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  • #1

    snooker in general

    clearly if you went back 25 years to snookers "heyday" there were more people playing the game, with many more snooker clubs in existance, more tournements, more money, more amateur tournements............well just basically more!

    there are threads on here with many opinions about many topics to do with reasons for snookers demise. WPBSA, money, ronnie, hendrys dominance, throwing the game open etc etc etc

    Can i ask members opinions and it may get to the stage where the same answers get repeated, but would ask if you had to name 1 single reason for the games rise in popularity towards the end of the 70's- early eighties. What would that be????

    And by the same token what is the single reason for its decline ( and this is at all levels not just the pro game)...........You may even be able to give examples at localised level???
    Its not how well you play its how good you look playing that counts!
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  • #2
    Reasons for decline in my local club only as mentioned to me by the manager of the club is the smoking ban. Im a non smoker so it obviously doesnt affect me and as a non-smoker i obviously dont see why you can nip out for a fag in between frames but thats my 2p worth towards this thread
    Always play snooker with a smile on your face...You never know when you'll pot your last ball.

    China Open 2009 Fantasy Game Winner.
    Shanghai Masters 2009 Fantasy Game Winner.

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    • #3
      I think a major reason for the increase in snooker's popularity was the advent of colour television - for which snooker was ideally suited - when David Attenborough chose to showcase the sport during his tenure as Controller of BBC2.
      "If anybody can knock these three balls in, this man can."
      David Taylor, 11 January 1982, as Steve Davis prepared to pot the blue, in making the first 147 break on television.

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      • #4
        Definitely colour TV helped but here in Aus I remember snooker & billiards were big before that, I think we had a more competitive attitude back then, I believe we all thought we were Ray Reardon Eddie Charlton John Spencer and later Steve Davis, Alex Higgins ,Jimmy White, we used to practice, where now they just want to play. In my local RSL club we have 2 tables & we have 50+ s&bc members. Some of those players don't want to improve their game they want bigger handicaps to enable them to beat the better player. They don't want to be beaten so don't compete anymore & this is highlighted by the lack of entrants in our club championships.
        Neil Robertson held an exhibiton match, fair enough it was a 100km away, but it was really only the diehard 'A'graders who went to watch, the other grades in our club couldn't be bothered.

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        • #5
          Originally Posted by davis_greatest View Post
          I think a major reason for the increase in snooker's popularity was the advent of colour television - for which snooker was ideally suited - when David Attenborough chose to showcase the sport during his tenure as Controller of BBC2.
          Yes, colour TV and Pot Black for me. Snooker wasn't really popular even though it had some coverage but Pot Black changed everything. Even the players admit that if it wasn't for that then the game may have been very different today. It gained a new audience and popularity and then the main game took off, obviously helped by various characters in the game and the different styles of play.

          As for the decline, well maybe it could have been a bit of overkill. Snooker was on a lot during the 80's and 90's and with only one dominant player in each era it may have been boring to many. Sadly with the advent of multi channel TV and a loss of revenue in the game due to the tobacco ban on sponsorships as well as in clubs themselves have obviously dented the game beyond repair IMO.
          Last edited by cueman; 19 February 2009, 10:14 AM.

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          • #6
            Snooker (and billiards) is in decline in my league - youngsters are just not attracted to it any more. Fewer clubs have tables, and social clubs themsleves (just like pubs) asre struggling to survive.

            Just a note on the professional game - to me it seems very strange that in its hey-day, the snooker played was a patient game, safety dominated and the players had to bide their time. The real darlings of the game were the attacking/flair players eg. Alex higgins/Jimmy White.
            Now virtually every pro plays an attacking game - looking to force openings, killing frames off in one visit - even taking on doubles, where in the past Whispering Ted Lowe would have had that down as a 'Canadian' trait - so our game is now more viewer friendly in an action sort of way. Yet it is in decline.

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            • #7
              The reason for the games popularity in the eighties is because it was a very attractive game for television, colourful, skillful, exciting and unpredictable.

              The reason for its decline on tele is that the game has been made too easy in the mistaken belief that the public wished to see only century breaks. So what once was an occasional highlight has now become common.
              I'm afraid that everything that can happen on a snooker table has been seen, and gets seen all too often.

              At a local level, well I blame the video game generation who are content to sit on their fat arses, surrounded by empty crisp packets and pizza boxes and push little buttons in the ridiculous belief that they are achieving something.
              Not just for snooker, but for sport in the UK in general.

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              • #8
                Originally Posted by vmax4steve View Post
                The reason for the games popularity in the eighties is because it was a very attractive game for television, colourful, skillful, exciting and unpredictable.

                The reason for its decline on tele is that the game has been made too easy in the mistaken belief that the public wished to see only century breaks. So what once was an occasional highlight has now become common.
                I'm afraid that everything that can happen on a snooker table has been seen, and gets seen all too often.

                At a local level, well I blame the video game generation who are content to sit on their fat arses, surrounded by empty crisp packets and pizza boxes and push little buttons in the ridiculous belief that they are achieving something.
                Not just for snooker, but for sport in the UK in general                .
                vmax4steve... Bang On Mate!

                ... may I just add one more thing, nodding to RocketRoy's comment ...

                Reasons for decline in my local club only as mentioned to me by the manager of the club is the smoking ban. Im a non smoker so it obviously doesnt affect me and as a non-smoker i obviously dont see why you can nip out for a fag in between frames but thats my 2p worth towards this thread
                the "pool hall" in the 70's was where highschool-aged kids could go, against their parent's wishes,
                to REALLY hangout with their mates (not VIRTUALLY as is now) to go head-to-head against each other with difficult to aquire skills... and SMOKE and SWEAR to their hearts content!
                The Glory Days that were glorified on TV!

                Video games killed all that.


                =o(

                Noel

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