Snooker Scene

Everton had been the editor of Billiards and Snooker from the December 1966 issue{{cite magazine |last=Phillips |first=Harold |date=December 1966 |title=Editor with drive |magazine=Billiards and Snooker |location=London |page=3 |publisher=Billiards Association and Control Council }} until the February 1971 issue when he was succeeded by Doug Organ.{{cite magazine |author= |date=January 1971 |title=Statement by the Billiards Association and Control Council |magazine=Billiards and Snooker |location=London |page=12 |publisher=Billiards Association and Control Council }}{{cite magazine |author= |date=February 1971 |title=Billiards and Snooker (masthead) |magazine=Billiards and Snooker |location=London |page=12 |publisher=Billiards and Snooker Control Council }} According to Everton, he was sacked at the instigation of Jack Karnehm, the Chairman of the Billiards and Snooker Control Council (as the Billiards Association and Control Council had renamed itself) for "giving professionals publicity" by including picture of four professional players on the cover of Billiards and Snooker at a time when the Billiards and Snooker Control Council and the professional players were in dispute over the World Billiards Championship. This dispute led to the Professional Billiards Players Association renaming itself as the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and splitting from the Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC). Following his sacking, Everton established his own magazine, World Snooker,{{cite book|author=Clive Everton|title=Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards: The Inside Story of the Snooker World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7O7SQxTjSLIC&pg=PT7|date=2 December 2011|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|isbn=978-1-78057-399-1|pages=16–17}}{{rp|16-17}}{{rp|44-45}} which printed and sold 3,000 copies of its first issue published in January 1971.{{cite web |url=https://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/sports-broadcasting/after-40-years-evertons-still-on-the-snooker-scene/ |title=After 40 years, Everton's still on the Snooker Scene |last=Everton |first=Clive |date=4 February 2011 |website=sportsjournalists.co.uk |publisher=Sports Journalists' Association |access-date=23 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216022635/http://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/sports-broadcasting/after-40-years-evertons-still-on-the-snooker-scene/ |archive-date=16 February 2011 |url-status=live }}

In 1972, the B&SCC approached Everton to take over Billiards and Snooker and paid him £1,000 to do so. Everton merged Billiards and Snooker and World Snooker into

Snooker Scene, which published its first issue in April 1972, priced at 12p and featuring a report on the 1972 World Snooker Championship.{{cite book |last=Morrison |first=Ian |date=1987 |title=The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker |location=Twickenham |publisher=Hamlyn Publishing Group |page=123 |isbn=0600556042 }}

The magazine has sometimes featured criticisms of the WPBSA which have led to legal disputes.{{cite news |author= |date=20 July 2006 |title=Snooker Scene is facing an attempt at closure, its editor says |url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/snooker-scene-is-facing-an-attempt-at-closure-its-editor-says/ |work=The Press Gazette |access-date=23 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221065251/https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/snooker-scene-is-facing-an-attempt-at-closure-its-editor-says/ |archive-date=21 February 2019 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Townsend |first=Nick |date=14 October 2007 |title=Snooker: The cue crusader who is Scene and heard but never ignored |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/snooker-the-cue-crusader-who-is-scene-and-heard-but-never-ignored-396830.html |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=23 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221065310/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/snooker-the-cue-crusader-who-is-scene-and-heard-but-never-ignored-396830.html |archive-date=21 February 2019 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Gibson |first=Owen |date=10 January 2009 |title=Everton unhappy his BBC voice is being silenced |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jan/10/snooker-clive-everton |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=23 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703122203/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jan/10/snooker-clive-everton |archive-date=3 July 2019 |url-status=live }}{{cite book|author=Gordon Burn|title=Pocket Money|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4aaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT205|date=4 July 2019|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-26697-5|pages=205}}

Snooker Scene was originally published by Everton's News Agency before being published by Snooker Scene Ltd.{{cite magazine |author= |date=April 2020 |title=Snooker Scene (masthead) |magazine=Snooker Scene |location=Halesowen |page=3 |publisher=Snooker Scene Ltd }} The magazine purchased and absorbed two other periodicals. Cue World was acquired in 1989, and Pot Black was purchased from the WPBSA in 1999. Janice Hale who joined Everton's News Agency in 1972 served as assistant editor, before leaving in 1992. Later, under Everton's editorship, the Deputy Editor was David Hendon, and the Chief Reporter was Phil Yates, and additional reporting was provided by Marcus Stead.{{cite magazine |author= |date=January 2006 |title=Snooker Scene on 35 and still in prime position |magazine=Snooker Scene |location=Halesowen |page=3 |publisher=Everton's News Agency }}{{cite magazine |last=Everton |first=Clive |date=October 2015 |title=Obituary: Janice Hale |magazine=Snooker Scene |location=Halesowen |page=27 |publisher=Everton's News Agency }} The magazine was based at Halesowen for 14 years before moving to Stourbridge in late 2020.{{cite magazine |date=November 2020 |title=Moving story |magazine=Snooker Scene |location=Stourbridge |page=3 |publisher=Snooker Scene Ltd }}

Everton has said of Snooker Scene: "I had started this as a simple journal of record of what was happening on the table, but it became a crusading vehicle … Taking Wisden and Private Eye as our models we sometimes made our point through hard reporting, sometimes through satire."{{rp|22}}

In the September 2022 issue of Snooker Scene, Everton announced that he would not be continuing as editor.{{cite web |title=Snooker Scene: end of an era |website=World Snooker Tour |url=https://wst.tv/snooker-scene-end-of-an-era/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906192933/https://wst.tv/snooker-scene-end-of-an-era/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 6, 2022 |date=6 September 2022 |access-date=8 September 2022}} In October 2022 it was announced that the magazine would be returning under new owners, Curtis Sport, and with a new editor, Nick Metcalfe.{{cite web |last=Caulfield |first=David |title=Snooker Scene magazine to continue with new ownership |url=https://snookerhq.com/2022/10/22/snooker-scene-magazine-continue-new-ownership/ |date=22 October 2022 |access-date=31 October 2022}} Metcalfe brought a number of writers into the team, including Phil Haigh, Michael McMullan and Annette Lord. Following editorial disagreements with Everton, who retained legal ownership of the magazine, Metcalfe was removed as editor in December 2022. Long-time contributor Marcus Stead was appointed as acting editor, and he took on the role on a permanent basis from January 2023. The other current writers are Phil Yates, Annette Lord, Jonathan Davies, Stuart Pike and James Lodge. Clive Everton continued to work for the magazine as Editorial Consultant until shortly before his death in October 2024. He also continued to cover billiards and wrote occasional features.{{cite magazine| last=Everton |first=Clive |title=An editorial upheaval |magazine=Snooker Scene |date=January 2023 |page=4}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.curtis-sport.com/snookerprogs Official website]

Category:1972 establishments in England

Category:Magazines established in 1972

Category:Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom

Category:Sports magazines published in the United Kingdom

Category:Snooker mass media