.. was born, in 1957, in Plumstead, south London – then in Kent, now in the London Borough of Greenwich. He grew up in Plumstead, but he played his snooker across the river in Romford, at the Lucania Snooker Club. This was part of a chain of similar venues, whose chairman was Barry Hearn. Davis was brought to Hearn's attention at the age of 18, by the manager of the Romford club, and Hearn soon became his friend and manager.
There you have the explanation for any nickname that mentions Plumstead or Romford (and there are several). The (Golden) Nugget tag arose, according to Hearn, when he used to pay Davis £25 a night to play exhibition matches against snooker's stars of the 1970s – including Ray Reardon, John Spencer and Alex Higgins. "You could put your case of money on him", said Hearn later, "and you knew you were going to get paid."
It was Spitting Image that dubbed Steve Davis 'Interesting'. The satirical puppet show was first broadcast in 1984 – the year that Davis won his third world title (having turned professional in 1978). It was obviously meant to be ironic (not to say sarcastic), but Davis – who could be said to have far more personality than other sports stars we could name, including more than one multiple SPOTY winner – was able to turn it to his advantage by appearing to play up to it when it suited him.
© Haydn Thompson 2020