It was a dream come true for Blackburn's Iain Houghton, as he got the opportunity to play snooker against Word Champion, Steve Davies.

This picture from our archives shows 11-year-old Iain's joy at being picked from a massive bag of young snooker players who were all keen to show off their potting skills.

The rising star, who had been playing snooker since the tender age of four, and would regularly break in the 20s, got his big break against the champ at Hyndburn Sports Centre in February 1982.

At the time, Iain said: "I still can't believe it, he's my favourite player.

"I would like to follow in his footsteps but my mum said my schoolwork has to come first."