The Riley Snooker Shield Team KO Tournament
is a Non Starter
Organised by the Southampton & District Billiards & Snooker Association for over 70 years, teams in the Southampton and District have comprehensively said NO to the Riley Shield KO competition.
Only two teams were interested when the closing date of Wednesday, 15th November 2006 had arrived. Invitations were sent out to 125 teams playing in 76 clubs and the organisers, although disappointed with the lack of response, realise that snooker in its various forms, individuals, pairs, 4 and 5 man team events, both in league and tournament play are at saturation point in the area.
Gone are the days when the Southampton & District League, under the organisational skills of Ted Richards, could boast one of the biggest snooker leagues in the world. During the late 1980's, 156 snooker teams played in 10 divisions, but during the early 1990's playing numbers dropped and in 1996 at the time of Ted Richards passing at the age of 84, the Social Clubs League had come down to 132 teams playing in 8 divisions. Ted's "game secretaries" chair was taken by Tony Aldridge and over the next 7 years, the number of teams playing in the league steadily dropped 106 in 7 divisions. The innovation of splitting the Burroughs & Watts Team Snooker in two events was Tony's "brain child" in an attempt to keep players interested in playing and having a chance of winning a trophy. Three more years have now passed and with the likes of Ex-Servicemens Club, Hulse Road Club, Bitterne Park Social, Freemantle Club and BAT (Totton) either selling their snooker tables or closing down, the number of teams currently playing are 90.
Yes, the 1980's were the best years for snooker in Southampton in respect of the number of playing members and yes those days are long gone. Here's a graph showing the peak of 156 teams playing in 1986 . . . . . . .
The Snooker Bonanza (Summer Handicap Team KO) shows a similar
picture.....
Tony Aldridge
© November 2006 by Antony Aldridge (All rights reserved)