Snooker Sheffield: New 3,000-seat stadium for World Snooker Championship on cards after 'positive meeting'

The Star exclusively revealed last year how a purpose-built ‘Billiardrome’ arena could be built in Sheffield to help keep the World Snooker Championship in the city beyond 2027, when the current deal expires.

World Snooker Tour (WST) president Barry Hearn appeared to support those proposals when he told in a podcast how he wanted to see the Crucible Theatre knocked down and replaced with a ‘state-of-the-art’ venue, which would help keep the sport’s showpiece in the city for another 30 years.

The Crucible, which has staged the tournament since 1977, holds 980 spectators, and there were murmurings from some players last year that it was time to move to a new, bigger venue, though other players suggested there was nothing to rival the history and atmosphere at the sport’s spiritual home.

Both Sheffield Council and the WST kept their cards close to their chests this week when asked by The Star about the latest on proposals for a new stadium. But they made the right noises to suggest it could happen and that the future of snooker in Sheffield appears secure, despite the clock ticking down on the existing contract to host the World Snooker Championship in the city.

A WST spokesperson said it had recently had a ‘positive' meeting with the council, discussions were ongoing and it ‘loved’ the city, as do the players and fans.

They added: “Our events are growing. In the UK this season we have smashed ticket records for several of our tournaments. We are always looking at ways to make tournaments bigger and better, and to improve the experience of fans, as we have done with the option of the new Century Club and more activities in and around the Crucible.

"We are a developing sport and we’re excited about driving snooker forward. As part of that we want as many snooker fans as possible to be able to come and enjoy the World Championship, the pinnacle of our calendar.”

Sheffield Council in ‘regular dialogue’ with snooker bosses over future of sport in the city

Sheffield Council, meanwhile, said it was in ‘regular dialogue’ with the WST and that the tournament was 'key for the city’. Kate Martin, the council’s executive director of city futures, added: “We are proud of our snooker history, what it means culturally to the city, the economic benefits that it brings, and we look forward to many more successful World Snooker Championships here over the coming years.”

James Burland, the architect behind the ‘Billiardrome’ proposal, has previously told how it could include a snooker museum, be flanked by a 300-bedroom hotel and be converted into a 1,500 seat conference centre when not hosting the snooker or other sports. Speaking this week, he said that it was important to understand the needs of the ‘family’ a new arena would serve before getting into specifics about the capacity, design and location.

He told The Star: “Like any family home the new venue would be designed around the needs of the individuals it will serve. Those needs will begin with an understanding of the atmospheres it will need to support. These can only be gathered from the personalities involved - all the “family members” I have referred to.

“Only then will capacity and functional aspects, perhaps even its location, become clear. To start from an assumption about size and the architecture will be like smashing into the reds and hoping for the best.

“The scheme I floated last year was a primer to start the conversations I then had during the last few days of the 2022 tournament. The solution, just like a frame of snooker, begins as an open ended prospect.”

Sheffield faces competition from China to keep hosting the World Snooker Championship. Yushan Sports Centre, which reportedly cost $290 million to build and has a 4,000 capacity arena, along with a museum, academy and conference centre, already hosts the prestigious World Open snooker tournament. It’s understood that a replica of the Crucible Theatre has also been built somewhere in China.