News from the Editor's Chair

Try as I may, and as topical as it night well be at this time; to connect the passing of the first millennium with the advent of the second, and attempt to relate it to the present state of English Billiards is meaningless. Those of us who had the privilege of a misspent youth, will remember with nostalgic pride, the hours we spent in smoke laden bliss with characters and hustlers who taught us all the tricks of their trade, while eagerly competing for our pocket money. When every club had a hundred break man, and the lads caught the bus to Leeds to watch Driffield and Smith in practise.

Roxton's Revival: Chapman takes the United Kingdom Professional Championship.

To refer to billiards as a sport is a mistake. Billiards is the King of indoor games, a noble art, an intellectual pastime of the highest order; a game which brings together people with like minded interests and a game which creates lasting friendships. Talk of Billiards being accepted as an Olympic sport is both pointless and futile; over ambitious delusions of grandeur are unnecessary, apart from not having the money to do it. Amateur billiards is at present in good order. No structural changes are necessary. The English Amateur Billiards Association has set out its principles and is comfortable and secure in its future intentions. The professional game needs more resources, particularly on the English scene. A programme of events to give professional players more profile coupled with good publicity is seen as a necessary step to improving the image of professional billiards. This can only be achieved by sound promotional management and should not be too difficult for those responsible.

At club level the prospects are most encouraging . Feedback from local leagues and some improved junior activity give clear indications of more interest at grass roots and auger well for the future. Club coaching classes are seen as a priority and will soon be under way. All the national championships are in progress and the May issue will include a full results roundup of this years' tournaments. We hope the new front cover is an improvement and meets with your approval . Apart from being the Millennium, which incidentally we all enjoyed very much, it also happens to be a New Year, so please accept the best wishes of the E.A.B.A. committee and the Amateur Billiard player team and may you all have good health an happiness in the year 2000.

The Red the White and the Spot.
In clubs and in halls,
The sound of those balls,
Is joy beyond compare.
The scent of a whiff,
No hint of a tiff,
If there's one place to be, it's there.
A rub of the chalk,
And we talk, and we talk,
Of Lindrum and Russell & Co.
The green baize and leather,
We're all in together,
There's nowhere else to go.
When the game is no more
And we add up the score,
Of the loser, the cannon, and pot.
We thank our good maker,
The almighty laiker,
For the red, the white, and the spot.

Best wishes,