News & Events

The Leeds City Championships - Quarter-Final singles matches have now resumed.

All ties to be played at home drawn club, if due to Covid restrictions the home player can't play home matches, then you can either:

Play the match at a neutral venue e.g. NSC or
if that is not possible, play the match at the away drawn club

If you have questions around this, please contact Mark Ball

All matches to be played by Sunday 27th September

Following a meeting the committee held on Monday, we have decided that the outstanding competitions for the 2019-20 season are now to resume with immediate effect.

We understand there may be challenges, and things may change along the way but we as a committee are in agreement that we should start to conclude these competitions, all in preparation to start a new season.

Competitions will now be available to view in the Competitions Tab

Please keep referring to the website (News & Events) for further details on each competition.

Thanks Mark & Paul
LBSO Competition Secretaries

I hope all our members and your respective families/friends are safe and well.

We are all living through restrictions to our lives we have never experienced in recent history and although the Coronavirus pandemic has had tragic influences on our lives we are beginning to see glimmers of our lives and activities starting out on the long road to recovery.

With this in mind we are now looking very cautiously to starting to plan for the 20/21 season.

As the previous post states we will not be able to start our 20/21 season in early September but as the restrictions continue to lift we now feel we are in a position to make the first tentative steps to plan the new season and of course finish off the outstanding competitions.

We of course realise some clubs will only be operating a members only policy at this time and we respect these individual clubs decisions.

Equally some of your clubs may not have taken the decision to reopen yet.

Morley WMC & Institute where I play from has generously said although we are limited to members only at this stage of the recovery, that they will allow visiting teams to play in the LBSO league and competitions.

I am hoping that other clubs will be in a position to accommodate such measures in the near future, with this in mind could captains/players and members of the LBSO make enquiries with your respective clubs and inform me and the rest of the committee what if any restrictions clubs/snooker centres are applying at the present and when if any restrictions applied may be lifted please.

Once I have received information on which clubs are in a position to resume we will then be able to bring the website up to date with the fixtures for the 20/21 season.

In all cases the LBSO will be adhering to the government guidelines laid out to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic.

This of course is all subject to future local/national lockdowns being imposed, with the Autumn/Winter season looming we may find things could all come to a halt again, but if we are in a position to start then at least if restrictions are reapplied we would hopefully be able to accommodate such delays.

I hope you all stay safe and well and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Paul Grimes,
LBSO league secretary.

We have recently been informed of the sad passing away of another of our playing members of the league - Alan Moorby.
Alan was registered for a considerable number of years with the LBSO, but more recently playing out of Morley Conservative Club.
Alan was also an influential official in local football circles, and at a high administrative level.
Our thoughts are with Alan's immediate family and friends at this difficult time.
LBSO Management Committee.

Evening All,
On behalf of the LBSO Management Committee, I hope you and your families and friends, are all keeping safe and well.
Just in case anybody was wondering, the 2020/21 league season will NOT be starting in September as normal.
The EPSB guidance first circulated on the 12th July, has now been amended to allow "restarting league snooker" district wide - refer direct to the EPSB website guidance posted 30th July.
BUT - based almost entirely on the current Government's 'social distancing etc.' guidance, which ALL clubs should be basing their own 'risk assessments' on, this means the new LBSO league season CANNOT operate to anywhere near normality, until the regulations are further relaxed considerably.
Since mid-March, the Committee has always been resigned to delaying the start of the new season anyway, in order that ALL registered and paid-up teams are in a position to compete.
THIS IS STILL THE CASE & WE WILL WAIT AS LONG AS NECESSARY! - (WITHIN REASON).
In the meantime, it would be interesting to gauge the overall situation by finding out what individual clubs are doing now, since they were allowed to re-open from the 4th July.
So by email and to me only please-
>if your club HASN'T re-opened yet, when is it due to?
>>is (will) snooker allowed to be played in your club?
>>>are (will) ALL the snooker tables in (be in) use at your club?
>>>>will visiting teams be allowed to play in your club?
FEES - finally with regard to fees, these have been paid steadily since early June.
To those clubs / teams which have already paid (in ALL cases by bank transfer other than just one) - THANK YOU!
However, there are currently 20 teams (14 clubs) whos' representatives have neither 1) paid by bank transfer, nor 2) made contact with me to arrange an alternative method of payment, as you were requested to do.
YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!
I am still NOT setting a cut-off date to pay fees, but it would be very helpful to complete this second and final phase of registration, before the start of the season is determined and organised - WHICH IS THE CASE NORMALLY ANYWAY!
REGISTRATIONS WILL NOT BE COMPLETE UNTIL TEAMS HAVE PAID THEIR FEES IN FULL - AGAIN AS NORMAL!
Further details about the start of the new season will be circulated, as soon as circumstances change again.
Bob Patterson LBSO - General Secretary / Treasurer.

Dear All,
Just a few lines to direct you to the website of the "English Partnership for Snooker & Billiards" (EPSN), an umbrella set up which includes the guidance of the world professional body the WPBSA, with regards to the current situation.
The below link takes you to the EPSN website, from which you can see for yourselves the current WPBSA guidance (version 1 - 7th July 2020), and based on the Government advice to coincide with the re-opening of premises on the 4th July.

https://www.epsb.co.uk/epsb-re-opening-guidance/
The same document is also attached to the website - "About Us" tab.

THIS AGAIN IS NOT A DIRECT INSTRUCTION FOR YOUR CLUB SECRETARY's / COMMITTEE's - but it might prove useful to them?

AS FAR AS THE LBSO IS CONCERNED-
The WPBSA guidance only confirms what we already know-
"Inter-club team competitions should not take place, such as local league activity, until further notice".
Once we are aware of any further changes, I shall be in contact again.
In the meantime, please keep the fees coming in by bank transfer.
Stay safe and well.
Best regards.
Bob
Bob Patterson LBSO (on behalf of the Management Committee).

By the time you read this message, you will probably have seen or heard elsewhere, of the Government's U-turn about its guidance regarding indoor sports / snooker, since it was posted at the weekend.
Full details are currently on the homepage of the WPBSA's website, which has a direct link to the Government guidance, amended to confirm that snooker halls are now allowed to open, and therefore clubs are now in order to provide snooker facilities also.
PLEASE NOTE HOWEVER - AS PREVIOUSLY STATED THIS IS NOT AN INSTRUCTION TO YOUR CLUB SECRETARY OR GENERAL COMMITTEE.
Those who run your club, now have the full responsibility to allow snooker BUT ONLY IF THEY CHOOSE TO DO SO, under any restrictions at their discretion, and ONLY providing they follow the other strict Government guidelines which still apply, by way of the club's own risk assessment.
The only positive outcome of yesterday's change, as far as the LBSO is concerned, is that as from now, we can at least begin monitoring, the way clubs across Leeds are starting to allow snooker to be played again.
As a result, we are in a much better position to start to contemplate when the new season can commence?
BUT PLEASE BE PATIENT!
Currently, it will be weeks if not months, before we can start to consider making any such announcement.
You will of course be notified of any further developments in this respect straightaway.
UNTIL THEN - THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR PATIENCE!
Stay safe and well.
Bob Patterson
LBSO General Secretary / Treasurer.
(On behalf of the Management Committee).

PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS NOT ADVICE FOR YOUR CLUB SECRETARY OR GENERAL COMMITTEE.
Despite this long awaited day, you probably will have seen by now, the statements on the websites of the WPBSA and the Northern Snooker Centre, both dated 30th June.
Clubs are allowed to open from today, but "NOT FOR INDOOOR SPORT USE" according to the Government.
The main hurdle seems to be the guideline / restriction that ALL those inside need to be seated (amongst other things).
Some trade associations within the hospitality industry, take a different view about pool / snooker in pubs / clubs, but the Government view currently applies, until changes are made, hopefully in the words of the WPBSA "as soon as possible"!
Clearly, until there is a change in these guidelines, we are not in a position to even start contemplating the start of the new 2020/21 season (nor the completion of the 2019/20 competitions).
Until we reach that point-
>Paul Grimes will continue working on the 98 teams which have registered for the new season (subject to fees being paid).
FEES: these have been coming in at a steady stream by bank transfer, since first requested on the 7th June, to complete the registrations of these teams. As for others-
>plenty have been in contact with me, to offer an alternative to bank transfer as requested,
>plenty of others have done neither.
PLEASE - continue to pay by bank transfer wherever possible, until further notice.
(Registrations are only complete where fees are paid in full)
PLEASE WATCH THE WEBSITE & YOUR / CAPTAIN's INBOXES FOR FUTHER UPDATES AS THEY BECOME KNOWN.
Thank you in advance for not making any further enquiries at this stage.
Bob Patterson - General Secretary / Treasurer (on behalf of the Management Committee).

An email has just been circulated to all team captains, with regards to paying fees for the 2020/21 season.
A word document attached to the email, is also now uploaded in the documents section of the website - go to "About Us".
CAPTAINS - PLEASE READ YOUR EMAIL AND ATTACHMENT IN FULL, but basically, as from now fees are due, and are requested to be paid by bank transfer.
During these restrictive times, the onus in now on each captain to arrange an alternative method of payment, other than by bank transfer, by contacting only myself.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Keep safe and best regards - Bob Patterson Gen Sec / Treasurer.

I hope you and your loved ones are all keeping safe and well in these troubling times.

Thanks to all captains/IT delegates and players for their help in submitting the new season registration forms.

From my point of view this has been a great success with all teams from last year registered plus one new club and two new teams from already registered clubs.

Thank you all for your help registering your clubs.

This gives a total of 97 teams registered for the new season.

If any club new to the LBSO or existing club wants to register a new team please contact me and I will outline the procedure to register.

We have 1 place remaining to give us a full compliment of 98 teams which will mean 7 leagues with 14 teams per league.

If you or your club are interested in filling this space it will be strictly down to the first club/team to contact me.

The deadline to register interest in submitting a new team is Sunday 7th June please contact Paul Grimes.

The next process for our league to succeed is for the prompt payment of registration fees.

Whilst we understand a certain number of clubs pay league fees for their teams and we understand it may not be possible to gain access to the money required to pay the fees we must ask captains/delegates to make a great effort to pay the fees when requested.

Bob Patterson General secretary/ treasurer will be circulating an email later this week to instruct you how to pay your clubs/teams fees.

Throughout this pandemic Bob and I have continued to work full time as well as concentrating our efforts into setting up the new season for when we are allowed to make a return to our clubs, we hope you can appreciate the work we have put in and that you can make our workload easier by submitting your fees when requested by bank transfer ideally and at the worst a cheque.

Please keep checking your inboxes for instructions on how and when to pay the fees.

Regards and best wishes I hope you all stay safe.

Paul Grimes,
LBSO league secretary.