How many players do you reckon in the UK ?

Just as a matter of interest, how many active league bar billiards players do you reckon there are in the UK ?
I thought I’d have a go at compiling some figures, and as details are sketchy – particularly in places like Berks and Bucks – please feel free to correct and/or adjust if your data is more reliable than mine !
First figure is number of member teams in League, figure in brackets is estimated number of players.  List includes non-affiliated as well as affiliated leagues and counties.

Berks
Reading 11 (75)
Bucks
High Wycombe 8 (?)
Cambs
Cambridge 8 (49)
Hants
Portsmouth 11 (74)
Kent
Dover and Deal 11 (61)
Maidstone 4 (24)
Medway 10 (55)
Tunbridge Wells 6 (36)
Norfolk
Norwich 4-pin 5 (?)
Northants
Northampton 10 (50)
Wellingborough 4-pin 8 (?)
Oxon
Eynsham 8 (36)
Oxford  14 (111)
Wallingford 10 (100)
Witney 8 (55)
Suffolk
Sudbury 4-pin 13 (?)
Surrey
Redhill 17 (121)
Sussex
Billingshurst 13 (89)
Brighton 13 (99)
Eastbourne 5 (25)
Hastings and Bexhill 9 (55)
Horsham 13 (90)
Lewes 8 (59)
Littlehampton 10 (55)
Mid Sussex 16 (137)
West Sussex  11 (68)
Worthing  17 (118)

Notes: some surprises, but here again, the information is open to challenge:
243+ teams in the UK.
1500+ active players
44% of the above are from Sussex.
Redhill is was the biggest league with 19 teams
Wallingford just behind on 18 teams.
Worthing with 170 has had the most registered members of any league (now Mid Sussex with 137)

Remainder of British Isles:
Guernsey 7 (45)
Jersey 12 (108)

Two final stats, relevant to 2011.........
Wallingford has dropped in numbers from 18 to 10 teams in just two years. :o
East Anglia (4-Pin) has the biggest growth in the same period, up to 18 teams from 11. Sudbury have gained three teams, and Norwich (new to this century) has a waiting list of pubs requiring tables. 8-)

[davejones]

Worthing last season had 170 registered players. Of course some players dual signed playing Worthing/Brighton/Littlehampton/Mid Sussex and West Sussex

[NigelS]

I think 1500 is a good estimate Tommo, although remember some players do play two (or more) leagues. Is Hastings still actually going?

Don't forget Jersey also have around 100 players and Guernsey around 50.

Aug 20, 2008 20:50:38 GMT NigelS said:

Is Hastings still actually going?
Don't forget Jersey also have around 100 players and Guernsey around 50.

Only by asking such questions will we find out.
I believe Kim Beeching played for Sussex Ladies A last year, and she's from Hastings, so if they've gone to the wall it's only recently. Like Maidstone in Kent, they're not affiliated to their County.

I'd be interested to know if Berkshire is down to one League (Reading): they used to have a strong one in Wokingham, but you don't hear much of them nowadays.

[fazza]

When I started playing, Berks had FOUR leagues: Reading, Newbury, Wokingham and the "Country House" league. All but Reading have long gone, the last was Wokingham about 5 years ago, I would think.

[Pompey (R.I.P.)]

Portsmouth last season had 74 registered players in 12 teams.
County wise we have seen the demise of Leagues in Andover, Southampton and Winchester.

Adjustments duly made as we go along.

[The Bullet]

Last season Guernsey had seven teams and about 45 players in one league.

Hopefully this coming season we will have one maybe two new teams to put the number of player to almost 60.

Gone are the days when we had over 20 teams in 2 leagues.

Just to add a dimension to this thread, I have had a go at listing the Counties and/or Leagues which have sadly vanished over the years.

(from Berks)
Country House
Newbury
Wokingham
(from Hants)
Andover
Southampton
Winchester
(from Kent)
Canterbury
Faversham
(from Suffolk)
Newmarket
(from Sussex)
Crawley
Portslade

Herts
Watford
Leics
Hinckley
Lincs and South Humberside
Bourne & Dist
Scunthorpe & Crowle
Bristol/Avon
Portishead
Somerset
East Somerset
South Yorks
Doncaster
Wilts
Pewsey Vale
West Wilts
Swindon
Devizes

Feel free to correct me on any inaccuracies. For instance, I'm convinced that Portishead belonged to Avon which was briefly in existence as a county. The East Somerset league may have been centered around either Taunton or Yeovil, with a friendly International being once staged at Castle Cary.

[edited 04/01/14 by tommo following info unearthed by Milko]
[further edits following info unearthed from early AEBBA minutes]

[mikedaw1985]

Hastings league has 6 teams and about 50 players. Defo not more than 60.

[Julian Dale]

Just an update... Cambridge now has 11 teams and 70 players.

Thanks guys,
It's good to have the most accurate information to work on.

Have made the adjustments.
tommo

[ladyh]

What about Q in Cornwall :o ....... or does he not count yet? :-X

H xx ;D

[Q]

Thanks for thinking of me Hayley :-*

This official response has to be that we dont have an official league - but we currently have 3 people who play on a weekly basis ;D

[BB Warrior]

Nearly 50% of the number you need to have an Inter-County Challenge then Q......!! 8-) ;D

Hoping to get down your way soon now that Colleen's eldest is at Plymouth Uni........ ;D

[Richard Stowe R.I.P.]

Oxford has 102 players playing BB this season for 15 teams, I know of a few players that are as yet unplaced this season, but would be playing if we had enough teams.

[davemay]

If there are players in and around oxford who do not, or cannot get into a team, why do they not get together to form more teams, and boost up the players, and matches. We hear so much of how the game is contracting because of players leaving for one reason or another, so this is surely a chance for a league to cultivate the non-playing talent that is around. Maybe the players concerned do not live close enough to each other to form a team, but surely they could consider it.

[David.G]

Hi Tommo

Berks have about 12 teams and 75 players

Mar 22, 2009 8:43:28 GMT David.G said:

Hi Tommo

Berks have about 12 teams and 75 players

Thanks Dave,

Have now inserted/amended figures for Berks, Oxford and Jersey.

Updates for season 2009/10...................

Mid Sussex up by one team to 17;
Horsham down by one team to 12;
Lewes remains static at 9 teams.

Other updates welcome ! ;)

I know this is not entirely to topic...

I have noticed around Cambridgeshire that since the recession Bar Billiard tables and darts have been a talk of interest among landlords.

Trying to pull in the extra trade of customers and create that olde pub feeling again (which I think is great).

It wouldn't surprise me Tommo that these stats in a few years could increase more widespread.

Then again I have only noticed it here, not too sure what pubs closer to London are doing??

Watch this thread!!! 8-) :)

[NigelS]

Sept 19, 2009 9:28:33 GMT tommo III said:

Updates for season 2009/10...................

Mid Sussex up by one team to 17;
Horsham down by one team to 12;
Lewes remains static at 9 teams.

Other updates welcome ! ;)

Brighton up by 3 teams to 16!

[BFG]

Sept 19, 2009 12:08:05 GMT NigelS said:

Sept 19, 2009 9:28:33 GMT tommo III said:

Updates for season 2009/10...................

Mid Sussex up by one team to 17;
Horsham down by one team to 12;
Lewes remains static at 9 teams.

Other updates welcome ! ;)

Brighton up by 3 teams to 16!

West Sussex down one up one staying on 14 teams!

[Duncan Disorderly]

Littlehampton has 11 teams, up 1 from last season, but less venues if you follow my meaning.

[everybodyshappy]

Berkshire has now lost The spread eagle pub so that 1 team down but think they are going to join in with an existing club in the league.

Caversham Working mens club
Post Office Club
Sonning working mens club
Admiral Cunningham
Reading Council Club
Pond House
Hop Leaf
Olop (just reopened after Flood)
Maiden Over (new to the league this year will be 1 of the teams from the OLOP so no extra team)

Think thats it for the Reading/Berkshire leagues

Thanks folks for all your input so far. This year's team tallies are shown in yellow when updated.

From the last poster's comment, I make that 11 teams now from the 9 venues if you're just down one on last year.

[H]

Sorry if I am duplicating posts but on a similar theme, Mid Sussex is up 1 team, Lewes remains the same.

In other news, the local toad in the hole league is up from 2 divisions with a total of 18 teams, to three divisions with 21 teams, and thats with 2 teams dropping out, so a total of 5 new teams (it was originally one division with approx 8 teams when started in 2003!)

[peetee]

We have 16 teams in the Oxford League.....111 Players

Kennington Club ( Ex Nelson A)
Didcot Con Club
Vikings Sports Club ( Ex Corner House)
Masons Arms x 2
Berinsfield Club
Cowley Workers Club ( Ex Nelson B)
Democrats Club
Gladiators Club x 2
Dolphin
Marlborough Club
Comrades Club
Headington Con Club
Shelley Arms
Plough Bicester...New Team :)

Lost the Horse & Harrow..Gary Johnson and Co :(

Sept 19, 2009 11:55:02 GMT @sithlord said:

I know this is not entirely to topic...

I have noticed around Cambridgeshire that since the recession Bar Billiard tables and darts have been a talk of interest among landlords.

Trying to pull in the extra trade of customers and create that olde pub feeling again (which I think is great).

It wouldn't surprise me Tommo that these stats in a few years could increase more widespread.

Then again I have only noticed it here, not too sure what pubs closer to London are doing??

Watch this thread!!! 8-) :)

Thanks for your input Johnny, and for painting an optimistic picture.

There's no escaping the fact that in the course of the last 30 years, bar billiards has been driven out of pubs and into social clubs, starting from the time when Pool became popular.

When I started playing, every pub in Crawley had a table and a team, and there was a league with 3 divisions. Now there's no league, and for the last 15 years there's only been either one pub with a table and team - or none. (Now there's one again).

A good pub supportive of bar billiards nowadays is like gold dust: there are some in places like Brighton, but there there's still a pub on every street corner whilst a town such as Horsham which once had 42 pubs has seen a half of them close down.

In the current financial climate, with punitive government taxes on businesses, somewhere in the country one pub closes per week.

Add to this the fact that we have just lost the main table operator in the country with the knock-on effect that good tables will become rarer to source, and the future suddenly doesn't appear to be so bright.

Frankly, I blame myself.