By Elliott West
Introduction
One of the most famous snooker clubs is The Jam Pot, the billiard hall in the Donegall Road area of Belfast. This was where a young Alex Higgins first displayed his gift for the game whilst living on a diet of Mars bars, Coke and Players Extra. Alex was a product of the Jam Pot, this youth would undoubtedly become a genius of snooker and signs were there when he first picked up a cue at the club, aged 11. Higgins would divide his playing time between the Jam Pot and later at the YMCA in the nearby city centre.
The Snooker Factory
The club was situated in a staunch loyalist part of Belfast and the local community experienced the highs and ultimate lows during the height of the troubles. A place where school children would play truant and wait patiently to play on one of its fourteen snooker tables. A club that was situated next to a sweets factory and people who played there, often recall the sweet smell from the factory that permeated into the room. It also had a lemonade bottling factory, McLennan’s close by.
The Jam Pot got its name originally from when people used to come to the club and exchange a two-pound jam pot for a game of snooker. A hive for billiards and snooker, the hall was a refuge for those who wanted to go off the radar, with the youth bunking off not only school but the church as well. In a time where the youth were much more innocent, this area of Belfast must have seemed a mini paradise for Alex and others, flitting between this club, the one in Shaftesbury Square and Sportland, for the slot and pinball machines.
The Jam Pot was a tough environment but provided Alex Higgins with the mental strength and the bottle that would stand him in good stead in his professional career. The Jam Pot provided Higgins with his snooker schooling and gave him the hunger for snooker and the regular need to attend snooker clubs. Later in life when he was in Jimmy White’s company, White would often say that Alex Higgins would often want him to drive to the nearest snooker club, no matter where he was, just so he could have a game.
Although Alex briefly tried to become a jockey, he never turned his back on snooker and the Jam Pot can definitely be seen as a major influence in him going on to win Northern Amateur Championship when he was 19. A trophy that he proudly displayed in his parents’ front room. A magical club that helped produce a true genius of snooker.
