There's far from just football on offer with the SAFCSA London Branch. Our long-running pool team are just one of our various sports teams, and manager Jim Minton gives us the low down on how we got on.
Alan Durban, Sunderland’s famously uncompromising - some may have said dour - manager of the mid 1980s, once growled to a journalist who’d suggested the team’s performances were a little unadventurous, ‘If you want entertainment, go to the circus’.
These sentiments found some resonance in the 2024 Apscfil Pool league season in which the Sunderland London branch were once again represented . Like Durban’s workmanlike unit, the branch pool team chiselled out enough points to secure a comfortable mid table finish, without ever threatening to challenge for honours, and in truth with relatively few highlights over the course of a season which ran from March to October.
Nevertheless, the team acquitted ourselves pretty well overall: the league is becoming a bit of a two tier affair, not unlike The Premier League. But whereas in football it is the presence of billionaire owners - including questionable nation states - skewing the competition by allowing clubs to hoover up talent; in the apscfil league, the scourge is more prosaic, that of the ringer or ringers which dominate some of the leading clubs giving them an advantage over the willing but strictly amateur standards of our own London Branch side.
We are, however, proud to almost exclusively field Sunderland supporting branch members throughout the season. Along with some of the other more ‘social’ squads this means that while we enjoy our games - and could hold our own against anyone in a debate about the quality of pies at third division grounds - when we come up against teams crammed with high standard players who spend their lives in snooker clubs rather than following football, we often come up short.
Having said that, we enjoyed some decent victories and some fun moments. We ran champions Newcastle close (in fairness they are also a team of ‘real’ supporters) and trounced cup holders Forest early in the campaign. Our other victories came against whipping boys West Brom, who ended up bottom of the table, and Hearts who have a similar ethos to ourselves.
In most of the other games we gave a reasonable account of ourselves, and over the course of the season there were some very good individual performances- including by team captain Nige Large, Neil McBride and Andy Jordan. Various reasons robbed us of some strong players for much of the season too, so it was great to see the odd appearance from Paul Robbo Robson, Andy Mac, and of course Doogal who probably would still make a league all-stars team, and capped his return to the team with a stunning 4 cushion pot against a stunned Hearts.
Of course it’s a team game, and everyone plays a part. Peter Jacko Jackson barely missed a game, putting in some winning performances as well as hosting us superbly as ever at the Brewery. Luis da Souza gave us a touch of the São Paulo samba in his regular appearances when not running the bar; and Sean Carr was always consistent through the season. Thanks to many others who came down to play - too many to mention individually but they all played a part.
We are always keen to welcome new players. Most games are at the Southwark Brewery, and from time to time they coincide with the Lads playing a mid week game on TV. It’s a fun evening - although it can be a bit of a commitment: the games can end late, the rules can make the matches tight and defensive, and generally the night will involve supping a quantity of ale while awaiting your turn at the table. But if you come along you will get a warm welcome, will definitely get a game, probably get a pint or two bought for you, and you’ll enjoy fine toasted sandwiches and plenty of craic about the Lads.
The next league season will not be until 2025, but we do have the excitement of the cup competition which kicks off mid October with a home tie versus Hearts.
Alan Durban was eventually sacked after initial promising signs degenerated into a run of turgid scrappy defeats. His successor Len Ashurst declared on arrival that he wanted a bit more fight from the team - and to see a few broken noses and scratched shins among the opposition. I doubt we will see that level of aggression down at the brewery, but a bit of determination might see us progress in the same way that ‘Lenny’s Lions’ saw off forest, spurs and Chelsea in the epic Milk cup final run that season.
It’s about 10 years since the branch tasted cup glory, so it’s high time we got the whiff of success back in our nostrils once again. If you want to be part of it, we’d love to see you. Get in touch via the branch sports rep and we’ll add you to the WhatsApp group.
Haway the lads.
Jim Minton, Director of Pool
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