It would be a bit silly not to

He said: “A few of the lads have played in the Premier, like John Denham and Solly (Paul Solloway).

“But me, Frank (Shephard) and John Taylor haven’t, so it would be quite nice to play two frames a week and try it.

“If we ever did we’d probably have to look at maybe playing somewhere else. I don’t think (the club) would ever put another table in.”

Trodd, 35, who used to run the A side, remembers coming into Brook Social as a nipper.

“Once you’re in, that’s it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shephard reckons he knows his way around our sceptred isle.

The 63-year-old captain of The Brook Social Club B snooker outfit worked for the Ordnance Survey for 30 years.

Now semi-retired, he delivers cars for beer money.

“I know the country pretty well,” he said.

Shephard has been a central figure in the side since 1981. John Denham joined in 1974. John Taylor signed in 1982.

Ah, the 1980s and the glory days for social clubs. Cue misty-eyed reminiscences of queues around the block, nowhere to sit and trying to catch the barmaid’s eye while negotiating the rugby scrum at the bar.

And was it really that much fun waiting hours for just one frame of snooker?

Taylor said: “We used to get down here at about 11.30am on a Sunday for a frame of snooker. You’d have to play four-handed and if you got one you were lucky.”

Shephard recalled: “Back in the 1980s, when the club used to open at seven o’clock on a Sunday evening, if you weren’t here at ten to seven you didn’t get a game until half past ten.”

And Trodd added: “You had to be queueing at the door on a Saturday night at 7pm to get in to get a seat. You wouldn’t be able to move in here.”

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here