By Elliott West
Introduction
Stan Chambers was a true Geordie, through and through. A man who coached people to play snooker from the ages of eight to eighty and was instrumental in the careers of David Lilley, Elliot Slessor, and Gary Wilson amongst others. His drive continued until his later years, drawing inspiration from the young blood of the kids he coached. A tireless charity worker for disability charities, Stan also wrote regular articles about his passion for snooker and his style of coaching. A family man and someone who could be regularly seen at Paul Rinaldi’s Whitley Bay Snooker Centre.
His Life
Leaving the army in 1959, Stan decided to work as a volunteer, running games and competitions for disabled people. Through his work, those that interacted with him, found a purpose and a goal, taking up sports and competing for trophies. An unsung hero, Chambers carried out this charity work in his own time.
During this period, Chambers also started to get involved in snooker, and like so many of the great snooker coaches that the sport has seen, such as Frank Callan and Terry Griffiths, Stan would break the game down, dissecting the stance, the shot, the angles and the mentality of the sport, overcoming pressure and correcting a negative mindset to a positive one to help the player gather the armoury required to claim victory.
David Lilley cited Chambers in his acceptance speech after defeating Jimmy White at the World Seniors Championship at the Crucible 5-3, saying that he was sad that Stan could not be there to share his victory. Chambers had an air of calm about him, the complete opposite of Lilley’s father who used to shout at him when David missed a shot:
“When I started playing, my dad was tough on me, he would shout at me if I missed an easy ball. Stan was the one who would stick up for me. And he was my coach for many years,” recalls Lilley. “He was always the main man around the North East and he will be massively missed”.
Stan Chambers was a breath of fresh air and was touched by everyone he met. Even towards the end of his life when Chambers developed a tremor in his hand, the early signs of Parkinson’s Disease, he still soldiered on in his unique style, helping those who wanted to develop their skills or helping them discover that they had the natural talent to play snooker. Stan sadly passed away in May this year, aged 85. A true gentleman and someone who helped so many in reaching their goals in life.
