THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP : A Potted History

Part 2 : A New Millenium

In the first part of our account we covered the beginnings of the National Championship for English billiard players. The original Orme & Sons trophy had been won outright by A. P. Gaskell in 1891. This magnificent trophy was capable of holding a case of champagne and was a copy of the famous Pourtales vase in the British Museum. Their second trophy had become the personal property of Sidney Fry in 1893 when the Orme & Sons Championship finished. Now the chase was on to take possession the new Billiards Association Championship cup first awarded in 1899.

W. S. Jones: reached the final of the 1901 Championship.

Sidney Fry, winner of the Championship in March 1900 resigned the title due to a pending business trip to Australia. He subsequently decided to give up playing billiards altogether in preference to his new hobby of golf, at which he also became one of the best amateurs in the country. His absence however, would only be temporary and some years later he would again take up his cue on his way to setting new championship records. To find the new holder for the Billiard Association Championship cup, ten players gathered at the Gaiety Restaurant, Strand, in a straight knockout competition. The heats were 1,000 up and commenced on 21st January 1901. The competitors were: F. A. Smith, C. D. Macklem, W. S. Jones, Ernest Breed, Arthur Wisdom, Albert Good, Sam Christey, E. C. Ogden, Fred Wear and F. Dennis. For the first time, a professional player was engaged to be referee and this duty was undertaken by John Lloyd, now nearing the end of a career which at it's height had seen him hold the Welsh Professional Championship.

The competition had just started when news came through on 22nd January of the death of Queen Victoria. The Billiard Association immediately suspended play in the Championship until after the funeral which was consequently resumed on 4th February 1901. The final of 1,500 up resolved itself into a match between Samuel Christey and W. S. Jones. Christey made a break of 110 in this match which was the highest of the competition, winning by 195 points.

Lewis Stroud: was also a famous cyclist, and regularly entered the Championship over a period of 30 years.

In 1902 the championship venue moved to Thurston's Grand Hall, Leicester Square, and was played between 17th-27th February. Although

the heats remained at 1,000-up the final was now extended to 2,000-up and John Lloyd was again engaged as referee. Nine challengers competed for the right to met Sam Christey. They were: Richard H. Fry (younger brother of the ex-champion), Ernest Breed, Maurice Fitzgerald (Ireland), B. J. Monro, Fred Wear, D. Sheppard, Albert Good, E. C. Ogden and Lewis Stroud. In his day, Lewis Stroud had the distinction of being one of the country's foremost racing cyclists, being the English 50-miles champion in 1893, and at one time held practically all the tricycle records. He would be a regular participant in the Billiards Championship for the next thirty years.

Bert Good: made a record red-ball break in 1902.

Albert Good emerged as the best of the challengers and then defeated Sam Christey by 311 points. Christey made a break of 122 which was the highest in the competition. Other century breaks were made by Good 109; Fitzgerald 116; and Breed 102.

Maurice Fitzgerald: was barred from Amateur competitions.

Maurice Fitzgerald was a player of great potential, and although he did not make a showing in this Championship, he came to the event as Irish Champion and with two double-century breaks to his credit. A charming personality, he had made himself immenselypopular whilst in England. However, on his way back to Ireland he stayed at an hotel for a week, giving exhibitions of his skill every evening, and accepted in return, payment for his accommodation. This was reported to the Billiard Association who were obliged to disqualify him from playing again as an amateur.

A. J. Browne: reached the final at his first attempt.

Later the same year, the championship was again held at Thurston's Grand Hall commencing on 27th October 1902. Using the same format, eight challengers competed for the right to meet Albert Good. In addition to Richard H. Fry, they included another member of the Fry family, R. S. Fry. The remainder of the field were F. H. Price, Bert Moy, Sam Christey, A. J. Browne, C. V. Diehl and C. D. Macklem. The latter was a Canadian National who had been resident in London for some time. He took part in the Championship on several occasions before returning to Toronto following the 1903 event. In the final match on 5th November 1902, Bert Good successfully defended his title by comfortably defeating A. J. Browne who was making his first appearance in the Championship. In this match Good made an amateur record of 153 from the red ball in a break of 155. He subsequently applied to the Billiard Association for a certificate, but at this time they were not disposed to give certificates to amateur players, and his request was refused.

Arthur Wisdom: a Championship record session average of 18.6 on his way to the title.

The 1903 championship proved to be the most popular since the inaugural event in 1888, with 18 challengers competing for the right to met Bert Good. It was again held at Thurston's Grand Hall between 2nd-21st March 1903, with heats of 1,000 up and the final 2,000 up. The players were: C. V. Diehl, W. Bradshaw, J. W. Evison, J. H. Morgan(Glasgow), Richard H. Fry, E. E. Briggs, H. L. Goldborne, Mr. Park, Arthur Wisdom, Sam Christey, Fred Wear, Bert Moy, Ernest Breed, W. S. Jones, H. J. Moore, J. W. Evison and "Jerry" Jeremiah (Wales). In his opening match against Christey, Arthur Wisdom made a break of 153 in averaging 18.6 for the afternoon session, which was a record for the championship. He proved the best of the challengers and was favourite to take the title, partly because Good had not been in the best of health for some little time. However, rising to the occasion, Good secured a useful lead at the end of the first session, but could not maintain the effort in the evening, as Wisdom averaged 18.0 to take the lead and stay there for the rest of the match. Good made breaks of 106 and 102, mainly from red ball play, but could not match the consistency of Wisdom who won by 217 points. The only other century break in the competition was by Sam Christey who made 127.

Later that year, Thurston's Grand Hall provided the venue for another championship which was played between 27th November-4th December 1903. Due to a family bereavement, Arthur Wisdom was unable to defend the title and seven players competed to find a new champion. They were: C. V. Diehl, Fred Wear, C. D. Macklem, Herbert Moy, Sam Christey, E. E. Briggs and Bert Good.

C. V. Diehl: played the final wearing carpet slippers.

One of the more interesting characters was Fred Wear, who was a good player with either right of left hand, but never did himself justice in the Championship where nerves always seemed to overcome him. In one instance after using his handkerchief to wipe his forehead, instead of returning it to his pocket, he deposited it in one of the corner pockets of the billiard table. Christey won the title by defeating C. V. Diehl in the final by 686 points, making a break of 125. C. D. Macklem made the only other century in the competition with 120 in one of the earlier heats.

Diehl was a journalist on the staff of one of the leading newspapers of the day. There is no doubt that, like many another aspirant to the Amateur Championship, he rarely showed anything like his best form when playing for the highest honour. He stood at the table with his legs more widely apart than any other leading player, and was in the habit of wearing a pair of felt slippers when he was engaged in any important game. This naturally made him the recipient of a good deal of wry comment, which he always accepted in the most good-humoured fashion. Although a regular competitor, his appearance in the 1903 final was the nearest he ever got to the object of his ambition.

Shortly after his victory, the champion, Sam Christey, decided to resign his title amid new rumours regarding his amateur status, so in March 1904 eleven entries gathered to find a new champion. These included Albert Good, V. L. Sim (New Zealand), Walter Lovejoy, Ernest Breed, Harry Virr, W. Bradshaw, C. H. Mortimer, and Bert Moy.

Walter Lovejoy: used a plain Ash cue weighing 12oz.

New Zealander, V. L. Sim, had acquitted himself well in exhibition games with Harry Stevenson when the latter was visiting New Zealand during one of his numerous tours abroad. His entry came about because the professional champion, knowing that Sim was coming to England on business, advised him to try for the Amateur Championship. Unfortunately he had never had the opportunity to play with anything but composition balls, which, of course, was a very serious handicap in a Championship played with ivories, and not surprisingly he made an early exit.

Walter Lovejoy was a much improved player since his previous appearance in 1900. He averaged 26.31 in the second session (500 points) of one of his preliminary matches, which was the highest seen in the Championship since records had been taken. In the final heat he defeated Albert Good making breaks of 135 and 103 which helped him to a victory by 269 points. Lovejoy had an extremely unorthodox style of play and used a plain ash cue, weighing only 12 ounces. Soon after his championship win he resigned the title and turned professional.

George Heginbottom: made a record break but still lost.

The system of challenges was discarded for the 1905 championship and the present system of annual contests was established. Preliminary rounds were now introduced at regional venues to ease the difficulty of competitors travelling to London. Although invited, Scotland did not enter any players and qualifying competitions were held in London, Manchester, and Dublin. These were won by Albert Good, George Heginbottom and A. T. Marsh respectively. The Competition Proper was played at Thurston's, Leicester Square in March 1905. The final saw the Manchester cotton-broker, Heginbottom, make a championship record break of 174 but Good took the title for the third time, winning by 261 points.

Ernest Breed: controversy caused him to resign and become professional.

Abandoning their short experiment of regional locations, the Billiard Association arranged the preliminary stages of 1906 Amateur Championship for March 1906 at Cox & Yeman's Hall in Brompton Road, London, with the final moving to the Argyll Hall. Using a different venue for the final meant that the champion was not obliged to play against an opponent who had the benefit of several preliminary games on the match-table. However, as a result of general dissatisfaction with the arrangements for this Championship there were only seven challengers for the title held by Albert Good. Amongst these was Samuel Christey who had managed to satisfy the Billiard Association regarding his amateur status. The remaining players were W. Bradshaw, C. H. Mortimer, George Heginbottom, Ernest Breed, A. T. Marsh (Ireland) and A. E. Mainwaring. Ernest Breed won the qualifying competition and in the challenge round defeated Good by 380 points with a match average of 18.6. There now followed considerable controversy regarding Breed's status as an amateur player which resulted in him resigning the title in January 1907 and taking up a career as a professional player.

Harry Virr took his first Championship win in 1907.

For the 1907 Championship regional competitions were brought back and arranged for London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin (which was the Irish Championship) and all commenced in February 1907. The London Qualifying Competition resulted in a victory for Arthur Wisdom. Manchester produced an unexpected win for Harry Virr over H. A. O. Lonsdale and in Edinburgh, Mr. J. F. Lessels was lucky enough to be unopposed. The Irish Championship was won by Jack Nugent with a narrow victory over A. T. Marsh. At one period of this match the referee had to ask the audience to stop smoking for a few minutes, owing to the cloud of smoke which hung over the table being so thick that play was becoming impossible. All four regional winners passed to the competition proper which was held between 7th-11th March 1907 at the National Sporting Club, Covent Garden. Harry Virr defeated Arthur Wisdom by a mere 16 points before taking the title by holding off a strong challenge by the Irish Champion, Jack Nugent, in the final. This time winning by just 14 points!

C. E. Jenkins was the first person in England to be fined for 'furious driving' in a motor car.

In 1908 a West of England qualifying section was introduced and played at Plymouth. The other regions were London, Manchester, the Irish Championship in Dublin and the Welsh Championship. These were won by M. W. Parkyn, C. E. Jenkins, George Heginbottom and J. M. Meldon respectively and they were joined by the Welsh Champion, "Jerry" Jeremiah. The London qualifier, C. E. Jenkins, was another of the more colourful characters to have graced the championship. He had been the amateur champion cyclist of South Wales, and also claimed the record for the longest authenticated motorcycle ride (4,600 miles in 52 days) Not least of his achievements was that he became the first motorist in England to be convicted and fined for "furious driving" in a motor car. His best all-round break was 228 although during the 1907 season of cradle cannons he had put together a run of 1,280 by this means.

The various group winners came together in the Competition proper, playing off for the right to meet the Champion. It was tacitly understood that the holder would defend his title in the town or country of his residence. For this reason, the closing stages were held at the showrooms of Messrs. Sykes, Horbury, Leeds, between 9th-14th March 1908. George Heginbottom, won through to oppose the holder, Harry Virr of Bradford, having set a new championship record with a break of 188 when eliminating C. E. Jenkins in an earlier heat. However, Virr retained his title by 159 points in front of his home crowd despite a strong challenge from Heginbottom which included another big break of 160. A contemporary reporter said "the wild scene's of enthusiasm at the close were unparalleled in billiard history." After than match Virr modestly played down his achievement, saying of his opponent "He is a lot better player than I am, and in fact, I think, the best amateur who ever handled a cue." Virr is probably still the only champion to have acclaimed his rival in this way. Yorkshire Professional Champion, George Nelson, officiated as referee after the first day, and acted as general manager throughout.

Major Fleming won the title at his first attempt.

In 1909, Major H. L. Fleming became the first player since the inaugural event to win the Championship at his first attempt. In fact his entry only came about by the greatest stroke of fortune. He had been stationed in Calcutta at an Indian musketry school where he and others drew a sweepstake ticket for a horse which ran third in the Calcutta Derby. Each member of the syndicate profited to the tune of £600 and it was on the strength of this that he took a trip back to England and entered the championship.

The final stages of the competition were held in The Mechanic's Institute, Bradford which had a capacity for about 1,000 spectators. During the two days play of the final match, the hall was crowded to excess and an even larger number were refused admission, but Major Fleming, undaunted by the overwhelming support for his opponent, completed an amazing win by almost 500 points. In one of the earlier heats he equalled Bert Good's amateur record with a break of 153 made entirely from the red ball.

As a compliment to Major Fleming, who came from Scotland, it was decided that the competition proper for the 1910 Championship should take place at the Imperial Billiard Rooms, Mitchell Street, Glasgow, commencing on 28th February.

H. A. O. Lonsdale from Manchester (the winner of the inaugural event in 1888) and Harry Virr (Bradford) were at this time constant opponents and rivals, but were also great friends. Lonsdale took the defeat of Virr very much to heart, and felt so confident of his own ability to defeat Fleming, that he persuaded his friend not to enter their qualifying section and "allow him to bring the Championship back to England".

There was quite a good entry which totalled 40 for the various areas. Three regional groups were set up for the English section in addition to the Championships of Ireland, Wales and Scotland. In the South of England Area, Albert Good, a former champion, was compelled to withdraw owing to the death of his father, but the interest in this area was nevertheless enhanced by the entry of Mr. E. H. Hinds, who came from Hong Kong with excellent credentials. These were justified as he went on to win the Southern Area championship. Lonsdale, in the absence of Harry Virr, won in the North of England, and they were joined in the competition proper by C. L. Taylor (West of England), J. Nugent (Champion of Ireland), R. Blair (Champion of Scotland), and W. Edgar Thomas (Champion of Wales).

Major Fleming had exercised his right not to play in the qualifying competition, allowing the others to play-off for the right to meet him. As he would have been seeded in the opposite side if the draw to Lonsdale, some thought that this decision was a mistake. Lonsdale reached the final with the advantage of three matches on the table before Fleming had struck a ball, and the critics seemed to be justified as Fleming only began to show good form in the final session, by which time he was too far behind to affect the result. Thus Lonsdale set the incredible record of winning the Championship again after a lapse of almost 22 years!