By Elliott West
Introduction
Zan’s snooker club in Tooting is enshrined in snooker history as being one of the talent mills of the sport. Alongside the Ron Gross Snooker Centre in Neasden, players used to flock to these clubs to play on their snooker tables. Zan’s on the outside looked dark and dingy, a place where your mother would forbid you from going to and seen as somewhere where the strays of society used to hang out. A snooker hall that didn’t tolerate fools lightly and if you were found to be a burglar, you were quickly dealt with. To walk through the doors of this club, the person had to have gained the trust of the management but welcomed with open arms when on the trust list.
This was the place where you would find a nine-year-old Jimmy White and a young Tony Meo, shunning school for money games amidst a crowd of colourful characters of the local South London community. White, the son of a carpenter, remembers these days with fond memories and a place where he learned his trade, saying of Zan’s:
“The place fascinated me before the game did”.
The Snooker Mill
Zan’s was Jimmy White’s playground, a snooker hall where the youth could make a few quid by challenging the local players to a game of snooker. The atmosphere must have been electric and amazing for anyone who was there to witness Meo or White making centuries, producing the early flair shots that would later trademark their game. Jimmy made his first-century break at the club on table 16, aged 13.
Aside from the players, Zan’s housed a wealth of characters. These included Victor Yo, Flash Bob, Mad Ronnie Fryer and Johnny the Arab. Jimmy witnessed their comings and goings in his time at the club from the ages of 8 to 14. As he pocketed the money from the money games, Mad Ronnie Fryer was a minder and bouncer on the door. A man who kept trouble to a minimum and quickly alerted the clientele when the police were coming.
In one such extraordinary incident, the police arrived and Ronnie hurtled down to the cellar. A policeman sent his Alsatian down to find him, although Jimmy in his book, said it was a Rottweiler. White recalls the incident in his autobiography entitled Second Wind’, saying:
“The next thing you know, there was this horrible, strangling noise and the dog, with a snapped neck, was thrown back up the stairs”.
“Ronnie had killed the poor thing with his bare hands. I was 12 going on 35.”.
Aside from Mad Ronnie Fryer, there was Dodgy Bob. Bob was a black cab driver who drove Jimmy White and Tony Meo up and down the country to play their money games in various snooker clubs. The pair used to literally get a map, close their eyes and tell Bob to drive them where the pen landed on the map. Perhaps a mad way of earning money but a venture that led to Jimmy quickly pocketing £10,000 in savings.
Summary
Zan’s was a tough training ground but a club that was literally brimming with young talent. Cross the line and you were dealt with, these were the snooker halls where one unfortunate soul was stoned to death with snooker balls and somewhere where you could have your kneecaps blown off for liberty-taking.
This club was respected and as few dared to go there, was even more special to be lucky enough to be part of this culture. It was rough but an establishment where you knew the management had your back in a crisis. Shunned by some adds a den of iniquity, these local snooker clubs and the ones dotted across the country above a Burtons store, broke or made players and produced many of the future players of the 1980s.
