IT might just be one of the most iconic images of sport.

It is certainly the most memorable one in snooker.

Thirty years ago, a 36-year-old from Blackburn completed the most unlikely of comebacks in front of more than 18 million viewers a little after 12.30am on a Monday morning to claim the World Snooker Championship.

Dennis Taylor, who was living in Darwen at the time, came from eight frames down to beat heavy favourite Steve Davis 18-17 on the final black.

And what followed were two celebrations which are still so synonymous with Taylor – the raised cue above the head and the wagging of his forefinger. Taylor recalls the moment he settled over the final black having been given a chance many, himself included, didn’t think he would get.

“I let the cue rest easily in my hand, then let it go without force and the ball went down,” said Taylor.

“Thirteen years of trying to be champion suddenly all came out. The emotional release is incredible. So there was me winning it, with the big, silly upside-down glasses, waving the cue above my head and wagging my finger at the camera: I don’t think any Hollywood scriptwriter would have dared come up with a conclusion like that.

“I was wagging my finger at Trevor East of ITV Sport, a good friend. He was with me for every session of the tournament except the first session of the final, when I lost all seven frames.”

Taylor then returned to East Lancashire, and on to his hometown in Northern Ireland, and admits he was staggered by the reception he received.

“My two sons hadn’t been able to come to the Crucible because of school, but they’d put a big banner up across the front of the house,” he said of heading into Blackburn swamped by well-wishers and photographers. “And what was so lovely about it was it didn’t say anything about being the world champion. It just read ‘Welcome home, dad’.”

“The welcome I got in my hometown was incredible,” he added of his return to Coalisland.

“I don’t think anybody has seen that number of people in town before or since. It was during the troubles and what was so great was all denominations were there. It showed what sport can do to unite people.”

Taylor moved to Darwen aged just 17 to live with his auntie, and stayed for 37 years.

“I learned to play the game at the old post office in the centre of Blackburn,” he says. “I moved to Darwen when I was 17 and stayed with an aunt, then moved on to Blackburn. I had four aunts who lived in Darwen so that was the only reason I stayed. It was like home from home.

“My aunt Sheila was like a second mum to me.

“I had some friends who moved over to Manchester but I remained in the Blackburn area.

“I worked for about 18 months in Waterside Paper Mill in Darwen, doing 12-hour shifts to earn some money.

“Then I did a variety of jobs in the office at Darwen Paper Mill, and worked in the centre of Blackburn at a place called Relay Vision. Then I managed a snooker club in Preston before I became a full-time professional.”