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Premier / Matchroom League
Matchroom Championship League |
Invitation Events |
Brief History of the Premier League
(click for Championship League)
There had been an earlier attempt to run a professional Snooker League in 1984/84 but that was beset with financial problems and only lasted one season. For the record, it was won by John Virgo but no prize money was paid.
In 1987, with sponsorship from Rothmans, Barry Hearn, set up the Matchroom League which initially involved only the eight players under contract to him. Each player would play one match against each of the others at venues all over the country. Matches were of eight frames, all of which were played out with three points being awarded for a win and one for a draw.
The following year there were ten players with invitations going to outside the Matchroom team, and the event spread into
Europe
for some of its matches. In 1990 there were two leagues, one played in the
UK
and an International League played in
Europe
.
Steve Davis won the first four titles but Stephen Hendry won for a record sixth time in 2004. The title went outside the British Isles for the first time in 2003 when
Hong Kong
’s Marco Fu won the last six frames to beat Mark Williams.
Although there have been many different sponsors and the Matchroom name has now been dropped even though it is still promoted by that organisation, the format has remained largely unchanged to the present day. The only major change was in 1992, when a play-off system was introduced whereby the top four in the league played semi-finals and a final to decide the winner. Prior to that, the winner was whoever finished top of the league.
When Betfred took over as sponsors in 2005 they introduced a 25 second time restriction on every shot in addition to offering a £1000 bonus for every century and for every frame won in the round robbing section. The league had always been played in the second half of the season with the final usually in May but for the 2005/06 season, still with Betfred sponsorship, it was moved to the first half of the season with the final in early December. In 2006, Ronnie O’Sullivan won the title for the third time in a row without conceding a frame in any of those finals. He then won it in 2007 and 2008 as well making five in a row and eight times in all.
Roll Of Honour
Season |
Sponsor/Title |
Winner
|
Runner Up |
Score |
1st Prize |
1986/7 |
Rothmans / Matchroom |
Steve Davis |
Neal Foulds |
* |
£53,600 |
1987/8 |
Rothmans / Matchroom |
Steve Davis |
Stephen Hendry |
* |
£70,000 |
1988/9 |
Matchroom Snooker |
Steve Davis |
John Parrott |
* |
£70,000 |
1989/90 |
Stormseal / Matchroom |
Steve Davis |
Stephen Hendry |
* |
£70,000 |
1989/90 |
Matchroom International |
Tony Meo |
Jimmy White |
* |
n/a |
1990/1 |
Trusthouse Forte / Matchroom |
Stephen Hendry |
Steve Davis |
* |
£50,000 |
1991/2 |
Forte Hotels / Matchroom |
Stephen Hendry |
Steve Davis |
9-2 |
£50,000 |
1992/3 |
Matchroom European |
Jimmy White |
Alan McManus |
10-7 |
£25,000 |
1993/4 |
Lowen European |
Stephen Hendry |
John Parrott |
10-7 |
£30,000 |
1994/5 |
Doc. Marten's |
Stephen Hendry |
Ken Doherty |
10-2 |
£50,000 |
1995/6 |
Doc. Marten's |
Ken Doherty |
Steve Davis |
10-5 |
£50,000 |
1996/7 |
Doc. Marten's |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
Stephen Hendry |
10-8 |
£60,000 |
1997/8 |
Doc. Marten's |
Ken Doherty |
Jimmy White |
10-2 |
£60,000 |
1998/9 |
Riley |
John Higgins |
Jimmy White |
9-4 |
£50,000 |
1999/00 |
Altodigital.com |
Stephen Hendry |
Mark J. Williams |
9-5 |
£50,000 |
2000/1 |
Sportingbet.com |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
Stephen Hendry |
9-7 |
£60,000 |
2001/2 |
Daily Star |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
John Higgins |
9-4 |
£68,000 |
2002/3 |
Hasseroder |
Marco Fu |
Mark J. Williams |
9-5 |
£45.000 |
2003/4 |
Betfair |
Stephen Hendry |
John Higgins |
9-6 |
£45.000 |
2004/5 |
Betfred |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
Mark J. Williams |
6-0 |
£50,000 |
2005/6 |
Betfred |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
Stephen Hendry |
6-0 |
£50,000 |
2006/7 |
Betfred |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
Jimmy White |
7-0 |
£50,000 |
2007/8 |
PartyBets.com |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
John Higgins |
7-4 |
£50,000 |
2008/9 |
PartyPoker.com |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
Mark Selby |
7-2 |
£50,000 |
2009/10 |
PartyCasino.com |
Shaun Murphy |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
7-3 |
£30,000 |
2009/10 |
PartyCasino.com |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
Shaun Murphy |
7-1 |
£30,000 |
* No Play-off. Title decided on league table only.
Maximum Breaks
Tony Meo |
1988 |
v. Stephen Hendry |
Cliff Thorburn |
1989 |
v. Jimmy White |
John Parrott |
1992 |
v. Tony Meo |
Stephen Hendry |
1992 |
v. Willie Thorne |
Stephen Hendry |
1998 |
v. Ken Doherty |
Matchroom Championship League
This event was introduced in 2008 to provide additional competition at a time when there were long periods of inactivity in the professional schedules. It was also to provide a qualifier for the lucrative Premier League later in the year.
25 professionals are involved and the first seven of these play in the first group where they each play each other over four frames over a period of two days at a single venue, Crondon Park Golf Club in
Essex
. There is no audience and the matches are broadcast via the internet only. After the round robin stage the top four go into a play-off with the winner advancing to the final ‘winners’ group. The bottom two in the league are eliminated and the remaining four move to the second group to be joined by three more players. This process is repeated in a total of seven groups. The winners of each then play in a final group with the overall winner taking a place in the Premier League. Prize money is paid to all those reaching the play-off stage of each group and in addition £100 is paid for each frame won which increases to £300 in the play-offs and £200 in the winners group.
The first season involved mainly players from the lower half of the top 32 and some from lower down but by the third competition in 2010, virtually all the top 16 players were involved. Roll Of Honour
Season |
Sponsor |
Winner
|
Runner Up |
Score |
1st Prize |
2007/8 |
Matchroom Sport |
Joe Perry |
Mark Selby |
3-1 |
£10,000 |
2008/9 |
Matchroom Sport |
Judd Trump |
Mark Selby |
3-2 |
£10,000 |
2009/10 |
Matchroom Sport |
Marco Fu |
Mark Allen |
3-2 |
£10,000 |
2010/11 |
Matchroom Sport |
Matthew Stevens |
Shaun Murphy |
3-1 |
£10,000 |
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© Chris Turner 2009
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