The Annual General Meeting and Presentation Night will take place on Friday 26th January 2024 at Streatham Vale Sports and Social Club with the AGM from 7.00pm.

Plans are being made to make this evening an attractive and special family occasion so get this date in your diaries now. More information will follow as soon as it is confirmed.

Kind regards,

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Monday 20th November 

Singles & Pairs Finals from 8.00pm at the Prince of Wales:

Singles Final: Matthew Harrison v Eamon Staunton.

Pairs Final: Jamie Skipsey & Ryan Ward v Eamonn Staunton & Julian Phipps.

Monday 27th November 

Knock Out Cup Final from 8.00pm at Streatham Vale Sports and Social Club:

Horns Tavern v Marquis of Lorne.

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Excitement is building ahead of the playing of the two postponed league fixtures on Monday 4th December:

Duke of Edinburgh v Conquering Heroes and Prince of Wales v Marquis of Lorne.

There are still THREE teams who can finish 2nd in the table and TWO teams who can finish 9th. 

In a nutshell here is what is needed;

Prince of Wales can finish 2nd if they beat Marquis of Lorne 9-0 and hope that Conquering Heroes beat Duke of Edinburgh.

Conquering Heroes will finish 9th if they beat Duke of Edinburgh.

Duke of Edinburgh will finish 2nd if they beat Conquering Heroes.

Hand in Hand will finish 2nd if neither of the first and third points above happens.

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

This is a reminder that next Monday, 13th November 2023, we have the Semi-Finals of the Knock Out Cup. This final reminder of details includes information about the usual Officer overseers that attend these matches, although it should be noted that they will be there to oversee, not get involved or referee unless requested to do so. The winners will meet in the Final to be held on Monday 27th November 2023 at 8.00pm at Streatham Vale Sports and Social Club.

Semi-Final 1:

Prince of Wales B v Horns Tavern: Venue - Smeta Club; Officer Overseers - John Dellafera and Graham Williams (subject to availability).

Semi-Final 2:

Marquis of Lorne v Duke of Edinburgh: Venue - Prince of Wales; Officer Overseers - Simon Hooberman and David Hector (subject to availability).

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

This is a reminder that the Singles and Pairs Finals will be played on Monday week, 20th November 2023. Both of these matches will be played over the best of 5 frames. After consideration of the shortlist of potential venues, these matches will be held at the Prince of Wales in Lyham Road (Tony or Brian please note and inform Dee accordingly - thanks).

Singles Final:

Matthew Harrison (Hand in Hand) v Eamonn Staunton (Horns Tavern).

Pairs Final:

Jamie Skipsey & Ryan Ward (Horns Tavern) v Eamonn Staunton & Julian Phipps (Horns Tavern).

Kind regards,

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Dear All,

This is to inform you that the website has now been updated with the League Table following last week's matches in week 22. 

Please note - this is NOT the final table for the season as there are still two postponed fixtures and an Officers and Captains Meeting that can impact on final points and positions. Please also note that the League Table will not be further updated on the website until the final Table for the season is ready to be published which will be as soon as possible after Monday 4th December and I will, as always, inform you that it's there.

Kind regards,

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Dear All,

The League website has now been updated with the current League Table and the Results following last Monday's matches in week 21. The two postponed fixtures have also now been rescheduled and fitted in on the earliest possible Monday evening.

Secondly, note the schedule of venues, matches and organisers for the Singles Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals on Monday 30th October and the Pairs Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals on Monday 6th November. 

Kind regards,

Simon Hooberman

The Singles and Pairs Mini-Comps were completed on Monday of this week. The revised Quarter and Semi Final draws for both competitions are as follows;

Singles (to be played on Monday 30th October 2023)

QF1 - Sean Symonds (Duke of Edinburgh) v Matthew Harrison (Hand in Hand)

QF2 - Michael McMonagle (Duke of Edinburgh) v Brian Willey (Prince of Wales B)

SF1 - Winner QF1 v Winner QF2

QF3 - Perry Thurgood (Prince of Wales B) v Keith Norfolk (Conquering Heroes)

QF4 - Eamonn  Staunton (Horns Tavern) v Charlie Adams (Prince of Wales)

SF2 - Winner QF 3 v Winner QF4

Pairs (to be played on Monday 6th November 2023)

QF1 - Simon Hooberman & Simon Colkin (Conquering Heroes) v Adrian Joseph & Sandro Batke (Marquis of Lorne)

QF2 - Jamie Skipsey & Ryan Ward (Horns Tavern) v Chris Owens & Lee Suggars (Horns Tavern)

SF1 - Winner QF1 v Winner QF2

QF3 - Eamonn Staunton & Julian Phipps (Horns Tavern) v Richard Knight & Paul DeSousa (Streatham Vale Sports & Social Club)

QF4 - Cornell St Aubyn & Richard Langley Jr (Marquis of Lorne) v Gary Owens & Wayne Owens (St Matthew's All Starz)

SF2 - Winner QF3 v Winner QF4

Good luck to everyone involved in all these competitions.

Kind regards,

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Pool resumes on Monday week, 4th September. 

This is a final reminder that the Knock Out Cup Quarter Finals will be held that evening (see below for the draw) - the draw for the Semi-Finals will take place at next Tuesday's Officers and Captains on an either/or basis.

The Quarter Final draw (home teams first) is as follows:

Conquering Heroes v Prince of Wales B

Duke of Edinburgh v Smeta Elite

Horns Tavern v Prince of Wales

Marquis of Lorne v Streatham Vale Sports & Social Club

Kind regards,

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

It is with much sadness that I have to report the death of Geoff Gatt on Friday 11th August after a long illness. Geoff had been playing pool in South London for well over 40 years and first became a friend of Horns Tavern's Eamonn Staunton around 1980.

Geoff was a popular member of the Conquering Heroes' 2017 Division 1 and Knock Out Cup double-winning team but his declining health prevented him from picking up his cue again after the pandemic. Details of his funeral will be circulated in due course.

Kind regards,

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Dear All,

As per the League Calendar circulated at the start of the season and which is on the League website, league matches resume this coming Monday, 3rd July, with the week 12 fixtures which are the return matches from those that took place way back in week 1 in February.

Now here is an update on what has happened over the last three weeks;

Knock Out Cup

The Preliminary Round matches took place on Monday 12th June. As a result of them, the Quarter Final draw (ties to be played on Monday 4th September) is as follows (Home teams first);

Conquering Heroes v Prince of Wales B

Duke of Edinburgh v Smeta Elite

Horns Tavern v Prince of Wales

Marquis of Lorne v Streatham Vale Sports & Social Club

Singles

The Singles Mini-Competitions took place on Monday 19th June, reducing the draw to the last 8, the Quarter Finals. The next Singles night is Monday 30th October when the competition's Quarter Finals and Semi Finals will be held. The draw for this is as follows (all matches will be best of 3 as before); 

QF1 - Sean Symonds (Duke of Edinburgh) v Matthew Harrison (Hand in Hand)

QF2 - Michael McMonagle (Duke of Edinburgh) v Brian Willey (Prince of Wales B)

SF1 - Winner QF1 v Winner QF2

QF3 - Perry Thurgood (Prince of Wales B) v Winner Mini-Comp 6 *

QF4 - Eamonn  Staunton (Horns Tavern) v Charlie Adams (Prince of Wales)

SF2 - Winner QF 3 v Winner QF4

* Mini-Comp 6 had to be postponed on the night due to issues with the table at the venue. All players in Mini-Comp 6 have been consulted. This competition will now be held on Monday 21st August at the Crown & Sceptre and includes players from Prince of Wales, Marquis of Lorne, Conquering Heroes and Horns Tavern.

Pairs

The Pairs Mini-Competitions took place on Monday 26th June, reducing the draw to the last 8, the Quarter Finals. The next Pairs night is Monday 6th November when the competition's Quarter Finals and Semi Finals will be held. The draw for this is as follows (all matches will be best of 3 as before);

QF1 - Simon Hooberman & Simon Colkin (Conquering Heroes) v Adrian Joseph & Sandro Batke (Marquis of Lorne)

QF2 - Winner Mini-Comp 3 * v Chris Owens & Lee Suggars (Horns Tavern)

SF1 - Winner QF1 v Winner QF2

QF3 - Eamonn Staunton & Julian Phipps (Horns Tavern) v Richard Knight & Paul DeSousa (Streatham Vale Sports & Social Club)

QF4 - Cornell St Aubyn & Richard Langley Jr (Marquis of Lorne) v Gary Owens & Wayne Owens (St Matthew's All Starz)

SF2 - Winner QF3 v Winner QF4

* Mini-Comp 3 did not conclude in the one evening. In the round robin stage, each pair won one match 2-1. In the three frame sudden death single frame play off each pair won one frame and all participants called it a night because of work the next morning - an entirely reasonable decision. A consultation will take place shortly with the participants who are players from Hand in Hand and Horns Tavern to determine a date for the sudden death play off to continue until one pair has won both their frames.

Summer Competitions

Decisions have been made on the venues for the summer competitions but it should be noted that there are a couple of changes from what was set out in the League Calendar - there will now be no summer competition on Monday 21st August because Singles Mini-Comp 6 will be played that evening instead.

Monday 31st July: Speed Pool - this will be held at the Smeta Club.

Monday 7th August: 10 Ball Crush - this will be held at the Duke of Edinburgh because they already have the spots and stripes required for this competition.

Monday 14th August: Scotch Pairs - this will be held at the Prince of Wales.

More information on these competitions will be circulated nearer the time. Please note that there may be players entering these competitions from the Colby Arms in Gipsy Hill who are keen to enter a team next season. This invitation was agreed at the last Officers and Captains meeting.

Kind regards,

Simon

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Dear All,

The draws for the Singles and Pairs knock-out tournaments, due to take place on 19th and 26th June respectively, were carried out at the Officers and Captains meeting on Tuesday evening.

The full draws have been published on the website.

John Dellafera and I will be meeting later this afternoon to work out where each of the mini-competitions will be taking place etc and the detailed schedules setting out venues, organisers and contact details will be e-mailed to all Captains, Vice-Captains, principal e-mail contacts and participants for whom I have e-mail addresses later today with hard copies to be delivered to all venues on Monday.

Good luck to all participants.

Kind regards,

Simon

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Dear All,

It is with much sadness that I am writing to inform you of the death last Thursday of one of the stalwarts of the league, John Ennis, after a short illness. John was born and raised in Co Meath in the Republic of Ireland. His death notice was provided to us by Paul Hogan, Vice-Captain of the Prince of Wales team, who used to work with John. Some of you may have known John as Ginger John.

Over the last 15 years or so, John played at various times for Cambridge (based at the Duke of Cambridge in Stockwell), the Hero of Switzerland and the Prince of Wales. Before Covid, he could often be found on non-pool nights enjoying a drink in the Hero of Switzerland.

A quick check of the Honours on the league website shows that he was runner up in the Singles Trophy tournament in the 2012/13 season when he was playing for Cambridge and won the Governors Cup in the 2015/16 season when he was running the Prince of Wales.

Funeral details will follow when available although, given that the attached notice is produced by the Funeral Directors and they are based in Co Meath, I suspect that it will probably be held in Ireland and that, as a consequence, very few people from the league will be able to attend.

At the Officers and Captains meeting on Tuesday evening, it was agreed that the league should send flowers and this will be arranged when funeral details are known.

Kind regards,

Simon

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Dear All,

This is a final reminder that the Governors Cup will be taking place at the Prince of Wales tomorrow evening, Monday 5th June - each league venue to be represented by one bona fide member of their staff who does not have to be an official team or squad player, venues with two teams can have two staff members representing them.

The following Monday, 12th June, is the Knock Out Cup Preliminary Round with 3 matches to reduce the draw to 8 for the following round. The Preliminary Round draw (home teams first) is as follows;

Marquis of Lorne v St Matthew's All Starz

Conquering Heroes v Crown and Sceptre

Horns Tavern v Hand in Hand

The remaining teams have the night off.

The remaining Mondays in June, 19th and 26th, have the Mini-Competitions for the Singles and Pairs. The draws will be carried out at the Officers and Captains Meeting this coming Tuesday and the schedules etc will be circulated to Captains, venues and organisers by the end of the coming week. Captains and other senior players will be expected to help out with organising and refereeing on those nights, in some cases whether or not they have entered the competitions themselves. I can tell you now that 8 of our current 9 venues will be needed on each of those evenings.

Kind regards,

Simon 

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

SOUTH EAST LONDON POOL LEAGUE

MAURICE WICK MEMORIAL TROPHY

Monday 22nd May 2023

VENUE 

SMETA (10 St. Matthew's Road, Brixton Hill, SW2 1NH)

Registration NOT LATER than 8.00pm.

Play starts straight after the draw at 8.05pm.

This tournament is our annual memorial event in memory of the League's Founder and former Chairman and Life President.

The tournament will be straight single frame knock out with, hopefully, best of three frames in the Final. Table fees for each frame will be covered by the League as usual. Each team is entitled to enter one player by virtue of the League entry fees paid at the start of the season. It is up to individual Teams and Captains who represents their teams on the night.

In addition, the draw will be made up to 16 players on the night as follows;

There are automatic places in the draw for Charlie Adams who won the event last year and for League President Graham Williams (if available) who knew Mo well.

As in past years, at 8.00pm on the night, a draw will be made of teams with additional players present at Smeta and the drawn Teams' Captains will choose an additional player from their team who is present to participate.

All players intending or wishing to participate MUST be at the venue by 8.00pm to register so that the draw can take place at 8.05pm promptly and competition commence immediately thereafter. 

Please ensure your team is represented on the night.

Captains, please also remember that you must hand to me on the night your entry forms and fees for the Singles and Pairs knock-out competitions as I am not currently able to chase round for entries in the following two weeks before the draws are completed.

I look forward to seeing you at Smeta on Monday 22nd May!

Kind regards,

Simon

Simon Hooberman 

League Secretary

Dear All,

A very warm welcome to everyone for our 2023 season and a particularly warm welcome right now to all the new recruits to the League's e-mail list, and there's quite a significant number of those including players both old and y-y-y- new! You thought I was going to say something else then!

A warm welcome also to new teams and venues, returning teams and venues, returning players after some years' absence, as well as all those who are longstanding parts of the League furniture, and I do so hope I haven't left anybody out! If I have, they can moan about it when they next see me and I shall immediately dock their next point they gain for their team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, that's enough of the humour, now let's get down to the serious business!

My thanks and congratulations to Captains and to all those who have risen to the challenge during this period of my own mobility being restricted by recruiting to the League and again to all Captains for providing all relevant information (and the vast majority of the entry fees) in good time to enable us to get the season started exactly in line with the suggested timing when we met at the Annual General Meeting almost two weeks ago.

I am delighted to report that we have 11 teams and John and I met yesterday and produced all the necessary documents that will be handed out at the Captains Cup. Two of the venues have two teams so we have nine venues in total which is also good news for competitions later in the season, and one venue has two tables with another one due to be getting a second table in the foreseeable future.

Returning teams/venues include Marquis of Lorne, Smeta Club and Streatham Vale Sports and Social Club and Horns Tavern also returns again as a permanent venue, and we also welcome Hand in Hand now as a permanent venue - in both the last two cases the teams that were there last season are now permanent fixtures.

Last but not least we welcome one new team and venue in the Crown and Sceptre, which many of you will simply know as a landmark pub on the corner of the A23 and the South Circular!

The season will begin, as always, with the Captains Cup (registered Captain or Vice-Captain to participate) on Monday 6th February at 8.00pm at Horns Tavern, 40 Knights Hill, West Norwood, SE27 0HY (opposite West Norwood Station). A separate e-mail with more information on this competition will be issued to Captains and Vice-Captains in the next day or two. All the paperwork for the season will be handed to Captains on the evening including League calendar, fixture list and new format match sheets.

There will be League matches on each of the following seven Mondays up till the end of March. Of course, the fact that we have an odd number of teams means that, each week, there will be one team with no fixture. To help you begin to prepare, I am pleased to be able to announce the week 1 (13th February) League fixtures which are as follows (home teams first);

• Duke of Edinburgh v Smeta Elite
• Horns Tavern v Void
• Hand in Hand v Prince of Wales
• Prince of Wales B v Marquis of Lorne
• Crown and Sceptre v Conquering Heroes
• St Matthews All Starz v Streatham Vale Sports and Social Club

There are no changes to the League Rules following the AGM. Captains, please ensure all your players know and understand the Rules, especially if they are going to referee frames, and do ask if you have any queries on them. They are on the League website - go to selpool.co.uk and click on Rules. The AGM also kept the League Officers unchanged from last year.

The calendar for the season enables all competitions to conclude by the end of November with a date for the Presentation Night, possibly a Monday in December, to be confirmed. However, it was necessary to switch all Officers and Captains Meetings, which all Captains are expected to attend or send a representative to, and they are currently all scheduled for Tuesdays although these may change depending, for example, on any clashes we learn about later with Champions League or international football fixtures.

Good luck to all teams for the season!

Kind regards,

Simon

Simon Hooberman

League Secretary

Happy New Year!

I hereby confirm and give notice that the Annual General Meeting of the South East London Pool League will take place next Monday evening, 16th January 2023, at 8.00pm at the Smeta Club, 10 St Matthew's Road, London, SW2 1NH. 

The Presentation of Trophies for the 2022 season will take place after the conclusion of the meeting..

Papers for the meeting will be tabled on the evening. The meeting will elect the Officers for the new season and consider any amendments to the League's Constitution and Rules documents, and consider any Reports available for the meeting.

Please also note that all Team entries and fees for the season (£100 per team or £180 for two teams from the same venue) MUST be handed in to me at that meeting so please bring everything with you duly, properly and  fully completed.

As I am still recovering from my health issues last summer and my mobility is still significantly restricted and I am not able to drive, I do not have the usual time, energy, ability or flexibility to go racing round South London chasing up your entries so your assistance and co-operation on this will not only be greatly appreciated but is also anticipated.

The paperwork for completion was delivered to all your pubs / clubs last week, with the exception of two returning teams who will get theirs in the next couple of days, so there are no excuses for not having it completed ready to bring along with you. As long as everyone co-operates with the request in the last paragraph, I am currently aiming for the season to start on Monday 6th February with the Captains Cup with League matches commencing on Monday 13th February.

If you have any questions or suggestions on the way forward for the new season, please bring them to the meeting, but do remember that, as always, the actual format for the season will be entirely dependent on how many teams actually register - at present, provided all 6 teams that completed last season are in, it looks as though we could have 10 teams for the coming season.

Please ensure you tell your team members about the event, particularly those who have won trophies.

I look forward to seeing you on 16th January.

Kind regards,

Simon

Simon Hooberman 

League Secretary