THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP : A Potted History

Part 1 : A controversial beginning

The history of a National Championship for English billiard players covers a period of over one hundred years and is packed with incident,controversy, unusual characters and wonderful achievements. In a series of articles, we hope to produce a brief chronicle which conveys a flavour of this famous event since its earliest years. We start at the beginning....

With the formation of the Billiard Association in 1885 came the question of starting "an amateur championship of Great Britain and Ireland". The first reference to the subject appeared at a committee meeting which was held in 1886 where it was decided to proceed with arranging a contest, but this evidently ran into some difficulty and the idea appears to have been dropped. It was therefore left to Messrs. Orme and Sons, a well-known billiard table manufacturer in Manchester, to take the matter into their own hands, and in 1887 they made arrangements to stage the first amateur championship of the British Isles and Ireland. The company provided a silver cup valued at £100, which they stipulated would become the property of the player who held it for three consecutive years or won it six times.

Orme & Sons' Championship of Great Britain & Ireland

The first competition attracted 44 entries who were drawn to compete at three locations. Players from Northern England (which involved all those residing north of Warwickshire, and including Ireland) met at Messrs. Orme and Sons' rooms, Blackfriars Street, Manchester between 12th-19th March 1888. A Scottish area qualification was set up at Dumfries to accommodate the two entries from that country, and the remainder met at the Argyll Hall, London, between 12th-14th March 1888. Owing to the ownership of the Argyll Hall changing hands whilst the competition was in progress, the final heat of the Southern division was played at the Oriental Restaurant, New Bridge Street, Blackfriars. The winners from the three sections would play the closing rounds at Orme & Sons showrooms in Manchester.

Controversy was never far away from this event and it started when the winner of the Southern section, Sam Christey, was disqualified on objection from one of his opponents, W. D. Courtney. The complaint was based on the fact that Christey had taken part in a tournament in April 1887 which involved professional players, and by so doing, he was no longer entitled to compete in an amateur event. The tournament in question had been advertised as "open to amateurs and markers" who could, if they chose, play under a pseudonym and this would not endanger their amateur status. However, Orme's representatives took a different view and disqualified Christey. The players who he had beaten in the qualifying section, played off to determine the Southern qualifier. Courtney won this section and progressed to the closing stages.

There was further controversy when Courtney arrived in Manchester to play what he understood to be a final heat against the Northern Champion. It was only then that he found out that there were three players still in the competition and he was drawn to play a further qualifying match against the Scottish candidate. He managed to win this easily enough, but further complication arose when Sam Christey also turned up at the venue. Before the final could be started, Christey raised a objection against Courtney playing in the game, saying that, as he had beaten him in London, he ought to take his place. However, this protest was overruled.

All these disputes may have affected Courtney, for he was beaten comfortably in the final by Mr. H. A. O. Lonsdale who by this win, became the first Amateur Champion of Great Britain and Ireland on 28th March 1888.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1888 Mar.	H. A. 0. Lonsdale	W. D. Courtney	500 - 334

After this, the competition reverted to a challenge basis under the following conditions. "Any amateur, upon payment of one guinea, can challenge the holder of the cup, and the game must take place in the nearest city to where the latter resides". The Champion was bound to defend his title within three months of receiving a challenge - and these were not long in arriving!

On 12th December 1888, Lonsdale was required to meet the challenge of A. P. Gaskell (London) in a game which had been extended to 1,500 up in recognition of the competitors proficiency at making breaks with the "spot stroke" - at this time the most popular method of break building. The match took place at Orme & Sons Saloon, Manchester and Gaskell won by 151 points, with the highest break being one of 75 by the loser.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1888 Dec.	A. P. Gaskell	H. A. 0. Lonsdale	1500 - 1349

Mr. Rackets (Boston) was the next challenger for the title, but owing to illness he was forced to concede the match, which was awarded to Gaskell.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1889 Mar.	A. P. Gaskell	- declared Champion.

E. W. Alabone next challenged the holder, and the match of 1,500 up was played at the Royal Aquarium, Westminster. Gaskell retained his title by 222 points and had the highest breaks with 94 and 88.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1889 Jul.	A. P. Gaskell	E. W. Alabone	1500 - 1278

Within six months Gaskell was in action again to meet the challenge of Sidney Fry and the match was played at the Prince's Hall, Piccadilly. Gaskell retained his title by 105 points and also made the highest break of 98. Sidney Fry was at this time receiving lessons from the great John Roberts, who, after finishing his game at the nearby Egyptian Hall, attended the match to observe the progress of his pupil.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1890 Jan.	A. P. Gaskell	S. H. Fry	1500 - 1395

It was a condition of the championship that as soon as a challenge had been published it was also open to any other amateur to send in his entry fee and announce his intention to take part. Now three challenges were received from N. Defries (London), E. W. Alabone (London) and Harry Hardy (Manchester) who played a round-robin tournament at The Portman Rooms, Baker Street, for the right to meet the champion. The games of 1,500 up commenced on 29th April 1890 and the winner of the eliminating matches was N. Defries who defeated both his opponents. Defries was a well-known member of John Roberts' Club in Gutter Lane where his play was highly regarded. However, he made no impression in his match against the Champion, going down to a heavy defeat by 694 points on 1st May. Gaskell made the highest break with 114 which set a new championship record.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1890 May	A. P. Gaskell	N. Defries	1500 - 805

Gaskell had now won the title five times and required just one more win to take possession of the trophy. Challenges were received from two players, F. A. Lindner (Birmingham) and W. D. Courtney (London) and they played off at the Prince's Hall, Piccadilly on 7th October 1890 for the right to meet the champion. Courtney defeated Lindner by 457 points and the following day met Gaskell, defeating the champion in an exciting match by 89 points. Courtney had breaks of 111, 89 and 83, while Gaskell had two breaks of 105. There was an unusually high level of betting upon the game, the holder being a very hot favourite. When Gaskell took an early lead he was considered such a certainty that odds of "£100 to a shilling cigar" were offered. One person in the audience was astute enough to take these odds and was promptly paid after the match. However, Courtney himself was less fortunate. Having wagered £5 on the result, he never managed to collect his winnings. Additionally, on returning to the dressing-room, he found that someone had stolen his coat, together with a five-pound note which had been in one of his pockets.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1890 Oct.	W. D. Courtney	A. P. Gaskell	1500 - 1141

Following his defeat, Gaskell immediately challenged for the title and was joined by Sidney Fry, the pair playing for the right to meet Courtney at Orme & Son's Showrooms, Soho Square on 14th January 1891. Gaskell defeated Fry by 208 points making a new championship record break of 156 in the process. But in the final, which was held the following day, he could not overcome Courtney who won easily by 529 points, without either player making a century break.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1891 Jan.	W. D. Courtney	A. P. Gaskell	1500 - 971

Undeterred by these two defeats, Mr. Gaskell again raised a challenge as did four other players: J. A. Pennycuick who made the long journey from Airdrie in Scotland, Arthur Wisdom (Southsea), F. A. Lindner (Birmingham), and a player using the pseudonym "Ormonde" from London. The challengers played off to meet Courtney on a knock-out basis at Orme & Son's Showrooms, Soho Square starting on 13th April 1891. Gaskell eventually proved the best of the challengers with a victory over Arthur Wisdom which included a break of 157. In the championship match, Gaskell defeated Courtney by 312 points making a new record break of 277 and another of 136. By this sixth victory, Gaskell took possession of the Championship cup and having achieved his ambition, he resigned the title in favour of Courtney, playing very little in public after this date. However, Courtney would never be seen again in the amateur championship as he also resigned as "Champion" before another contest could be held and joined the professional ranks.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1891 Apr.	A. P. Gaskell	W. D. Courtney	1500 - 1188

Billiard Association Championship of Great Britain

On 21st January 1892, the subject of promoting an amateur championship was revived in earnest by the Billiard Association. At an Extraordinary General Meeting, it was proposed that an "Amateur Championship of Great Britain" be instigated under essentially the same terms as those operated by the Orme & Sons competition. But Orme's were not keen to give up their championship. There had been lengthy correspondence between the two organisations resulting in a statement from Orme's saying that they "could not see their way to amalgamating their competition with that of the Billiard Association." Nevertheless, the Billiards Association resolved to proceed with their own competition.

Orme & Sons' Championship of Great Britain & Ireland

A few days after the meeting of the Billiards Association, the following advertisement appeared : "Messrs. Orme and Sons have received from Mr. W. D. Courtney his resignation of the title of Amateur Billiard Champion. Gentlemen challenging before February 20th will play off as soon after that date as is convenient to the challengers, and the game will be played in London." The tournament commenced on 21st March 1892 at Orme & Son's Showrooms, Soho Square with the following players taking part in a "round-robin" contest: J. A. Pennycuick (Glasgow), Arthur Wisdom (Southsea), "Hazard" (Manchester), "Osborne" (London). Arthur Wisdom made a break of 225 in his first match against Pennycuick and another of 241 against "Hazard". In his final game against "Osborne" he bettered both of these with a run of 264 to take the title with wins against all his opponents. There was a balance of 406 points in his favour at the finish of the contest on 26th March 1892.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1892 Mar.	Arthur Wisdom	Osbourne	1500 - 1094

Billiard Association Championship of Great Britain

Meanwhile, the Billiard Association were pushing on with preparations for their championship. In April 1892, a cup weighing 117 ounces was selected as the championship trophy and by 4th May, which was the closing date for entries, six players had been accepted, these being Messrs. Sidney Fry, E. W. Alabone; A. H. Vahid, H. Clark, J. Barcroft, and Sam Christey. It may be remembered that Christey, after easily defeating Mr. W. D. Courtney in the first contest for the Championship promoted by Messrs. Orme and Sons, was declared a professional and disqualified. Christey, however, had taken the matter before the Committee of the Billiard Association who considered that his case presented "many extenuating circumstances", and they decided to reinstate him as an amateur. The first Billiard Association championship was played at the Royal Aquarium, London, on a "Standard" table supplied by Geo. Wright & Co. On 12th May 1892 the competition had resolved itself into a final match between Sidney Fry and Sam Christey. In the game of 1,500 up Christey made record breaks of 287 and 297 (98 spots) defeating Fry by 572 points. Christey was never again challenged to defend his title and the trophy became his property after three years.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1892 May	Sam Christey	Sidney Fry	1500 - 928

Billiard Association : Spot-barred Championship

Sam Christey's superiority with the "spot-stroke" was so overwhelming that it quickly became evident that any attempt to take the title from him would be hopeless. Under these circumstances, at a meeting of the Billiard Association, held on 13th June 1892, it was resolved to limit the spot-stroke by instituting a new "Spot-Barred" Amateur Championship of Great Britain, and another challenge cup was acquired. This competition was contested for the first time between 15th January and 2nd February 1893, at the National Sporting Club, London, the six competitors being Messrs. Sam Christey, Sidney Fry, A. H. Vahid, A. R. Wisdom, J. Barcroft, and W. Bailey. Heats were 1,000-up and the final 1,500-up. In his first round match against Christey, Arthur Wisdom made a break of 153 and had a session average of 18.55, establishing a new record. However, Christey, in the last session, had breaks of 127, 86 and 74, and an average of 13.48 to win the match. The final was between A. H. Vahid and Sam Christey, with the former - who was a native of India - gaining an extremely popular victory by 105 points. However, his reign would not last long as on 20th March he would resign the title having taken employment as a Marker, and therefore becoming classed as a professional.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1893 Jan.	A. H. Vahid	Sam Christey	1500 - 1395

Orme & Sons' Championship of Great Britain & Ireland

Meanwhile, in the rival championship, Arthur Wisdom had received a challenge from Mr. Buxton and the match of 1,500 up was arranged to be played at Orme & Son's Showrooms, Soho Square at the same time that the closing stages of the Billiard Association championship was being decided in another part of London. Wisdom was never in danger of losing his title, winning easily by 648 points on 1st February 1893

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1893 Feb.	Arthur Wisdom	Mr. Buxton	1500 - 852

A few weeks after this contest, the rivalry between Messrs. Orme and Sons and the Billiard Association came to an end when Orme's announced that they had decided to bring their Championship to a close in favour of that promoted by the Association. With this view, their cup, then held by Mr. A. R. Wisdom, would be contested for outright ownership on the following rather curious conditions: "That challengers would meet to decide who should oppose the holder, and the winner of this competition would play the best of three games of 1,000 up with Mr. Wisdom. If the Champion won, the cup would become his property, but if the challenger proved successful, he and Mr. Wisdom would have to play a final game of 1,500 up." Sidney Fry and A. H. Vahid (in his last days as an amateur) were the only challengers, and played a game of 1,000 up at Orme's Showrooms, Soho Square, to decide which of them would play Wisdom. Fry won this match comfortably by 398 points. Fry then defeated Wisdom three times off the reel, 1,000- 989, 1,000-685, and 1,500-1,239 the matches concluding on 16th March 1893. In all these games Fry only made one three figure break (100), while Wisdom's best effort was just 114.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1893 Mar.	Sidney Fry	Arthur Wisdom	1500 - 1239

Billiard Association : Spot-barred Championship

After the resignation of Mr. Vahid, the Billiard Association's "spot- barred" championship remained in abeyance until 21st May 1894, when Messrs. Sam Christey, Arthur Wisdom, J. A. Pennycuick (Glasgow), W. J. Austin (Australia), A. Vinson, W. T. Maughan (Middlesbrough), and H. Mitchell (Blackburn) all entered the competition which was held at the Argyll Hall, London. The entry of an Australian player seems somewhat strange for a British Championship, but being of an international character, it should have proved a great success. Unfortunately, it was just the reverse, being little more than a catalogue of misfortunes from start to finish. The problems started when Mr. Christey had to give the game to his opponent after the first session, owing to the serious illness of one of his family. Then Mr. Pennycuick was himself too unwell to play at all, whilst Mr. Austin, after struggling pluckily against indisposition when leading Mr. Vinson, became much worse, and was forced to resign the game. In the final Mr. Mitchell just managed to defeat Mr. Vinson by the narrow margin of 36 points on 25th May 1894.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1894 May	H. Mitchell	A. Vinson	1500 - 1464

The moderate play, and absences due to illness in this championship probably accounted for the fact that another challenge was issued in the autumn of 1894. Held at the National Sporting Club, Covent Garden on a table supplied by Orme & Sons, the heats were 1,000 up and the final 1,500 up. There were three challengers who played for the right to meet Mitchell, these were: Sam Christey, W. T. Maughan (Middlesbrough) and Sidney Fry. The Middlesbrough player beat Messrs. Christey and Fry in turn, with plenty in hand in each game, and on 6th December, Maughan went on to take the title by defeating H. Mitchell in the final. Mitchell made the best break with 92.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1894 Dec.	W. T. Maughan	H. Mitchell	1500 - 1202

Mr. Maughan was allowed to rest on his laurels until March, 1896, when Messrs. Sidney Fry, Sam Christey, Arthur Wisdom, F. B. Edwardson, and Walter Lovejoy all joined in a challenge against him. Due to continuing controversy and public debate about the push-stroke it was barred from the Amateur Championship for the first time during this contest which was again held at the National Sporting Club, Covent Garden. These conditions anticipated a general revision to the rules of billiards which would take place in 1898. Sidney Fry emerged successful from the preliminary heats and he then defeated Maughan in the Championship match. Their best breaks were Fry 73 (three times) and Maughan 72, the wining margin being only 70 points. No doubt Mr. Maughan would have taken an early opportunity of attempting to reverse this verdict, but he died not long afterwards.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1896 Mar.	S. H. Fry	W. T. Maughan	1500 - 1430

Billiard Association : Amateur Championship

The Championship then lapsed for several years before being revived by the Billiard Association and played under the new revised rules of billiards which had now formally barred the push-stroke and restricted the spot-stroke by introducing the current "two-pot" rule. The competition was staged at the National Sporting Club in March 1899. Sidney Fry had held the trophy for almost the stipulated three years which would have made it his property, some also felt that as the "spot-barred" championship had been abolished by the introduction of the new rules, that Fry had a claim to the trophy on these grounds alone. However, Fry was willing to defend the trophy and seven challengers played off in heats of 1,000 up for the right to meet him. They were E. C. Ogden, Sam Christey, Fred Wear, F. W. Payne, A. Vahid, M. A. Oxlade and Arthur Wisdom. The latter qualified to meet the holder in the final, and, playing a fine consistent game, beat him by 203 points, in spite of a record break of 168 by Fry.

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1899 Mar.	Arthur Wisdom	Sidney Fry	1500 - 1297

The National Sporting Club was again the venue the following year, the challengers for Wisdom's title on this occasion being Sidney Fry, Walter Lovejoy, Sam Christey, A. Jordan and F. A. Lindner. Sidney Fry won through the 1,000-up heats, making a break of 106 in one of his games. Then a close contest against the holder resulted in Fry being victorious by a narrow margin of 72 points

Year	Winner	Runner- up	Score
1900 Mar.	Sidney Fry	Arthur Wisdom	1500 - 1428

Sidney Fry subsequently resigned the championship under the impression that he would have to travel to Australia before he could defend it. As it transpired this was not the case, but in his absence ten competitors gathered at the Gaiety Restaurant, Strand, in a straight knock-out competition to decide a new holder for the championship

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