“I don’t like the Crucible. I don’t think you can get in and out of it. I think definitely it’s a wise decision to take the World Champs away from Sheffield. I know you get nice tea there, you might get lasagne if the guys are cooking. But that’s about it. You get no peace and quiet, you cannot even park there. Trying to get in and out of Sheffield, it’s a nightmare”.
“I think Saudi Arabia would be great. They’ve got the resources and would do it great. If you’re going to take it to China, you’d have to take it to Shanghai. Or another major city like Shenzhen or Guangzhou. It’d be done properly. Courtesy cars . Food will be there. Hotels will be great. Everything would be paid for. Prize money would be astronomical.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Introduction
The Crucible Theatre became the World Championship’s home in 1977. A snooker stage where plenty of drama has been played out over the years, causing both elation and heartbreak. A venue that amazingly only has 980 seats and a stone’s throw away from the players and the snooker. With a vinyl divide for the two table set up that often constricts a shot and allows someone on the end of the seating row to view both matches, the Crucible’s right to hold the World Championship divides the snooker family.
For those who make this 17 day snooker pilgrimage from far and wide with a deck of all sessions tickets and a seat that they rarely leave, it would be a sporting crime to end this association and move the tournament to a bigger venue in the UK, China or Saudi Arabia. Most of the players also agree on this but there are a growing few who feel the time is right to sever the connection with the Crucible. With Barrie Hearn now taking a back seat and his son Eddie holding a lot of cards and someone who doesn’t particularly like snooker, a hairline crack is starting to appear in this dogma. Even Barry himself wants a plan to emerge where the World Championship is moved to a new building in Sheffield that rivals Alexandra Palace, the Tempodrom and makes massive inroads into the seating capacity of the Hong Kong Masters. Yet to get this past the Crucible faithful will require a mammoth task and one you have to be extremely brave to even contemplate bursting this heritage bubble.
My Thoughts
The Crucible is a jewel in snooker’s crown and to remove it would be like cutting off your arm to spite your face. The very walls of this hallowed building hold so many snooker memories. It tops every snooker venue ever played in because it is unique and so special. It’s probably the only venue where you never see an empty seat and one when you leave there are numerous pubs on your doorstep. In order to get a ticket for the World Championship here, you have run a keyboard marathon to be in with a chance. Tickets that sell out as fast these days as those for Glastonbury.
What those who want this tournament moved must realise is that the World Championship prior to coming to Sheffield had no permanent home. It was a nomad that roved around the country. This simmering debate that surfaces every time it is held just causes unnecessary jitters and friction. Sheffield itself is teeming with culture, shops and nightlife. So to use the excuse that you can’t get a decent meal at the Crucible, the place smells or you can’t swing a cat in there, is frankly pathetic.
This isn’t about creating a new snooker environment, it’s purely a money making exercise. Money talks in any industry and snooker is no exception. The recent Riyadh Masters proved that. No snooker player is going to turn down the chance to make a bumper return in prize money and if you only have to work a fraction of the 17 days to achieve it, it’s a no brainer. Yet by moving the World Championship away from the Crucible, you would just dilute this mystical ethos. It’s an idea that probably has Joe Davis turning in his grave and the backlash from the devoted is not worth it. You only have to look at the tournaments played on the snooker calendar in China to see the numerous seats that are left empty because the average person in China can’t afford a ticket. Yes snooker should continue its journey of becoming a global brand but a certain jewel has its rightful place and shouldn’t be assassinated with an eviction notice.
What people need to realise is that the Crucible is a theatre that doubles as a snooker venue for the World Championship and the Seniors once a year. If you actually been fortunate enough to experience one of these two tournaments, then you will know how special it is to just walk through the foyer doors and sit on one of golden coloured seats. This is a melting pot of snooker where you can almost touch the players and the lighting on the ceiling looks like a starlit sky.
Behind the scenes is a rabbit warren of corridors and rooms which the media use and the players drape their suits and cues in the dressing rooms that are normally inhabited by actors. You only have ask a player who drives here in the tournament or as a bystander what the feeling is like to come here. As your car approaches, the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and you get butterflies in your stomach. These feelings never leave you. Just to walk out in front of that Crucible audience is a unique experience. It is petrifying and at the same time, heartwarming. The echo of applause and a cheer that spurns you on to want to win. It can be the most exhilarating place and also the most lonely when you on the precipice of defeat. The Crucible Curse lingers over the venue and the ghosts of the past talk to you in your head. A snooker madness that is a sublime insanity and only when you raise the trophy, do the Crucible shackles fall to the floor.
Nothing tops this experience and to sever it would be like turning out the last light in the building. The Crucible experience burns bright like a coal in a fireplace. The flames of snooker lick this very theatre and you can sense its history billowing from its foundations. It is alive and well and must never be snuffed out. An almost religion where the words are unwritten but known by heart and memories. It lives in your heart and soul and fills you with joyous emotion that is only second to the happiest days of your life. A tournament that brings fans together in an extended family, full of laughter, tears and the many tipples after a late night snooker session. A rubber stamp that has its own unique DNA and continues to morph over time. A chrysalis that keeps on bearing new fruits and a memory that stays with you for a lifetime.
