1956
The programme from Jack’s third appearance in four years at the finals proper in London.
1956
As well as the Billiards final, we can see from the back of the programme that the Snooker finals will be played in February. Huddersfield had several players in these days that won through to represent Yorkshire at snooker.
1956
Jack had a bye in the first round and then lost to Clement Hey in the second round by 44 points, 1114 – 1070. It was a very close match and Hey only just fell over the line with a break of 98 in the last twenty minutes of the game.
1956
As we can see, Frank Edwards and Leslie Driffield have dominated the competition for the past seven years. As they were in the finals that year I would think that there was a strong possibility that, as they were in opposite sides of the draw, they could have met in the final.
1956
I don’t know if this was a free ticket given to Jack as a sporting notary, but as the stub is still attached it begs the question of whether or not he attended. Dave Valentine and Johnny Hunter were Fartown Rugby players who had played from 1947 and retired the following year after ten years’ service. They were members of the team in 1948/49 when they won the League Championship, and in 1953 when they won the Challenge Cup.
1959
Well before the Embassy sponsored World Championship began in 1976 it would appear that cigarette companies were looking to promote their products by giving them away. This letter shows that Jack could have been the first sponsored billiards player for beating the Irish professional billiards player, Jackie Rea, in an exhibition match.
Jack Mellor 