Sheffield snooker referee Brendan Moore will take charge of a World Championship quarter-final this year
World Snooker referee Brendan Moore says there is no better experience as a referee than officiating a match at the Crucible Theatre.
The Sheffield born official refereed the World Championship semi-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Matthew Stevens last year as well as numerous other high profile matches.
Moore says there is no other venue like the Crucible to play snooker at and he relishes coming to the historic venue each years for the finals. “It is the home of snooker. I am always pleased when I am refereeing at the Crucible, it does not matter whether it is a first round tie or the quarter-final match like I am doing this year,” he said.
The 41-year-old admits that he gets a great buzz from officiating in any round at the World Championship, but he has aspirations to go one stage further in the future and referee the World final in his home city.
“I would love to referee a final but the experience last year of being in charge of a semi-final and the one table format was brilliant,” Moore continued.
“I did the Masters final in January, which is always a brilliant occasion but to come here and do one table it is just a phenomenal achievement.”
He added: “There is no experience being here at the Crucible. We go all over the world and to a lot of different countries but there is nothing like being at the Crucible and especially because it is in my home town.
“You cannot describe the feeling. It is amazing for every player and every referee but for me it is just a bit more special because I was coming here as a child to watch it for a lot of years.”
Moore recalls initially becoming a snooker referee as an accident after he went to watch a friend of his complete their course and that inspired him to follow suit.
He felt inspired to follow in his friend’s footsteps and try and become a match referee, as he felt it would give him a greater understanding of the game and its rules.
“I was playing in the Sheffield league and a friend of mine did his refereeing exam and I went along just to watch basically.
“As I was the captain of our team I thought it would have been a wise decision to know the rules of the game – or try and know the rules,” Moore continued.
“I asked if I could do it, so I rang Paul Bannister and asked him if I could do my referees course. I got lucky basically. I did all of the local things – so you could say I was in the right place at the right time.”
After successfully passing his refereeing qualifications it took Moore three years to turn make it on to the professional circuit. He passed his first exam in September 2002 before spending three years refereeing regular matches before finally making his Crucible debut in April 2008.
The Sheffield based official was taking charge of a regular event when he impressed the late official Len Ganley who recommended him to the sport’s governing body.
Moore said: “Like I said I all got into refereeing by accident. I just happened to referee a European event and Len Ganley was there. “He liked what he saw from me as a referee and he got in touch with World Snooker and that is how I got into the professional game.”
Since Moore made the step up to the professional game he has travelled all over the globe with World Snooker. But, he says he will never forget his first match as a professional referee.
Moore said: “My first game was in 2005. Patrick Wallace and David Rowe was my first game. I always remember it because Patrick reminds me of it, in the very first frame, he hit a 136 a total clearance and he said ‘I thought you was expecting this game to be easy’.”
His new job has seen him travel to China, Australia and Brazil and the Yorkshire man believe that perk makes the job more enjoyable. Moore had always wanted to visit Australia but he had always been unable to take a holiday there. Then he got the nod that he was one of the referees that would be making the trip down under as part of the Australian Open in 2011.
“Australia is probably one of the best venues because it has always been one of my dreams to go to that country. I went there two years ago,” Moore continued.
“It is not the best venue in terms of like it is at the Crucible or the Alexandra Palace. But, for me, it is one of the great places to go to because it was always a dream of mine.”
Moore continued to say that last year’s trip to South America for the Brazil Masters was an incredible experience: “We all really enjoyed it down there. We had a good five or six days there.
“They put the table in like a big marquee, which was a really good experience when it was windy because you could see the light shaking. It was really good, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The crowds were, obviously, not Crucible sized but there was a few in there and they enjoyed it.”
He added: “The players that went there had a really good week.” The Sheffield official, who is making his sixth appearance at the Crucible as a referee, had the privilege of taking charge of the first ever Masters tournament final to be played at the Alexandra Palace.
He took charge of the final between Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy which the Australian won 10-6. Reflecting on refereeing the Masters final he said: ” It was the first time the Masters had been at the Alexandra Palace so it was the first final there and it was between Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson.
“There were 1,500 people there and the atmosphere on the evening session was absolutely unbelievable.” Moore added: “Everybody just stood up and Rob Walker just got everybody into a frenzy. He is brilliant at doing that and he created an awesome atmosphere and it was brilliant.”
Moore, who has officiated on two maximums during his professional career, believes the standard of snooker at the 2013 World Championship is one of the best that there has ever been.
Despite already seeing a host of top players exit the tournament early such as world number one Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Mark Allen and John Higgins, the world referee said he did not want to put his neck out and say who would win the tournament.
He said: “I really have not got a clue. The tournament is wide open, Ding is playing really well. Judd is playing really, really well and you cannot rule Ronnie O’Sullivan out. Shaun Murphy is playing well but there are that many good players still left in that I just would not want to say.”
Moore went on to say: “The snooker might not always be top quality when you come here. But, because it is the Crucible. There is always a great atmosphere. It has been good, I do not know how many century breaks we are on for this tournament already.
“I have just seen Judd Trump’s session finish and he has had about three in that one.”
Like everybody who has seen or heard the coverage of this year’s World Championship, you would have heard the name Dechawat Poomjaeng – a very unfamiliar name prior to the Championship – and Moore believes the game needs characters like him.
“I have to be honest, I did not see him on Friday but I saw him the other day. He is a breath of fresh air to the game. I love him he is great.” He added: “I refereed Dechawat in the qualifiers. He was a bit calmer then than what he has been at this tournament.”
Graeme Dott speaks to the match officials after he received several electric shocks from the table during his second round match with Shaun Murphy
To go with that, the South Yorkshire referee also gave an insight into what happened during last Friday’s match between Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott, where the latter of the two players was continuously receiving static shocks from the table.
Those shocks that the 2006 World Champion were receiving resulted in the carpets having to be watered, something that Moore said was a first for him.
“It is Dott, what do you want to call it. It is electromagnetism. I heard a pop on one occasion then he told me he had had a shock off of the table and then he seemed to be getting one every other shot,” Moore said.
“I could hear it from where I was and then he was constantly touching the table really tentatively. “We decided to take an early interval and let them water the carpet to see if that would calm things down. It is a first for me because it is something that I have never seen before. It seemed to do the trick as I never heard anything else of it again.”
Moore, who has a close affinity with his boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday, admitted he has never been a really good snooker player. Although he has been the captain of his local team for quite a while.
“I like to play whenever I can. I play ever week when I am bit away working,” he said.
“I am still the captain of a team in Sheffield and we play every Wednesday. My highest break is 63 and I have never come anywhere near that since.”
Even though Moore plays in a local league he believes his fellow players do not treat him any differently than what they did before he entered the professional game.
“I was playing before I became a referee so to all of them I am just Brendan. It is not like oh we have got a referee on our team. They all see it as it is just Brendan and he is just one of the lads.” Moore added:
“I am not that sort of person anyway but these sort of lads keep me grounded anyway. All the league are very good as well they are all good lads.” All the World Snooker referees get on with each other and they always seem to spend their spare time with each other when they are on tour.
Moore, whose first professional tournament was the 2005 Grand Prix Qualifiers, admits all the officials are characters. Some more than others.
He said: “Colin Humphrey’s is a character, as you have just seen. We are all good mates, we are always going out for meals with each other, or for a few glasses of Coca-Cola. We do not drink.”
Words: Adam Grice
Photos: World Snooker and Irish Examiner
The Sporting Section 