Since 1977, Sheffield has been the home of the Snooker World Championship, making it the place where some of the sport's biggest icons have made their names.

Whether it’s Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Mark Selby or Ronnie O’Sullivan, all of the game's greatest talents from the last half a century have graced the Crucible.

And now snooker fanatics can look forward to at least another two decades of the World Championship in Sheffield after it was announced that the venue will extend its stay as the home of snooker until ‘at least 2045’, with exciting plans in the works, including a further £45 million investment in the venue along with plans to increase the capacity of the theatre by around 500 seats.

The news received a great response from fans , including members of the Stephen Harrison Academy, a non-profit organisation offering snooker coaching to people with disabilities.

The Star asked fans to share some of their favourite memories of the Crucible, following the big announcement on Tuesday afternoon.

“I can remember back in the 1980s when Steve Davis won it. And my dad sat with people like Barry Hearn.” recalled Steven, a former professional snooker player of 12 years and the son of Paraplegic World Champion Ray Harrison.

He added: “I was sitting there as a child watching it and remember Hearn and my dad having a chat about Davis, and predicting that he’d be really good. And he was of course great as he became a six-time world champion and an absolute legend.

“But my absolute favourite has to be when Bill Werbeniuk tried to pot a long blue and his trousers split, that was hilarious. Ronnie O’Sullivan is my favourite so I’m glad when he wins, but there’s just so many good times in the Crucible it’s fantastic.

Jerry McFarlane, a member of the academy, added: “My favourite memory has to be when Dennis Taylor won the World Championship and he raised his cue above his head.

“Some of my other favourite times are when Davis and Hendry used to have these really tight battles and snooker each other, it was amazing to watch.”

John Wood, a helper and coach at the academy, said: “Watching the top stars play snooker, it’s so much better than on TV and you can see all the angles without it being distorted. I was lucky between 2010 and 2014 to do a bit of stewarding and that allowed me to watch a lot of the great matches at that time. It was really brilliant.”

Assistant Manager Katie Harrison said: “I went last year to see the seniors, and I remember a good match between Dominic Dale and Alfie Burden last year which was really good. I plan to go again at some point soon and hopefully see a final.”