With the demise of the Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC) in 1992, the English Amateur Billiards Association (EABA) was formed.
The EABA ran the 1993 and 1994 English Amateur Billiards events and had a record entry of 130 in 1994.
The English Association for Snooker and Billiards (EASB) came into being around the same time and was established and funded by the WPBSA (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association). The EASB has ownership of the English Amateur Championship trophies. A development of the time brought about the EABA becoming the Billiards Committee of the EASB with representation to, and funding from, the EASB.
Earlier this year, the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) following representation from the WPBSA, accepted a resolution to allow professional billiard players outside No.8 ranking, to enter the National Championships of respective member countries subject to their national associations accepting the proposal.
The same applied to the snooker professionals outside the top 64 rankings (from 1996). Progression to world amateur events was to be allowed for qualifying players - whether amateur or professional.
On July 5th, 1995, the EASB Management Committee met in Birmingham to discuss the IBSF proposal. As Billiards Committee representative I proposed rejection of the IBSF proposal and also proposed that a new competition be introduced, namely, the English National Championship, catering for both amateurs and professionals. Both proposals were UNANIMOUSLY accepted.
On August 7th, 1995, the EASB management Committee met in Bristol and it was put to them that they should reconsider their previous decision in the light of the fact that the EASB is not yet self supporting and is still reliant on funding from the WPBSA. It is reported that the WPBSA will underwrite an EASB loss of over £50,000 on last year's trading. It seems to be a case of he who pays the piper calls the tune and the outcome of the discussion was to overturn the previous unanimous decision to a 6 - 3 majority to accept the IBSF ruling.
Therefore, professional players will now be able to enter the English Amateur Championships (Now re-titled the English National Championship) and subsequently World Amateur championships. The Officers of the Billiards Committee, myself as secretary, Chairman Derek Townend, and Vice Chairman John Richmond, all resigned in protest at the outcome.
We are not prepared to be unpaid administrators to the professional game.
Thank you Albert. The BQR position is quite clear. If the powers that be wish to restructure the game so that there is no distinction between amateur and professional, then that would be fine. At the moment there are those who are members of the WPBSA and are deemed to be professional players, and there are those who are not and are deemed to be amateurs. For as long as that is the situation then the IBSF ruling is wrong.
This is not a matter of anti-professional prejudice - the BQR, for example, has done everything in its power to publicise and support the professional game. It is not a matter of being old-fashioned and, "fuddy-duddy". Administrators of the amateur game do not come into the category of Will Carling's, "Old Farts". They are not burying their heads in the sand. Amateur administrators, as far as I know, do not wish to be big fish in little pools. Amateur administrators work for the love of the game for nothing. Perhaps someone could inform me what Albert Hanson has got out of putting hours and hours into the Teesside Boys League apart from personal satisfaction. What has Derek Townend ever made out of billiards? He has certainly put in the very devil of a lot of time and effort. And that is to mention but two of a number of dedicated billiards enthusiasts who give freely of their time purely and simply for love of the game.