As many of you will have read by now, long-time snooker referee Alan Chamberlain has now taken charge of his final match following his decision to hand in his resignation last week…
Having seen his involvement in the ‘big’ matches decrease significantly over the past few years, it is easy to see why Alan has decided to call it a day now, particularly given the extremely long hours involved at the qualifiers for very little financial reward (£80 a day according to a commentor on Snooker Scene Blog). I remember speaking to Alan in Sheffield during last season’s World Championship qualifiers and without saying it, he seemed fairly disenchanted with the job back then so I cannot say that I am particularly surprised to see him go.
Nevertheless I am sorry to see Alan hang up his gloves, indeed as one of the ‘old school’ referees he was a favourite of mine because I always felt that his application of the miss rule was fairer than most. Rather than automatically calling a miss he would sometimes use his discretion when he felt that a player had made a genuine attempt to escape from a particularly difficult snooker. It was probably not the right thing to do as far as the current interpretation of the rule stands but it was still something that I liked to see in any case.
Alan will be best remembered though for his consistent involvement with the Benson and Hedges Masters tournament, the final of which he officiated on eight separate occasions between 1988 and 2003. Surprisingly he was only handed one World Championship final, that between Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry back in 1997, though with the likes of John Williams, John Street and Len Ganley around at the time there was certainly tough competition!
It is good to see that he will continue to officiate at the Championship League tournament though and hopefully he will continue to be in demand for some of the many invitational events that are played throughout the season.
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8 comments
Paul Coret says:
March 14, 2010 at 1:54 pm (UTC 0 )
i always found Alain a relaxed referee who was not noticable during play, and thats exactly how a referee should. Alain also had the light heartedness towards the players with the odd joke in between. I can understand he retires, the money paid is really a big joke! Many viewers might think refs only do the match, but when one visits a match live, you also see them being a scorer for other matches. I have noticed that refs like Jan Verhaas and Eireen Williams start in early morning sessions, well to into late evening, either being a ref or scorer.
Cheers
Monique says:
March 14, 2010 at 4:26 pm (UTC 0 )
I can only agree with you Paul and Matt. Alan will be missed and not only by fans, also by the players and his fellow referees. Earlier in the season I had a discussion with Olivier Marteel who told me how much he had learned from Alan. I’m certain he’s not the only one.
Witz78
Twitter: witz78
says:
March 14, 2010 at 5:12 pm (UTC 0 )
Farewell Alan.
In my opinion Snooker referees should be eldery gentlemen who stick to the rulebook and have minor feuds with certain players.
Unsuspecting Snooter says:
March 14, 2010 at 10:48 pm (UTC 0 )
RIP Alan.
Jäger says:
March 15, 2010 at 6:15 pm (UTC 0 )
@ u.s. Snooter
he’s not dead yet …. ^o)
Lorraine says:
March 16, 2010 at 9:23 am (UTC 0 )
Farewell Alan, have a long & peaceful retirement. Exactly what a snooker referee should be – consistent, fair and knowledgeable, and most of all, human.
Ander Isuskiza says:
March 17, 2010 at 12:01 pm (UTC 0 )
It’s a pity. £80 a day sounds too little, that’s not the way to promote refereeing.
Chris says:
April 19, 2011 at 12:49 pm (UTC 0 )
probably the best ref ever. I sat in when he made important calls on some difficult rulings, he never got anything wrong. Good with the crowd too.