By Elliott West
“Even if you are just out there and don’t perform, at least you can say you’ve been here and tried to defend it.”
Mark Selby
Introduction
Snooker has had a strong association with the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield since 1977. Mike Watterson can thank his wife Carole for this divine inspiration to stage the World Championship here after she went to see a play here and suggested to her husband that this would be an ideal place to stage it, at a time when the tournament had no permanent base. Mike who was a nifty player in his time and an excellent business entrepreneur, seized at the opportunity and the rest is snooker history.
The Snooker Cauldron
This a theatre that is steeped in snooker history with its walls soaking up the decades of drama, tears and jubilation. The list of champions is vastly impressive, dating back from John Spencer winning the first tournament in 1977 to Mark Selby in 2021. It has become an iconic landmark for the world of snooker, a place where the players still get the hairs standing up on the back of their necks when they arrive by car. Despite being small and compact, holding a mere audience of 980, it works like a perfectly written symphony.
Within these hallowed walls, Steve Davis, and Ronnie O’Sullivan bathed in glory, each claiming six world titles and Stephen Hendry, seven. A venue that saw the rugged and suave Canadian, Cliff Thorburn sink to his knees when he made the first 147 break at the Crucible in 1983 and Dennis Taylor wagged his finger and kiss the silver lady on the trophy when he denied Steve Davis the title on a late-night thriller on the final black in 1985.
The Snooker Fans
For 46 years, snooker fans have made their annual snooker pilgrimage to the Crucible with a few familiar faces booking their seats for every single match. They include David Jackson who takes a long flight from Australia every year, Kellie Barker, a lady who is a snooker fanatic, the colourful Snooker Goth ladies and Ben Sizer who can easily be spotted on camera due to always wearing a blue jumper. They all have a deck of tickets that must make their suitcases groan under the weight but you can’t fault their clear passion for snooker and especially the World Championship.
When they are not at the venue, they can be found in the nearby pub, The Graduate, sitting in a corner and waiting for a glimpse of some of their snooker heroes to walk in for a leisurely alcoholic beverage. Whether an autograph hunter or a selfie warrior, this is the place to come to savour the Crucible social atmosphere. The pub is always full during these 17 days and plenty of drinks are drunk and stories are told in this establishment. Maybe an added draw is that a large number of drinks are heavily discounted to celebrate the World Championship.
Sheffield
This city is steeped in manufacturing history and was once the key supplier of steel. Now it boats being a city of culture, entertainment, a great shopping location and a place where a large number of Chinese snooker players have now made a home, thanks to the brilliant snooker academies here, including the Ding Junhui Academy and the Victoria Snooker Academy. These establishments have produced the Chinese players of the present and will in the future. They have first-class practising facilities and tables that are so fast you could ice skate on them. The Chinese players practice here night and day, socialise and eat here. It provides them with a protective wing and where many gain a command of the highly complicated language, English.
