Daily Record NEWS
5 January 2007
Crippled snooker star is refused hardship cash
By Douglas Walker
A FORMER Scots snooker ace suffering from a crippling spine condition has been refused financial support from the sport's organising body.
Chris Small - a one-time world championship semi-finalist - was forced to retire in 2005 because of the pain he felt when he bent over to play shots.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association offer a benevolent fund designed to give financial assistance for players who have fallen on hard times.
But Chris, 33, of Edinburgh, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 2000, has been refused a payout.
He said yesterday: "Yes, I was knocked back. It's annoying, as I was a top player for 10 years. It's not often a snooker player has to retire through ill-health.
"But I knew I wasn't going to get anything as my face doesn't fit with World Snooker."
Players such as fiery Alex "Hurricane" Higgins and Neal Foulds - once revealed to have taken banned beta blockers - have benefited from the body who are believed to have paid out funds up to £35,000.
Despite the onset of the illness, Small managed to play on and won the LG Cup in 2002 after beating fellow Scots John Higgins and Alan McManus.
Faced with a future in a wheelchair, the father-of-three was given a testimonial dinner last year where stars including Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and Dennis Taylor turned out.
The illness means that Chris, his wife Clare and three young children are now dependent on her work as a part-time childminder for their only income.
They had been planning to use any cash to set up a childminding business.
Former BBC commentator Clive Everton is one of many snooker insiders who have condemned the association's decision.
Everton claims Chris's case should have been one of the most clear-cut. He said: "Here we have a highly deserving case who is not getting a grant.
"He has his whole life to face and has no means of earning a living. If Chris Small isn't worthy of a grant, who is?"
The benevolent fund was created in 1983, declaring its aim "to provide charitable assistance to professional players of billiards and snooker and their dependents requiring such assistance by reason of disablement, superannuation, death or otherwise".
The fund has previously been at the centre of controversy with an internal report into the affairs of the body conducted a decade ago.
It is alleged that more than £35,000 had been used to pay off the debts of Foulds, whose father was the association chairman.
It is also claimed the trust paid Alex Higgins's accommodation bills when he was ill.
Association company secretary Elaine Goldsmith refused to comment on Chris's case.
5 January 2007
Crippled snooker star is refused hardship cash
By Douglas Walker
A FORMER Scots snooker ace suffering from a crippling spine condition has been refused financial support from the sport's organising body.
Chris Small - a one-time world championship semi-finalist - was forced to retire in 2005 because of the pain he felt when he bent over to play shots.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association offer a benevolent fund designed to give financial assistance for players who have fallen on hard times.
But Chris, 33, of Edinburgh, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 2000, has been refused a payout.
He said yesterday: "Yes, I was knocked back. It's annoying, as I was a top player for 10 years. It's not often a snooker player has to retire through ill-health.
"But I knew I wasn't going to get anything as my face doesn't fit with World Snooker."
Players such as fiery Alex "Hurricane" Higgins and Neal Foulds - once revealed to have taken banned beta blockers - have benefited from the body who are believed to have paid out funds up to £35,000.
Despite the onset of the illness, Small managed to play on and won the LG Cup in 2002 after beating fellow Scots John Higgins and Alan McManus.
Faced with a future in a wheelchair, the father-of-three was given a testimonial dinner last year where stars including Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and Dennis Taylor turned out.
The illness means that Chris, his wife Clare and three young children are now dependent on her work as a part-time childminder for their only income.
They had been planning to use any cash to set up a childminding business.
Former BBC commentator Clive Everton is one of many snooker insiders who have condemned the association's decision.
Everton claims Chris's case should have been one of the most clear-cut. He said: "Here we have a highly deserving case who is not getting a grant.
"He has his whole life to face and has no means of earning a living. If Chris Small isn't worthy of a grant, who is?"
The benevolent fund was created in 1983, declaring its aim "to provide charitable assistance to professional players of billiards and snooker and their dependents requiring such assistance by reason of disablement, superannuation, death or otherwise".
The fund has previously been at the centre of controversy with an internal report into the affairs of the body conducted a decade ago.
It is alleged that more than £35,000 had been used to pay off the debts of Foulds, whose father was the association chairman.
It is also claimed the trust paid Alex Higgins's accommodation bills when he was ill.
Association company secretary Elaine Goldsmith refused to comment on Chris's case.