WCC Centenary Snooker Post #25 - Answers

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #25 - Answers

Congratulations to Brian 'Mr Chairman' Orton for correctly identifying all 3 in this photo.

L - R : Ron Brewer, John Pulman (World Champion 1957-1968, 8 times consecutively!) & Bill Billingham (well, it was Fathers Day!).

Brian estimates it was taken around 1969?  Well done Sir, your prize will be behind the bar... & it's not liquid.

As always, please feel free to message me with any contributions of your own which you may have (photographs, newspaper cuttings, etc.) & I'll add them to the feeds. 

Snooker Rep.

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #25

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #25

Appropriately with a week to go until the Steve Davis Snooker Exhibition (& on Fathers Day), I thought I would post a picture to test you Snooker Fans.

Here is a picture of 2 Comrades Club Members with an 8 times (yes, EIGHT times) Snooker World Champion.

Anyone care to attempt to identify any of the people in this Black & White picture from back-in-the-day?

I'll give you a clue, the World Champion is in the middle.

Again, feel free to message me with any contributions of your own which you may have (photographs, newspaper cuttings, etc.) & I'll add them to the feeds. 

Snooker Rep.

Wallingford Comrades Club Centenary Snooker Exhibition

Only one week to go until the Wallingford Comrades Club Centenary Snooker Steve 'The Nugget' Davis Exhibition Event!

A few tickets are still available on the Comrades Website.  Buy now or be disappointed.

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #24

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #24

Continuing our series (we've a lot of history to get through!), here is the Wallingford Comrades Club Snooker Teams end-of-season Stats Tables for the D&DB&SL for the 1993-94 Season (thank you Phil Hall).

As you can see, we now had a newly formed D Team, comprised of quite a few players who had migrated from the Kings Head PH Pool Team.  Captained by Kev Willis, they romped their first season in the D&DB&SL & won the Fourth Division Title by 6 clear points.

Captain Kev played a sterling season, leading from the front & finished as top percentage player.  To give him due reward for a fabulous first year, he was awarded the prestigious Tanner Trophy as Player of the Season.

Stu Mogford made a plethora of breaks which challenged Phil's XL skills (huh, he should try accommodating all Phil Collins high breaks!).  For his 45 break Stu took the Bill Billingham High Break Trophy, which was to be his start of 3 consecutive years of him holding this award.

House Competitions

In the Veterans a 'whistling' Gilbert Shepherd regained the title after a 2 year gap.  Dave Greathead, having 'moved up' to the A Team, retained the Singles title, becoming only the 3rd player in Comrades History to do so (Robert 'Bob' Seares won the first back-to-back Singles titles in 1974 & '75, repeated the feat again in 1983 & '84 & Colin Baker won in 1985 & '86).

Ian 'Tiny' Burtenshaw & Kevin Gray both got their first Gold Leaf moments as they won the Doubles.  Tiny doubled up with another House Winners trophy with a win in the Darts Singles.

Snooker cue-wielding brothers Pete & Mick Soden proved they were dab hands with the arrows too as they won the Darts Pairs.

As always, please feel free to message me with any information or contributions of your own which you may have (photographs, newspaper cuttings, etc.) & I'll add them to the feeds.  

Snooker Rep.

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #23

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #23

Continuing the series of Centenary Posts, committing all this history & nostalgia to digital records, here is the D&DB&SL end-of-season League Tables for the 1992-93 season.

This was to be the last year of Tony Stenning's hand written leagues as home computers were now becoming the norm.  This copy is once again provided by our Club Snooker Rep. of that time, Phil Hall.

In the Premier Division Wallingford A recaptured the title from the previous years winners, Oracle B.  It was to be the last time the A Team won the Premier for over 5 subsequent seasons.  Rich (Dickie) Sambell won the Premier High Break trophy with a creditable 64.

The First Division title was won by Esso Research A (or Infineum at Milton Hill as it is now, who sadly are no longer in the D&DB&SL).  The First Division High Break trophy was won by a young Paul Archer (yes, the now Captain of Abingdon RBL) with a 40.

The Second Division title was won by Challow RBL B (a club who gladly return to the D&DB&SL next season) & the Second Division High Break trophy was won by R. Rawlings with a 38 (surely not Richard Rawlings... of Gas Monkey Garage?  Guess we'll see who watches Fast n Loud?).

The Third Division title was won by County Club & a certain D. Baker burst on the scene, making a sizeable 64 break to take the Third Division High Break trophy.

In the last year of the Fourth Division Oracle C took the divisional title & R. Hiles made a 75 break to take the High Break prize for Division 4.

Wallingford A doubled up their Premier Division title by winning the John Evans Cup Final, whilst Marlborough B won the end-of-season Jim Taylor Cup.

In Pairs Comps, Wallingford B Team Doubles pairing of Dave Greathead & Pete Billingham won their first (of 3) D&DB&SL Doubles title, whilst Dave Hammond & Nigel Prior (Marlborough) won the 2 Man Team event.

In solo events, Doug Howse secured a hat trick of consecutive Billiards titles & the aforementioned Dave Baker secured the Under 23s title.  He wasn't finished there though as 'Bakes' went on to win the prestigious Singles title, becoming the first player ever to win the Under 23s & Singles in the same season.

This feat would not be repeated until 1997-98 season by Dave Taylor (Oracle), again in 1999-2000 by a certain Phil Collins (then of Fairmile) who went on to repeat it in 2001-02 & lastly in 2008-09 by Ollie Hoeblyn (again, Oracle).

As always, please feel free to message me with any contributions of your own which you may have (photographs, newspaper cuttings, etc.) & I'll add them to the feeds. 

Snooker Rep.

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #22

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #22

We continue our series with the end-of-season Wallingford Comrades Club Stats Table for the D&DB&SL 1992-93 season, courtesy of Phil Hall.

In this year in House Competitions the Veterans Title was lifted by J. (John?) Cope.  Alan Nettley & Geoff 'Fish' Fisher won the Doubles beating Dave Greathead & Pete Billingham in the Final.

Dave consoled himself as he went on to capture a winners trophy, securing the Singles Title for his first ever Gold Leaf inscription on the prestigious & hallowed boards.

At this time Dave was Captain of the B Team & together with his Doubles Partner, Pete Billingham they also won their first D&DB&SL Doubles Title (the first Wallingford pairing on the base inscription?), when Dave sank one of his trademark long blues to secure the match.

Captain Dave, or Daddy G as he was to be affectionately known by his 'young' squad, also secured the Bill Billingham High Break Trophy with a 38 break.  As Phil wrote, after such a sterling year where he featured in so many Finals, Dave was the very worthy recipient of the Tanner Trophy for Player of the Season, repeating his Doubles Partners feat from the previous season of capturing both of these awards in the same year.

And as you can see from the hand written names at the bottom of the stats sheet, the new Wallingford D Team was in the process of being formed.  Kev Willis was to be Captain (of Pettits fame), together with Keith Murphy, Tony Caven, Darren Didcock, Mark Kennedy, retired Policeman Mike Newman & a certain Father of current C Team Captain, Chris Alexander.

As always, please feel free to message me with any contributions of your own which you may have (photographs, newspaper cuttings, etc.) & I'll add them to the feeds.

Snooker Rep.

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #21

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #21

With only 2 weeks to go until our Centenary Event, the Steve Davis Snooker Exhibition Night on Sunday 23rd June, I thought it appropriate to remember past exhibition nights at Wallingford Comrades Club.

Steve will not be the first World Champion to give an exhibition at the Comrades Club.  Here is a wonderful picture of Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins (World Champion 1972 & 1982) & Ray Reardon (World Champion 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1975 & 1978) together with our then Chairman, Derek Hawkins (far left) & their Professional Referee, Len Walker (far right).  To have not one, but two World Champions in our Club... wow!

The Centenary Committee, especially Gavin Twigg who 'owns' Steve 'The Nugget' Davis Exhibition Event have been working very hard with arranging it & all the associated logistical issues which have been numerous.  Just over a dozen tickets are still available, so if you haven't got yours yet, there is still time.  Click Events on the WCC website & follow the Buy Tickets link.

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #20

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #20

With the 2018-19 season complete for the Didcot & District Billiards & Snooker League I have created & updated a compiled digital record (XL Spreadsheet) of all winners from them beginning(?) of the D&DB&SL.

This was mainly done for 2 reasons.

Firstly, the only records we have are on the actual trophies.  As some may recall, the Premier Division High Break Trophy went missing a few years ago 😡 & at that point it became apparent that the trophy bases were the ONLY record of who won what in what year.

Secondly, with this being the Wallingford Comrades Clubs Centenary Year, I was intrigued as to how many trophies & titles our club teams & players had won over the years.  The answer...?  A massive 120!!! 😳👏💪

As the inscription plates on some of the trophies have been replaced or in some cases, the trophies replaced or renewed, this is not a definitive or complete list.  The first record is from the 1968-69 season so if anyone reading this can provide evidence to assist with any preceding information (does anyone know the exact year the D&DB&SL was formed?), filling in any of the gaps, then please send the information to me & I will update the historic records.

With many thanks to Gordon Izzard 🙏 for providing me with all the 'raw data' from each trophy base (I still owe you a beer or two for that mammoth task Gordon 👏🍺🍺) & of course, Vic 'The Legend' Hartley 🥃 for all of his End-of-Season League Tables, including his predecessor, Tony Stenning (who used to write them all by hand back-in-the-day! 😮).  Thanks also to Phil Hall 🙏 for providing me with the scanned pdf copies that you have been reading on these WCC Centenary Posts, they proved invaluable in compiling the spreadsheet & also in filling in some of the gaps.

Dawn & Ann, should you find any historic records from your dear Dad, please hang on to them for me as my plan is to provide this spreadsheet to be uploaded to the D&DB&SL Facebook page & for Tim Watson to incorporate in his social media for the league.

As always, feel free to message me with any contributions of your own which you may have (photographs, newspaper cuttings, etc.) & I'll add them to the feeds.

If you're enjoying these posts, please take the time to give it a Like 👍 as a bit of feedback.

Snooker Rep.

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #19

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #19

Our series continues with the end-of-season Stats Tables for the D&DB&SL 1991-92 Season, as originally compiled by our own Phil Hall 🙏

Sadly I have no copies of the end-of-season League Tables from the D&DB&SL for this season (can anyone out there help?), but with immense thanks to Gordon Izzard who supplied me with listings of winners from all of the current & past trophies (that must have taken some time & is well worth a beer or two, thank you Gordon), I can give you a summary of League Winners.

D&DB&SL Winners

Oracle B won the Premier Division for their first time, thereby stopping Wallingford A from making it a consecutive quartet of wins.  Goring & Streatley, having won promotion the previous season as Second Division Champions bettered that impressive feat by winning the First Division.  Malcolm Winney (Challow RBL back then I believe?) tied with C. Wyatt (home Club not known) as First Division High Break winners on 44.

Fairmile SC won the Second Division - probably due to a young prodigy by the name of Collins bursting on to the scene?  First Division High Break prize was claimed with another 44 break by Matty Nunn (son of Wallingford Comrades member) who I believe at that time played for Metal Box, or Crown Technology as we know them now.

Challow RBL B won the Third Division, but sadly I have no record of who won that division High Break, nor either for the Fourth Division which turned out to be in its penultimate year of existence.

In the Team Cups, Oracle B doubled up on their Premiership triumph by winning the John Evans Cup.  Wallingford A consoled themselves by securing the season finale, the Jim Taylor Cup.

In the solo & pairs events, brothers Dave & Vince Taylor won the Doubles, Paul Robinson & Bob Baker won the 2 Man Team & a certain Nigel Prior (then of Marlborough) won the prestigious Singles.  Doug Howse (Abingdon Con) retained the Billiards title & N. Robinson (home club not known) won the Under 23s.

Wallingford House Competitions & Annual Awards

1992 was a very sad year for this Club Rep as my Father, William AKA Bill Billingham succumbed to the dreaded cancer he had fought for so long.  The family subsequently donated the Bill Billingham High Break Trophy to the Wallingford Comrades in his memory for the highest break made in competitive play.  Quite aptly, yours truly knocked in a creditable half century (at Oracle v Bob Baker in the Wallingford B v Oracle B away match) to claim the inaugural & emotional inscription.  

Having finished top percentage player in the B Team, Billingham junior also was the proud recipient of the Tanner Trophy for Player of the Season, which was now in its third year of being presented.

In Comrades House Competitions the Doubles title was won by Colin Wright & Richard Rowse (of Rowse Honey fame), Tony Wood (B Team) won the Singles & S. Birch won the Veterans title.  In non-cue comps JB, John Beardsley & Howard Chadwick retained the Darts title, the late George Flynn (A Team) won the Crib Singles & Adrian Hatt won the Golf title.

If anyone can assist with filling in any of the missing winners/information please feel free to message me, also with any contributions of your own (photographs, newspaper cuttings, etc.) & I'll add them to the feeds & historic records.

Snooker Rep.

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #18

WCC Centenary Snooker Post #18

With apologies to readers for the delay between centenary posts (due to personal reasons), we re-continue this series with the end-of-season Stats Tables for the D&DB&SL 1990-91 Season, as compiled by our own Phil Hall 🙏

This season saw Wallingford A retain the Premier Title making it a hat trick of wins, dominating in the division since the Premiership was formed in the 1988-89 season.

Sadly I have no records of who won the Premier High Break, 1st Division Title, 3rd Division High Break, 4th Division Title or 4th Division High Break - if you can assist with filling in any of these historic facts, please message me.

Randomly though, I can tell you that R. Baker (presumably Bob Baker) won the 1st Division High Break award with a creditable 57.

However, other records which do exist are that Goring & Streatley (Golf Club) won the 2nd Division Title & John Dawson took the 2nd Division High Break award with a 37 break.

Harwell RBL D (yes, they used to field 4 teams!) won the 3rd Division.

In the team cups, Oracle B won the Jim Taylor thereby preventing Wallingford A from achieving a back-to-back treble as the A Team won the John Evans, making it a Double Year with their Premier Title.

Pom Merola (Oracle) won the Singles Cup, whilst A. King & A. Horton (home Club not known - can anyone assist?) won the Doubles.  The Wallingford A pairing of Bob Seares & Stuart Mogford won the 2 Man Team title & Doug Howse (Abingdon Con?) won the Billiards.

In Wallingford Comrades House Competitions the A Team pairing of Colin Baker & Phil Hall won the Doubles for the second year in succession.  A young Andy Rance of the B Team won the coveted Singles Title for his first ever Gold Leaf moment.  The Veterans Cup was won by a ‘whistling’ Gilbert Shepherd, yes the same legend who was also responsible for table maintenance & who our annual GSMS Cup was to be named after which did not commence until 1996.  Billiards was not played & did not appear back in gold leaf on the winners boards until 2003.

Elsewhere in non-cue orientated House Competitions a certain John Beardsley partnered his good friend Howard Chadwick to the Darts Pairs Title & our late Chairman, Bob Elliott won the Crib Singles.

In the second year of awarding Player of the Season the late George Flynn was awarded the Tanner Trophy on the back of his Comrades Singles Title the previous season.

If anyone can assist with filling in any missing winners or information wish please feel free to message me with any contributions of your own (photographs, newspaper cuttings, etc.) & I'll add them to the feeds & historic records.

Snooker Rep.