were asked to. Now it is going to be a case of travelling during the actual tournament season. You will have to play or lose ranking points – that’s the way I feel it is going to go.

“I am biased, he’s my mate but he has got the Midas touch. Everyone realised the game was really up the creek. We were down to six events.

“We all had to roll our sleeves up and perhaps take a pay cut, so to speak, and play in some tournaments where the prize money was not like it was in the 80s.

“Some people might ask why are we going to Poland for £10,000 but the only way a tournament will get big there is if we plant the seed.

“There’s a big industry in China for snooker already and we have to tap into and harness that and get more Chinese players onto the circuit to encourage them. There are moves about getting fewer players on the tour; we might have to have more, to reflect their stake in the game.”

Davis’s season hasn’t really started yet. While Ronnie O’Sullivan was rediscovering his form to win the opening Players’ Tour Championship event – another Hearn innovation – in Sheffield a couple of weeks ago, the veteran lost 4-1 to James Wattana in his opening match.

But for Davis, the hot weather is the time to put the cue away.

“Every match is hard these days,” he said. “I haven’t got any form as I haven’t really started playing yet for this season.

“I am bit old school. Summer seems to be for putting the cue down and my mind is still thinking it is summer time.

“I will pick the cue up after next week and start to pretend I am a snooker player again.

“I don’t harbour any expectations for playing to any standard. But part of that means occasionally having a good result.

“I look forward to the big events and to get a crack at those events we all like.”

Here’s hoping Davis can provide another memorable trip down memory lane in December.