Vera Selby
As much of a traitor that this might make me to this fine website, I was just browing The Snooker Forum. And they've thrown up a subject I found interesting. (For once.)
The guy who started the thread had been browing his Snooker Scene collection, and found this extract. (About the 1981 Lada Classic.)
"The main drama of the final arose through the replacement of Vera Selby as the referee by Alan Braithwaite. This was not due to any deficiency in Mrs Selby's refereeing - she has a Grade 'A' certificate and considerable experience which includes an amateur international - but to a burglary at her home that night.
Mrs Selby mistakenly thought that she had been the subject of a quiet complaint from the players and only realised later why two police officers had insisted to Promoter that she be spirited away from the arena without delay. Her disappointment was somewhat alleviated later when the burglars were apprehended."
I personally hadn't realised there had been any kind of female referee before Michaela. I suspect this is because the majority of experts employed by the TV channels didn't realise either.
Anybody ever heard of her before? Apparently, she was involved in billiards as well, and according to the original thread that I am plagerising, she did some commentary for the 1982 World Championships as well. And most importantly, a quick google search has informed me she once appeared on Countdown.
Sorry if this is a ramble. I just find it interesting that there was a female so heavily involved in the sport, that seems to have gone almost forgotten whereas people like Michaela and Ivy get a lot more attention. And Michaela in particular has been creditted with breaking barriers.
I wasn't born until late 1980, but do some of the older members remember this woman?
The guy who started the thread had been browing his Snooker Scene collection, and found this extract. (About the 1981 Lada Classic.)
"The main drama of the final arose through the replacement of Vera Selby as the referee by Alan Braithwaite. This was not due to any deficiency in Mrs Selby's refereeing - she has a Grade 'A' certificate and considerable experience which includes an amateur international - but to a burglary at her home that night.
Mrs Selby mistakenly thought that she had been the subject of a quiet complaint from the players and only realised later why two police officers had insisted to Promoter that she be spirited away from the arena without delay. Her disappointment was somewhat alleviated later when the burglars were apprehended."
I personally hadn't realised there had been any kind of female referee before Michaela. I suspect this is because the majority of experts employed by the TV channels didn't realise either.
Anybody ever heard of her before? Apparently, she was involved in billiards as well, and according to the original thread that I am plagerising, she did some commentary for the 1982 World Championships as well. And most importantly, a quick google search has informed me she once appeared on Countdown.
Sorry if this is a ramble. I just find it interesting that there was a female so heavily involved in the sport, that seems to have gone almost forgotten whereas people like Michaela and Ivy get a lot more attention. And Michaela in particular has been creditted with breaking barriers.
I wasn't born until late 1980, but do some of the older members remember this woman?
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