How many snooker Clubs are the in the UK

[tobz]

I am doing some research into the state of snooker in the UK, can anyone help me understand how many snooker clubs there are in the UK

There are plently of places that do lists, but none seem complete

I recon its around 600, with Riley the biggest group with around 170

ANy comments?

[Marc]

I think this list covers most, if not all of them.


http://www.johnvirgo.com/directory.asp#g

[steveb72]

It depends what your definition of snooker club is. If you include social clubs, conservative clubs, golf clubs and basically any public venue that has a snooker table, then there will be well in excess of 600. I'm from Nottingham and in my county alone there are at least 70 such venues.

[tobz]

Snooker CLubs UK

I have 3 different figures

The John Virgo site lists around 600, but if you look in the google snooker, billiards and pool hall category you get around 970.

Does this sound about right to you?

[steveb72]

There are 82 counties in England alone. If each of those had the same number of clubs as Notts then that would make a minimum of 82 x 70 = 5,740. Then you have to add Wales, Scotland and Ireland. So, it would be fair to say that even Google's 970 is way out!

Like I said before, it depends what your definition of "snooker club" is.

One thing I have found though is that John Virgo's list is not up to date. It only lists 16 clubs in total for Notts and out of those 2 have now closed down, 1 is a manufacturer rather than a club and 3 have changed their name!

[Martin-123]

I have 3 different figures .... The John Virgo site lists around 600, ... google snooker, billiards and pool hall category you get around 970.

tobs, you have only given 2 of the 3 figures you say you have. IUs tere a third figure somewhere? ... and can I ask where the google 'category' you mention is...?

Many thanks.

[jrc750]

tobs, you have only given 2 of the 3 figures you say you have. IUs tere a third figure somewhere? ... and can I ask where the google 'category' you mention is...?

Many thanks.

Hmm this thread is over 5 1/2 years old, i doubt he can remember

[Souwester]

The answer is nobody has a definite list, so nobody really knows. The virgo site is hopelessly out of date.

[philip in china]

Hmm this thread is over 5 1/2 years old, i doubt he can remember

I thought that with the number of Rileys clubs.

It is an interesting question, though, worthy of an answer. How one would get said answer,however, is anybody's guess.

[Martin-123]

Thanks Philip,
Actually, my interest is in the number of clubs world-wide, I'm simply starting with the question as it applies to the UK. I will be e-mailing the WPBSA shortly to ask them but I was hoping I could do some research myself first.
I note that the BBC reckons there are between 500 and 1000 clubs in Beijing alone. Do you, Philip, being in China, have any idea of this? ... do you play snooker in China? ... in a club? Perhaps we should have this dialogue by PM? Many thanks for any info...

[Gerry Armstrong]

Snooker clubs have no affiliation to World Snooker or the WPBSA so they will be no more able to answer your question than anyone else.

[Souwester]

Snooker clubs have no affiliation to World Snooker or the WPBSA so they will be no more able to answer your question than anyone else.

Indeed.

It's one of the problems with the amateur game (at least in the UK) that casual players, clubs or leagues are not REQUIRED to affiliate to the National Governing Body (EASB in England) as they are in other sports. With only a few hundred player members and a few dozen club/league members, this highlights how small a proportion of those involved in snooker do actually take it seriously enough to affiliate.

As a result the EASB has no idea how many people play snooker, where there are snooker tables, or indeed how many tables there are. There is no comprehensive directory of clubs or leagues, although I gather some people have made half-hearted attempts to compile them.

[philip in china]

I have my own table here so tend not to play at a club. There are huge numbers of places to play here.

As some of the guys on here will tell you I also am starting a business running snooker based holidays at my farm in Bulgaria.

I would be happy to try to help you with the figure in China. You can contact me on maxbreaks@gmail.com if you like or PM me here. That gmail is the one I use for stuffrelated to the Bulgarian snooker holidays.

Thanks Philip,
Actually, my interest is in the number of clubs world-wide, I'm simply starting with the question as it applies to the UK. I will be e-mailing the WPBSA shortly to ask them but I was hoping I could do some research myself first.
I note that the BBC reckons there are between 500 and 1000 clubs in Beijing alone. Do you, Philip, being in China, have any idea of this? ... do you play snooker in China? ... in a club? Perhaps we should have this dialogue by PM? Many thanks for any info...