The KNUTSFORD & DISTRICT AMATEUR SNOOKER LEAGUE

The KNUTSFORD & DISTRICT AMATEUR SNOOKER LEAGUE

History

The 65th Anniversary Celebratory Yearbook (2015-16 season) Foreword by League Secretary Tony Crompton

It gives me great pleasure to write the foreword to our 65th Anniversary Yearbook - a book that is not merely a documentation of our historical facts and figures but a celebration of our leagues creation, existence and continued development. My aim in writing it was to demonstrate that teams cannot exist without players, clubs without teams and leagues without clubs and that it is far more important than that because it serves a social, competitive, interaction and personal purpose also. Snooker is very good in so many ways.

I make no apologies for repeating most of my foreword from the 60th Anniversary book because every word is as true today as it was then. I have, however, been able to considerably ‘flesh out’ details from our formative and subsequent years after extensive research and also to recover some of the many missing records and names of the achievers for good measure. Please enjoy it at your leisure.

Some of the league records remain incomplete despite my best efforts and may even have been omitted because I cannot verify facts. That said, if you find an omission or inaccuracy, then please let me know and I will correct it in future publications and on our website.

All things mighty can be traced back to something easily and often determined at the time as being ‘insignificant’. No team can win a Championship or an individual win a trophy without the vast majority of entrants being the oft called ‘losers’. The very nature of any sport, competition or pastime is that more lose than win and this makes it ever the more important that we recognise our winners and near winners in some way but also that we never lose sight of the fact that much more often we are not going to be ‘those people’. Many have said this before me but never a truer word is spoken than in the adage that ‘you learn far more from your mistakes than your victories and how you put that learning into practice makes you what you are’.

We turn out to play snooker because our mates do. We compete as hard and best as we can every time. We strive to improve each time we pick up a cue. But, we accept it for what it is. Some call it ‘a night out’. Some say they’re ‘going down to the club’. Some say ‘it’s the taking part that counts’. I prefer the adage that the value of anything is not in how many breaths you take but how often you are left breathless. I have been one of the ‘lucky winners’ on a few ocassions but am constantly left breathless by the players turning out each week when there is little or no chance of a trophy or victory or to strive to be that victor. You turn out in weekly come rain, snow or shine and you are all players who just love this great game in this truly great league.

The players who set us on the road that we all now tread and who now ply their pastime on the great green baize in the sky, created the league not only to fill their own time but as a legacy for you. You have been entrusted with its survival and progress and I know you will handle it with pride and care.

Enjoy your snooker – it’s not ‘real life’. It is meant to be a pleasure, relaxing and sociable not a war or a battle to win at all costs. Never forget that. Or, as a mate once said to me after I played yet another bad shot at golf, and I urge you to remember these wise words – “there are many men wearing wooden coats who would love to have played that bad shot Tony”. We are very, very lucky to be able to play the bad shots we so often do.

Tony Crompton (Hon Secretary)

======

Let’s start this commemorative booklet as we mean to continue …..

Snooker is a sociable sport and there have been many memorable snooker commentators. Ever since Ted Lowe uttered his memorable and oft changed quote on the lines of: "Steve is going for the pink ball - and for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green" different commentators have given us many more amusing and unforgettable moments.

I thought it would be nice to have a bit of a lighter start to this commemorative booklet so my first idea was to list a few snooker based jokes. By the time I’d trawled the Tinternet, found the few available and reached (and you can make up your own lead in lines!) their punchlines including ‘I couldn’t decide between the brown and the pink’, ‘I’ve been chalking my finger for 10 minutes’ and ‘which is the easiest to pot …’ I opted for a far less contentious list of snooker records that you may find of interest:

·  The World Professional Championship (instituted 1927) was won a record 15 times by Joe Davis, on the first 15 occasions it was contested 1927-40 and 1946.

·  The most wins in the Amateur Championships (instituted 1963) have been two by; Gary Owen in 1963 and 1966; Ray Edmonds 1972 and 74; and Paul Mifsud (Malta) 1985 to 86.

·  Allison Fisher has won seven Women's World titles in 1985; 86; 88; 89; 91; 93 and 1994.

·  Maureen Baynton won a record eight Women's Amateur Championships between 1954 and 1968, as well as seven at billiards.

·  The youngest man to win a world title is Stephen O'Connor who was 18 yr 40 days when he won the World Amateur Snooker Championships in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 25 Nov 1990.

·  Stephen Hendry became the youngest World Professional Champion, at 21 yr 106 days on 29 Apr 1990.

·  Stacey Hillyard won the Women's World Amateur Championship in 1984 at the age of 15.

·  The first to achieve the maximum break of 147 was E.J.Murt O'Donoghue (New Zealand) at Griffiths, New South Wales, Australia on the 26th of September 1934.

·  The first officially ratified 147 was by Joe Davis against Willie Smith on the 22nd of January 1955.

·  The first achieved in a major tournament were by John Spencer (b. 18 Sep 1935) at Slough, Berks on 13 Jan 1979, but the table had oversized pockets, and by Steve Davis (b. 22 Aug 1957) who had a ratified break of 147 against John Spencer in the Lada Classic at Oldham, Greater Manchester on 11 Jan 1982. This was also the first televised maximum.

·  The youngest to score a competitive maximum was Judd Trump at 14 yrs 206 days in an under-16 series match against Chris Piech at the Potters Club in Coalville on 13 Mar 2004.

·  Ronnie O'Sullivan had a maximum at 15yrs 98 days in the English Amateur Championship 13th of March 1991.

·  Cliff Thorburn was first to make two tournament 147 breaks.

·  Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the record for most ratified maximums with 11. Stephen Hendry has 10.

·  Leo Levitt was the first amateur to achieve the maximum break, in November 1948 at the Winsor Bowling alley in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

·  Geet Sethi was the first one to manage one in competition, in the Indian Amateur Championships in 1988.

·  In the World Junior Championship in Iceland 1989 Gary Hill made a maximum break at the age of 20 years 8 months and became the youngest player to achieve this in a WPBSA recognised competion.

·  Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White made 147’s in consecutive frames during an exhibition in Ireland, in 2009.

·  Peter Ebdon made 147’s in two consecutive frames during an exhibition match against Steve Davis in 2003.

·  The highest snooker break in competition is Wally West's 151. He made the break in the final of a club handicap at the Hounslow Lucania Club in 1976 against Derek "Butch" Rogers, in front of about 100 spectators. The qualified referee John Posner was in charge of the match. Butch clipped the blue and left Wally snookered. Wally potted green as his free ball with a brown to follow. He then took 14 red and blacks and a pink off the last red. He then cleared up to make the 151.

·  Jamie Burnett made a break of 148 on 16 October 2004, at the Prestatyn qualifiers for the Travis Perkins UK Championship. This was the first break over 147 in professional snooker. Burnett made the break in the 14th frame of his match against Leo Fernandez. He potted the brown as the extra red, then another brown followed by the 15 reds and all the colours. He made a blue on the first red, a pink on the last one and another pink on one of the other reds. The rest went with blacks. He went on to win the match 9-8.

·  The first 16 red clearance in a tournament was by Steve James who made 135 against Alex Higgins in the World Professional Championships at Sheffield 1990.

·  Steve Duggan made a witnessed break of 148 against Mark Rowing in a local handicap tournament in 1988. Phil Doody was the referee in the aforementioned match. The week before the match Rowing, made a 155 break against Doody, in a practise frame, on the same table, in the same club! Unfortunately, as only Rowing and Doody were present, the Guinness Book of Records, wouldn't record it.

·  Dean Reynolds (England) had a 16 red clearance of 143 in the seniors event of the 2006 European Team championships, in Carlow, Ireland.

·  Ricky Walden (England) made a 16 red clearance of 141 against Mark Davis (England) in the last qualifying round for the 2008 Maplin UK Championship.

·  In 2006 Jamie Cope became the first player to record a 155 break. He did it in a witnessed practice match.

·  Kelly Fisher is the leader among the women. She has a 143 in competition and 20+ 147's in practice.

·  Four consecutive century breaks were first compiled in a major tournament by John Higgins: 103, 104, 138 and 128, in the final of the 2005 Grand Prix, against Ronnie O'Sullivan.

·  Shaun Murphy (England) equalled the feat in the 2007 Welsh Open. He beat Jamie Cope 5-0 in the second round and won the first four frames with 135, 110, 102 and 101.

·  In the 2004 British Open Stephen Maguire made five consecutive centuries over two matches. He finished his quarter-final match against Anthony Hamilton with three centuries and started his semi-final against Ronnie O'Sullivan with two more.

·  Mark Allen has also made five consecutive century breaks, at the Larne Masters, in the Fountain Club in Larne, Northern Ireland, 23 January 2005. Allen finished off his second round match against Stephen Smith with a 117, before rattling in breaks of 134, 120 and 104 to beat Declan Hughes 3-0. He then began his quarter-final match against Robert McCullough with a 116. Just for good measure, Mark had begun his match against Smith with a 111 break, making it a phenomenal six centuries in seven frames.

·  In the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy Ronnie O'Sullivan made five centuries - the first time that has ever been achieved in a ranking event best-of-nine match. The third-round match, which he won 5-2, was played 8 November against Ali Carter. Ronnie warmed up with 108, 122 and 107 in taking a 3-1 lead before a 147. Carter pulled one frame back then O’Sullivan closed with a 129 total clearance.

·  John Higgins won the 2006 Grand Prix in Preston and rewrote the record books in the process. In his final demolition of Ronnie O'Sullivan (9-2) he knocked in four consecutive century breaks (103, 104, 138 and 128), a feat never to have been accomplished in professional ranking tournaments.

·  Mark Williams made four centuries against Stephen Lee in the first round of the 2011 Bank of Beijing China Open, and still lost 5-4.

·  Ding Junhui scored 495 without reply in beating Stephen Hendry in a group match in the Premier League in November 2007. He had breaks of 133, 87, 136 and 138.

·  Michael White of Neath, England is possibly the youngest player to make a century break. He made it in a club competition in the Empire Neath where he practices. It was ratified by the Guiness World Records. He was 9 at the time, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan who made his first century at age 10.

·  From the 17th of March 1990 to his defeat by Jimmy White on the 13th of January 1991, Stephen Hendry won five sucessive titles and 36 consecutive matches in ranking tournaments. This is the longest unbeaten run in the professional ranks.

·  During the summer of 1992, Ronnie O'Sullivan won 38 consecutive matches, but these were in qualifying competitions.

·  Among the women Kelly Fisher had the longest winning streak in snooker history. Her winning streak started on June the 9th 2001 by defeating Christine Sharp 3-0 and ended on March 3rd 2003 after she was defeated 4-3 by Maria Catalano. Kelly won 15 major women's snooker tournaments and 69 straight matches.

·  Stephen Hendry has won 36 ranking titles in his career. That's eight more than Steve Davis, who has 28 wins.

·  The longest frame played involved Dave Harold and Shaun Murphy in the 2008 Honghe Industrial China Open. It was the deciding frame in a 5-3 win for Murphy. The frame lasted a mind-boggling 93 minutes and 12 seconds.

======

MEMBER CLUBS

BROOK STREET (Formerly the LIBERAL CLUB) CLUB, BROOK STREET, KNUTSFORD (01565-632184)

The former Liberal Club originated above the post office on King Street in Knutsford which is now a restaurant. The club tables and scoreboards date back to an incredible 1885. We don’t have an exact date but at some point the Coburn family from Booths Hall off Toft Road in Knutsford wanted to make a Liberal party head-quarter and from that a social side of the meeting room formed a snooker section. The current building used now on Brook Street was originally a Bottle plant, it was purchased outright and the club moved to Brook where it too became the new Liberal party head-quarters until 1974.

During the First World War Brook Street was used as a soup kitchen and the cellar was earmarked as a morgue - maybe that why it has such a distinct aroma about it! All of which must have been strange news to the Grocers shop next door where the office is now. In the Early 1960's the Mr Coburn died and his 2 sons took over the estate and split the club into 2 parts - upstairs being the Liberal Party HQ and downstairs being the Liberal Club itself.