Before World War I, Burroughes & Watts organised an annual professional
billiards 'London tournament'. This was a handicapped
American tournament played at Soho Square Hall. In four tournaments, from 1907/08 to 1910/11, a snooker competition was arranged in parallel to the billiards. This generally consisted of a frame of snooker played at the end of each session of billiards. Soho Square Hall was also the venue of one of the earliest professional snooker matches, hosting a match of 101 frames between
John Roberts and
Tom Reece from 25 May to 6 June 1908. The match was for £100, £50 for the player winning most frames and £50 for the player winning most aggregate points. Roberts won both prizes, winning 54½ frames to 46½ and 5,529 points to 5,209. Roberts made a break of 73, equalling a recently set record by James Harris. Burroughes Hall was sometimes used as the venue for the final of the
English Amateur Championship from 1920 to 1962. In the 1920s and 1930s
Thurston's Hall in
Leicester Square was generally preferred for important professional matches but Burroughes Hall was occasionally used, hosting matches in the
1936 World Snooker Championship and the
1939/1940 Daily Mail Gold Cup when matches were played at the two venues simultaneously. After World War II, the hall was again used for World Championship matches in
1947 and
1951 as well as for the qualifying competition in
1946, 1947 and 1951. After the closure of Thurston's Hall in early 1955, Burroughes Hall was a regular venue for the
News of the World Snooker Tournament until the tournament ended in 1959. With the revival of the World Championship in a challenge format in
1964, the hall was used for the first three matches in April 1964, October 1964 and March 1965. ==References==