Alan Chamberlain, the circuit's longest serving referee, has resigned with immediate effect.
Chamberlain, 67, has officiated on the professional circuit since 1983 but decided to hang up his white gloves on Monday a day before the end of the world qualifiers.
I understand he was exhausted by the long hours the refs were required to work for little financial reward.
Alan refereed the 1997 World Championship final, was a long time official at the Masters and took charge of many other big occasions.
Like many referees, there were moments of controversy too but he was regarded as a very safe pair of hands and his sudden resignation has shocked his fellow officials.
He will continue to referee at the Championship League.
54 comments:
Hats off to 'officer dibble' a true gentlemen and a superb referee.
Hi Dave,
What a shame!
I hope there is some sort of presentation or announcement made at the Crucible for Alan for all the hard work he has put in.
Is there any chance the WSA could give him a match at the world championships?
Thanks, Joe
What a big loss for Snooker. But I see why he's frustrated enough to stop refereeing. The Referee is at the table for hours but different from the players the payment isn't a worthy reward. So I wish Alan the best for his future life.
He will be missed. I consider Alan Chamberlain to be the best snooker referee of them all. But I guess all good things must come to an end.
It's all the cutbacks to try and get bigger prize money fir the players. When will someone realise that no-one wants to put money into this sport?
Alan has been a pretty sound referee over many decades.
Enjoy your retirement AC.
Alan is out of the top drawer and his going is snookers loss.
I do find the timing strange.
The worlds is a few weeks away and surely he would have been given the final if he had announced his retirement was to be after sheffield in thanks for his excellent contribution to snooker over many years.
One has to think behind the scenes cracks are in their infancy.
Or am I just being mischevious or is it the fact that after 4 decades watching this beautiful game I just recognise the signs!
He was an excellent referee - and very funny sometimes (I particularly enjoyed his banter with Steve Davis). I do agree that the timing is somewhat strange. Maybe, though I hope it's not the case, at 67 his health simply doens't allow him to do the longer matches...
By the way, I have always liked his voice and his accent a lot - maybe he could do some audio books in his retirement?
Yes it is a shame he has gone, but he wouldn't have been given the World Final. What you need to remember here is he didn't retire. He actually retired 2 years ago and was given a gift from WSA at that time, I remember seeing the photo on their website. This time from what I have read, he resigned due to long hours worked and lack of pay. For me his timing was all wrong as there was still one day to go in the Qualifiers and surely he would have been reffing one of those.
I think he should have waited till after the tournament to resign. It makes you wonder what actually goes off behind the scenes.
This untimely resignation may well mean that the powers-that-be are looking to tweak the rules of the game before Sheffield starts.
Alan is a traditionalist in an otherwise "neon lights" world nowadays.
I suspect Alan leaves with his dignity fully intact.
He was noticeably getting less high profile matches in the last couple of seasons. I remeber him once telling Fergal O'Brien to hurry up in the Nations Cup, and Fergal was none best pleased. Personally I think referee's should use their discretion more in this regard.
it is the great shame...I will miss him a lot...he did a great job. And I will always consider him as a prototype of snooker ref.
wish him all the best
The timing does seem a bit odd, also that it's with "immediate effect", with the World's so soon. Come on Dave, what's going on?
Will this mean Patricia Murphy being fasttracked to officiate in the final stages of ranking tournaments?
'what's going on' is that Alan's had enough of reffing and has resigned
no dave thats not whats going on ,facts wrong as usual ,hearn and his board has taken away our 2 tickets the refs get when working at the world champs and on top of that less than 5 per hour is the final straw !
I have always thought it strange that he was given the 1997 World final but not one since.
It's always said they are paid badly but does anyone know what the refs are actually paid?
A great shame that he has walked away. A true gentleman and an excellent referee
I view this decision with much trepidation.
The possible amending of the rules namely shot clocks, quick fix miss rule amendments are apparently being looked at by the top brass.
I doubt Alan, as a classiclally bred, old school referee would approve of a silicon chipped red ball being potted in the yellow pocket at The Crucible, which enables the lady in row b, seat 14 being awarded a prize such as a holiday in Ibiza.
This could be the reason Alan retired "with immediate effect".
The game should never change to such draconan measures.
Not now or ever.
At 67 I think I would be looking to put my feet up and enjoy life rather than work for £80 a day
less than the minimum wage refs get paid its a discrace !
My facts aren't wrong. I correctly stated that Alan has resigned because he's basically fed up with working long hours for little financial reward.
Alan never once took up his allocation of free tickets although I understand he wanted to this year until it was axed.
The number of good referees has dwindled away in recent years and now leaves a list basically of Verhaas, Tabb and Brendan Moore
They should be treated better
Eirian Williams, Pete Williamson, Terry Camilleri and Colin Humphries are the other leading refs.
But, consider those who have departed for various reasons over the last few years: John Williams, John Newton, Lawrie Annandale, Paul Collier, Johan Oomen, Stuart Bennett. Colin Brinded of course sadly passed away.
yeah well played Jamie
AC has been regarded by most knowledgeable snooker fans, AS WELL AS THE TOP PROS, as one of the best referees of the last decade or two and the best you can come up with when he resigns due to shocking treatment is a negative comment about him.
shame on you!
AC is a lovely bloke backstage too. very good conversationalist, among a wide section of people...
Are all leading refs full time?
So Dave, fancy a new career?! I can just see you all dressed up! Seriously though, is there a general shortage of refs these days?
The possible rules changes are worrying, if true its no wonder he has walked away from the sport.
I always liked AC. He seemed to be the most cheerful ref of the lot.
As someone who has played a match at the Crucible I would be totally against any rule changes which hadn't been thought through.
Patricia Murphy won't be fast-tracked anywhere. I heard she wasn't up to scratch so WSA don't use her anymore.
With Alan resigning, does this mean it's time for a new era of referees to take over? Does anybody know who is reffing the World final this year? I know Michaela did it last year and previous to that it has been Williams and Verhaas, i think it would be great to give it to one of the other refs, i think Colin Humphries, Brendan Moore or Terry Camilleri would be ideal for the final.
They have all reffed at ranking finals in the last couple of years, so they are obviously all capable of doing the job.
Hi Dave,
Is there any reason why Paul Collier cannot comeback onto the tour or is he tied to a contract with Matchroom for the Premier League.
Also, why is the draw at Wembley (stadium I pressume?) and is it a press conference afterwards with Hearn about where world snooker is going?
Thanks, Joe
A great shame indeed.. WSA has certainly lost their most popular male ref. I always enjoyed watching Alan in action and I agree with an earlier post that his voice was extremely likeable. I wish him all the best and still look forward to seeing him in the championship league.
Alan was a very dedicated referee and not just in snooker. He also ran the billiards tournaments (in the days when there were any) with his usual efficiency.
There's no doubt the refs are poorly paid for such an important job, which is why so many good ones have drifted away.
The stuff about rules changes at the World Championship are way off the mark though.
The way Hearn is running the sport there will be no refs left. I warned people he would be no good and now it's coming back to hurt us. We should have stuck by Walker.
Dave, if its true Chamberlain has quit due to the tinkering with the rules of the game then its a joke.
A very noble call on his part.
I hear the miss rule is to be totally revamped.
It stinks IMO.
Wasn't it £80 a day plus accomodation and food during the tournaments or am I wrong?
I had the pleasure of experiencing Alan at a tournament many years back and he was a sound guy - gave me lots of good advice. All the best to ya mate.
Where do people get these conspiracy theories from.
It's got nothing to do at all with tinkering with the rules.
It's as simple as Dave has stated it - Alan was fed of of the very long hours - Last week at the EIS some days were running up to and over 15 hours. The refs were arriving at 9am to prepare their tables and were extremely lucky if they left before midnight any day and at least two days ran until after 1.30am - all of them were totally knackered as were the rest of us.
It also has nothing to do with Barry Hearn.
It was a schedule that was already in place before Hearn came on the scene.
It is a schedule that is brutally punishing on refs, officials, players, media and fans and definitely needs changing.
Even this week with only two sessions, there was barely an hour between the sessions, it certainly didn't give time to get back to the hotel for food or a shower or a rest.
I wish Alan all the best. He will be missed, not least by the Billiards fraternity as he had run countless World Pro Billiards tournaments for many years.
And on another note I'd like to thank him also for the many years tireless work he put in as Chairman of the WLBSA.
Whats all this about rule changes?
I certainly hope that isnt true.
From the first moment I heard Hearn and Davis were taking over, and dont anyone be naive, Davis is up to his ginger locks in all this I knew it wouldnt be long before a few others went.
Dave has given us a reason for Alan going, but I would be more interested hearing why Walker went, preferably from his own lips.
A rule change without being assessed will be to the detriment of the sport.
I expect more referee's to walk away if there is any truth in these rumours.
The one thing I loved about Alan was that he was one of the few referees that used discretion. I too recall the Fergal O'Brien incident and Ken Doherty said he was going to formally compain, but Fergal was dithering as usual and needed a kick up the backside. He was the best applier of the miss rule too, and often wouldn't call a miss if a player was in a tough snooker and had to come off more than one cushion. A class act.
Also who can forget the incident with Selby and Dott? He took some stick over that, but it's his job to referee not to educate a player ignorant of the rules.
Maybe instead of bowing to BBC demands to fast-track female refs maybe they should fast-track a Chinese referee given the number of Chinese players that are emerging...
In defence of Hearn and Steve Davis, if they are gonna play about with the rules then they have already said that they will not mess around with the World, UK or Masters. It will be in the tournaments they are going to revamp themselves. To be fair, Alan Chamberlain probably only quit because such a gruelling schedule is hard on a 70 year old. I have my doubts about Hearn myself but he's only just started, he should be given a chance.
Thanks
Alpha
Walker went because he was voted off the board by the players at the AGM.
THERE ARE NO RULE CHANGES - no rumours, no stories - NO CHANGES!!!
i heard there would be changes Janie
Possibly a ten point fixed penalty for a miss and 31 points if a blatent miss.
I thought Walker put himself up for re-election a year before he had to.
I for one would like to know the full story.
I know the ignorant think he was a fool but the more intelligent know how difficult these last few years have been. Not just for snooker but for all sport.
I dont believe we have the right people in charge but now they are there they must have their chance but they should be scrutinised from every angle and then rechecked and never be allowed to tamper with the game itself.
Davis and Hearn are now in control, its been their ambition for a very long time, whether conflicts of interest questions will ever be asked will depend on the fans and I hope we continue to support them but make our views clear that we want snooker to remain the game we all love and know.
The problem is not the game, the problem has only ever been finance and self interest groups who tore each other apart at snookers expense.
In my opinion we now have the Mother of all selfinterest groups in charge and peace within snooker is still many years away.
i still dont see it as davis in charge at all.
name call me all you want.
good friends though they are, i believe hearns got a mind of his own.
take a good look at yourselves folks.
yours
BH
It's nice to have someone running snooker who actually likes the game, which Barry Hearn always has done.
Is anyone seriously questioning Steve Davis's love for snooker?
"Patricia Murphy won't be fast-tracked anywhere. I heard she wasn't up to scratch so WSA don't use her anymore."
Not being up to scratch has never seemed to do much damage to Michaela Tabb.
Bh, no need for name calling, your view is one a lot of people hold, my view is also held by a good number.
I will say this, Davis has had directorships in many of Hearns ventures.
They are very good friends and its impossible for me to think that snooker has not been discussed and in minute detail, long into many nights.
Dave, I wouldnt say Steve loved the game, I would say he is obsessed with the game and there can be no bigger love than that.
Whether his obsession or ideas are good for snooker is quite another question.
This was the man that decided to roll into the pack from the break.
My biggest concern is their vote will always be as one and only yes men will survive for long.
Snooker © The Fine Art Method
A secret is wasted if not shared
Dear Janie Watkins. Hello Dave
Your 1:50 PM post was fractionally correct! “The members at the AGM voted in Barry; therefore voted out Sir Rodney.
This is a play on words Miz Watkins. Barry Hearn was voted in on a pledge of “Transparency” and “Complete Honesty”. Without this inference of “Honesty” the honourable Sir Rodney would possible, still be our Chairman.
Whether Barry’s “Take over” of the WPBSA was prearranged by Steve, the new SPA chairman is only open for speculation and innuendo.
The pair deserve there chance; after all they could easily put twenty million pounds together from there waistcoat pockets to prove the sceptics wrong.
Why the “Inference” Janie! Does snooker need a George Washington, and where is the tree?
Maybe W/S will become an important part of the “Matchroom” empire. Mr hey you
A great servant to snooker. Alan Chainbolain, I wish you all the best.
SNOOKER FAN
JAMIE O'REILLY.
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