With no Halifax League games to play Jack and Harold Burkinshaw had joined Crosland Moor Liberal Club, as the Halifax report stated, to play in the Huddersfield and District Billiards League. Crosland Moor have been absent from the league for a short while but with Harold Smith and Fred Moorhouse playing as well they should do well.
At the start of 1957 Crosland Moor were top of the league after just beating the previous leaders Skelmanthorpe WMC on their own table. One of the best matches of the season was Crosland Moor against Lindley Liberal Club, which ended in a draw and leaves both teams sharing top spot in the league. In the match Jack gave a brilliant display to win his game and score a break of 117. Unfortunately though they were unable to win the final match, leaving Lindley as league winners. Despite Jack and Harold both behind scratch, they have still been a team to fear.
The Yorkshire Inter-District competition had a few changes in personnel and rules. Only 7 districts have entered compared to the 8 last year, with Keighley and Spen Valley dropping out and Morley re-joining. Because of that, there would only be one league instead of two sections, and the teams will play each other once: three at home and three away. Scoring for billiards will not be just on aggregate, but the winner of each game will now get 2 points and 1 point will be awarded for the aggregate score. In snooker, 1 point will be awarded for each frame and 1 point for the aggregate score, meaning that the black will have to be potted in every frame.
Huddersfield and Jack got off to a good start in their first game, in their bid to win the Yorkshire League for the sixth successive year.
Harold had an off day in their second match against Bradford, but this report says that Jack certainly didn’t.
Jack didn’t agree with the reporter as he had put 59 unfinished at the side of this report. Gladney makes up for Harold’s lack of form this time against Wharfedale. Jack got the team off to another good start against Wakefield.
Bradford had finished their games and had 31 points; Leeds had 30 from 5 games and Huddersfield 29 from 5 games. That meant that the last game of the season against Leeds would decide the championship.
| Morley (Away) | JM 200 – 75 | HB 200- 72 | GH 200 -113 | WON | 600 – 260 | 7 Points |
| Bradford (Home) | HB 92 – 200 | JM 200 – 10 | GH 200 – 140 | WON | 492 – 350 | 5 Points |
| Wharfedale (Away) | HB 116 – 200 | JM 200 – 179 | GH 200 – 60 | WON | 516 – 439 | 5 Points |
| Wakefield (Home) | JM 200 – 70 | HB 155 – 200 | GH 200 – 104 | WON | 555 – 374 | 5 Points |
| Ossett (Away) | CC 200 – ??? | JM 200 – ??? | GH 200 – ??? | WON | 600 – ??? | 7 Points |
| Leeds (Home) | GH 182 -200 | HB 200 – 182 | JM 200 -47 | WON | 592 – 427 | 5 Points |
- TEAM
- GH – Gladney Hoyle
- JM – Jack Mellor
- HB – Harold Burkinshaw
- CC – Cyril Cadwell
Before the last game the League table looked like this:-
- 1st – Bradford————Pts 31 Pl 6
- 2nd – Leeds————– Pts 30 Pl 5
- 3rd – Huddersfield—– Pts 29 Pl 5
Going into the last match with Leeds, Huddersfield knew that only a 5-2 win would secure them the championship. Huddersfield had home advantage playing at Lindley WMC but got off to a bad start when the reliable Gladney Hoyle lost to the Leeds champion J. Hall. The match was very even at 177 – 164 to Hall, but he had a five shot fluke which turned the game. The Yorkshire finalist Harold Burkinshaw had a shaky start but grew into the game and won comfortably in the end. So, 2 points apiece, meaning that only a win in the last game would secure them the title. Jack was to play C. Drake who had beaten him twice in the previous years final – it was by no means a forgone conclusion. The report says that Jack produced his best form of the season to score a resounding victory 200 – 47, with breaks of 73 early on and a 51 in the later stages. This is the third year in succession that they have gone through the season undefeated. This was the third time in four years that Leeds had finished runners up to Huddersfield; what a shame.
During the season Willie Smith gave an exhibition at Paddock Conservative Club and played two club players, Jack and Bill Yeoman as reported here. The other report appeared some 25 years later in 1981 when the Billiard and Snooker notes in the Examiner was mentioning players who had made breaks over 200. The names recalled were ones I have mentioned on more than one occasion: Victor Muff, Harry Sisson, and Gladney Hoyle. There is no mention in the first report of Jack making a 200 break, which you would expect to see if he had. This begs the question, was Leonard Oldham’s memory playing tricks on him (as sometimes happens as we get older)? Whether true or not, it is a nice “tale” of days gone bye; many of which I am sure, the older players will tell.
Jack Mellor 