Snooker Scene

Last updated
Snooker Scene
Snooker Scene logo.jpg
EditorMarcus Stead
Editorial Consultant Clive Everton
Former editors
PublisherCurtis Sport
Founder Clive Everton
Founded1972
CountryUnited Kingdom
Based in Aldridge
LanguageEnglish

Snooker Scene is a monthly magazine about snooker and other cue sports. It was established by Clive Everton in 1972 from the amalgamation of the Billiards and Snooker Control Council's Billiards and Snooker and his own World Snooker. Everton was editor until he retired in September 2022; the following month, it was announced that the magazine would be returning under new owners, Curtis Sport.

Contents

History

Everton had been the editor of Billiards and Snooker from the December 1966 issue [1] until the February 1971 issue when he was succeeded by Doug Organ. [2] [3] According to Everton, he was sacked at the instigation of Jack Karnehm, the Chairman of the Billiards and Snooker Control Council (as the Billiards Association and Control Council had renamed itself) for "giving professionals publicity" by including picture of four professional players on the cover of Billiards and Snooker at a time when the Billiards and Snooker Control Council and the professional players were in dispute over the World Billiards Championship. This dispute led to the Professional Billiards Players Association renaming itself as the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and splitting from the Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC). Following his sacking, Everton established his own magazine, World Snooker, [4] : 16–17 : 44–45  which printed and sold 3,000 copies of its first issue published in January 1971. [5]

In 1972, the B&SCC approached Everton to take over Billiards and Snooker and paid him £1,000 to do so. Everton merged Billiards and Snooker and World Snooker into Snooker Scene, which published its first issue in April 1972, priced at 12p and featuring a report on the 1972 World Snooker Championship. [6]

The magazine has sometimes featured criticisms of the WPBSA which have led to legal disputes. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Snooker Scene was originally published by Everton's News Agency [6] before being published by Snooker Scene Ltd. [11] The magazine purchased and absorbed two other periodicals. Cue World was acquired in 1989, and Pot Black was purchased from the WPBSA in 1999. Janice Hale who joined Everton's News Agency in 1972 served as assistant editor, before leaving in 1992. Later, under Everton's editorship, the Deputy Editor was David Hendon, and the Chief Reporter was Phil Yates, and additional reporting was provided by Marcus Stead. [10] [12] [11] [13] The magazine was based at Halesowen for 14 years before moving to Stourbridge in late 2020. [14]

Everton has said of Snooker Scene: "I had started this as a simple journal of record of what was happening on the table, but it became a crusading vehicle … Taking Wisden and Private Eye as our models we sometimes made our point through hard reporting, sometimes through satire." [4] : 22 

In the September 2022 issue of Snooker Scene, Everton announced that he would not be continuing as editor. [15] In October 2022 it was announced that the magazine would be returning under new owners, Curtis Sport, and with a new editor, Nick Metcalfe. [16] Metcalfe brought a number of writers into the team, including Phil Haigh, David Hendon, Michael McMullan and Annette Lord. Following editorial disagreements with Everton, who retains legal ownership of the magazine, Metcalfe was removed as editor in December 2022. Long-time contributor Marcus Stead was appointed as acting editor, and he took on the role on a permanent basis from January 2023. The other current writers are Phil Yates, Annette Lord, Jonathan Davies, Stuart Pike and James Lodge. Clive Everton continues to work for the magazine as Editorial Consultant. Everton also continues to cover billiards and writes occasional features. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Spencer (snooker player)</span> English snooker player (1935–2006)

John Spencer was an English professional snooker player. One of the most dominant players of the 1970s, he won the World Snooker Championship three times, in 1969, 1971 and 1977. He worked as a snooker commentator for the BBC from 1978 to 1998, and served for 25 years on the board of the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), including a stint as chairman from 1990 until his retirement from the board in 1996.

Anthony Knowles is an English former professional snooker player. He won the 1982 International Open and the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s. His highest world ranking was second, in the 1984/85 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snooker world rankings 1984/1985</span>

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the governing body for professional snooker, first introduced a ranking system for professional players in 1976, with the aim of seeding players for the World Snooker Championship. The reigning champion would be automatically seeded first, the losing finalist from the previous year seeded second, and the other seedings based on the ranking list. Initially the rankings were based on performances in the preceding three world championships, with five points for the winner, four for the runner-up, three for losing semi-finalists, two for losing quarter-finalists, and one for losers in the last 16 round.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the governing body for professional snooker, first introduced a ranking system for professional players in 1976, with the aim of seeding players for the World Snooker Championship. The reigning champion would be automatically seeded first, the losing finalist from the previous year seeded second, and the other seedings based on the ranking list. Initially, the rankings were based on performances in the preceding three world championships. The list for the 1986/87 season was the first to only take account of results over two seasons.

Markham Wildman is an English retired professional snooker and English billiards player and cue sports commentator. He won the World Professional Billiards Championship in 1984, and was runner up in 1980 and 1982. He made a televised snooker century break in 1960.

Clive Harold Everton is a sports commentator, journalist, author and former professional snooker and English billiards player. He founded Snooker Scene magazine, which was first published in 1971, and continued as editor until September 2022. He has authored over twenty books about cue sports since 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Billiards and Snooker Federation</span>

The International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) is an organisation that governs non-professional snooker and English billiards around the world. As of January 2020, the organisation is headquartered in Doha, Qatar.

The 1972 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between March 1971 and 26 February 1972, as an edition of the World Snooker Championship. The final was played at Selly Park British Legion from 21 to 26 February. Alex Higgins won his first world title, defeating defending champion John Spencer 37–31 in the final. Higgins also made the highest known break of the tournament, 133. In all, he won six matches to secure the title, including a 31–30 deciding frame victory over Rex Williams in the semi-final after Williams had missed an attempt to pot a blue ball. Higgins became the first qualifier to win the World Championship, and, aged 22, the youngest champion until Stephen Hendry in 1990. Higgins's win led to increased interest in snooker from the media and sponsors.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards. It is headquartered in Bristol, England. Founded as the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) in 1946, with Joe Davis as chairman, it was revived in 1968 after some years of inactivity and renamed the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association in 1970. Its current chairman is Jason Ferguson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Davis (snooker player)</span> English former professional snooker player, 8-time world champion

Fred Davis was an English professional player of snooker and English billiards. He was an eight-time World Snooker Championship winner from 1948 to 1956, and a two-time winner of the World Billiards Championship. He was the brother of 15-time world snooker champion Joe Davis; the pair were the only two players to win both snooker and English billiards world championships, and Fred is second on the list of those holding most world snooker championship titles, behind Joe.

The World Billiards Championship is an international cue sports tournament in the discipline of English billiards, organised by World Billiards, a subsidiary of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). In its various forms, and usually as a single competition, the title is one of the oldest sporting world championships, having been contested since 1870.

Jack Karnehm was a British snooker commentator, who was regularly heard on BBC television from 1978 until 1994, and a former amateur world champion at the game of English billiards. Karnehm was also a professional snooker and billiards player.

The 1976 World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional invitational snooker tournament held from 28 November to 11 December 1976 at the Nunawading Basketball Centre in Burwood East, Melbourne, Australia. Eddie Charlton, the event's promoter, won the title by defeating Ray Reardon by 31 frames to 24 in the final. The Championship was sanctioned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, with the event's title causing confusion with the World Snooker Championship in some media reports. The tournament was not repeated.

The World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional snooker tournament established in 1952 as an alternative to the professional World Snooker Championship by some of the professional players, following a dispute with the Billiards Association and Control Council, the sport's governing body. Fred Davis won the first five editions of the tournament, but didn't participate in 1957, when John Pulman won. After this, the event was discontinued due to a decline in the popularity of snooker.

The Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC) was the governing body of the games of English billiards and snooker and organised professional and amateur championships in both sports. It was formed in 1919 by the union of the Billiards Association and the Billiards Control Club.

Leslie Driffield (1912–1988) was an English world champion player of English billiards. He won the World Amateur Billiards Championship title twice, in 1952 and 1967; and the Billiards and Snooker Control Council version of the world professional championship, played on a challenge basis, in 1971 and 1973.

Douglas French is an English former professional snooker player.

Billy Kelly is an Irish former professional snooker player. He played professionally from 1981 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Chambers (referee)</span> English cue sports referee

Charles Chambers was a referee for the cue sports of snooker and English billiards. He worked at Thurston's Hall in London for three decades and was as well known in billiards circles as the leading players. He was the referee during Walter Lindrum's world record billiards break of 4,137 points in 1932. Chambers was the first referee to receive an "A class" certificate from the Billiards Association and Control Council, and refereed the final of the 1937 World Snooker Championship between Joe Davis and Horace Lindrum. His ruling in a 1938 match led to a minimum length cue being specified in the official rules of the game.

References

  1. ↑ Phillips, Harold (December 1966). "Editor with drive". Billiards and Snooker. London: Billiards Association and Control Council. p. 3.
  2. ↑ "Statement by the Billiards Association and Control Council". Billiards and Snooker. London: Billiards Association and Control Council. January 1971. p. 12.
  3. ↑ "Billiards and Snooker (masthead)". Billiards and Snooker. London: Billiards and Snooker Control Council. February 1971. p. 12.
  4. 1 2 Clive Everton (2 December 2011). Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards: The Inside Story of the Snooker World. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 16–17. ISBN   978-1-78057-399-1.
  5. ↑ Everton, Clive (4 February 2011). "After 40 years, Everton's still on the Snooker Scene". sportsjournalists.co.uk. Sports Journalists' Association. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. 1 2 Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker. Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 123. ISBN   0600556042.
  7. ↑ "Snooker Scene is facing an attempt at closure, its editor says". The Press Gazette. 20 July 2006. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. ↑ Townsend, Nick (14 October 2007). "Snooker: The cue crusader who is Scene and heard but never ignored". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  9. ↑ Gibson, Owen (10 January 2009). "Everton unhappy his BBC voice is being silenced". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  10. 1 2 Gordon Burn (4 July 2019). Pocket Money. Faber & Faber. p. 205. ISBN   978-0-571-26697-5.
  11. 1 2 "Snooker Scene (masthead)". Snooker Scene. Halesowen: Snooker Scene Ltd. April 2020. p. 3.
  12. ↑ "Snooker Scene on 35 and still in prime position". Snooker Scene. Halesowen: Everton's News Agency. January 2006. p. 3.
  13. ↑ Everton, Clive (October 2015). "Obituary: Janice Hale". Snooker Scene. Halesowen: Everton's News Agency. p. 27.
  14. ↑ "Moving story". Snooker Scene. Stourbridge: Snooker Scene Ltd. November 2020. p. 3.
  15. ↑ "Snooker Scene: end of an era". World Snooker Tour. 6 September 2022. Archived from the original on September 6, 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  16. ↑ Caulfield, David (22 October 2022). "Snooker Scene magazine to continue with new ownership" . Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  17. ↑ Everton, Clive (January 2023). "An editorial upheaval". Snooker Scene. p. 4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.