Hola / Hi from Spain - bit of nastalgia
Hi there
Just found this forum. Bit of long intro, but hope it resonates with some of you!
I 'm originally from England but we moved to Ireland in 1977! (born 1965) and I started playing snooker there and was obsessed with the game from the age of about 13 to 17. Girls, booze and other distractions then took over.
At one stage I wanted to become a professional, but I couldn't get enough table time and I wasn't one of those instant talent players, so it never happened. I even bunked off school a couple of times and played adults for the bill, and brushed the tables to get free practice. I had Eddy Charlton's snooker manual to learn shots and technique. No internet then of course. By the way, the hall in Bray was owned by Pascal Burke, a little know Irish professional. https://www.rte.ie/archives/2022/0527/1 ... er-player/
I have a photo with him and once played him. He gave me an 80 start, I beat him! I tried to find the hall around the year 2010 but it had disappeared, which made me sad.
Since the beginning of the 80s I've only played on and off and once I moved to Spain in 1989 I totally lost touch with snooker and didn't see any of the 90s or early 2000s as I couldn't get British TV. I played on a table in a bar in Barcelona a couple of times, but I've never lost the love of snooker, and like many of you older guys, I'm nostalgic about the 70s and 80s. Bit sad.
So, I found a proper snooker / billiards / pool hall not far from my offices in Barcelona a few months back. 3 ok tables, a load of billiard tables with no pockets (very popular with VERY old guys) and a couple of pool tables.
Like me, you might have thought that there was no interest in snooker here. But I taught English to a guy that loved it, and it's shown on Spanish DAZN, with Spanish amateur commentators. The craziest thing is that in a documentary they've just uploaded 'snookermania', they say that snooker is their 3rd biggest sport when shown on Spanish Eurosport (by audience), around 60-70,000 watch the big games. I have no hopes for any snooker players coming out of Spain, as they are into billiards and pool, and I think Catalonia had a world billiard champion.
But, anyway, with channels like Hendry's Cue Tips, plus DAZN and the club I'm back into snooker big time!! Look forward to hearing your comments.
All the best
Simon
Just found this forum. Bit of long intro, but hope it resonates with some of you!
I 'm originally from England but we moved to Ireland in 1977! (born 1965) and I started playing snooker there and was obsessed with the game from the age of about 13 to 17. Girls, booze and other distractions then took over.
At one stage I wanted to become a professional, but I couldn't get enough table time and I wasn't one of those instant talent players, so it never happened. I even bunked off school a couple of times and played adults for the bill, and brushed the tables to get free practice. I had Eddy Charlton's snooker manual to learn shots and technique. No internet then of course. By the way, the hall in Bray was owned by Pascal Burke, a little know Irish professional. https://www.rte.ie/archives/2022/0527/1 ... er-player/
I have a photo with him and once played him. He gave me an 80 start, I beat him! I tried to find the hall around the year 2010 but it had disappeared, which made me sad.
Since the beginning of the 80s I've only played on and off and once I moved to Spain in 1989 I totally lost touch with snooker and didn't see any of the 90s or early 2000s as I couldn't get British TV. I played on a table in a bar in Barcelona a couple of times, but I've never lost the love of snooker, and like many of you older guys, I'm nostalgic about the 70s and 80s. Bit sad.
So, I found a proper snooker / billiards / pool hall not far from my offices in Barcelona a few months back. 3 ok tables, a load of billiard tables with no pockets (very popular with VERY old guys) and a couple of pool tables.
Like me, you might have thought that there was no interest in snooker here. But I taught English to a guy that loved it, and it's shown on Spanish DAZN, with Spanish amateur commentators. The craziest thing is that in a documentary they've just uploaded 'snookermania', they say that snooker is their 3rd biggest sport when shown on Spanish Eurosport (by audience), around 60-70,000 watch the big games. I have no hopes for any snooker players coming out of Spain, as they are into billiards and pool, and I think Catalonia had a world billiard champion.
But, anyway, with channels like Hendry's Cue Tips, plus DAZN and the club I'm back into snooker big time!! Look forward to hearing your comments.
All the best
Simon
- SimonSpain
- Posts: 2
- Joined: 19 August 2023
- Location: near Barcelona, Spain
- Snooker Idol: O sullivan
- Highest Break: 40