Premier League Snooker
 |
|
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Established | 1987 |
| Organisation(s) | Matchroom Sport |
| Format | Non-ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £210,000 |
| Final year | 2012 |
| Final champion(s) |
 Stuart Bingham
|
The Premier League Snooker was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament. It was held from 1987 until 2012. The tournament was played in a round-robin format over a number of weeks, normally from mid-September to early-December, around the other World Snooker events in various locations.
The event started in 1987 as the Matchroom League. The inaugural event was won by Steve Davis, who retained the title in the following three years. The matches were of eight frames and all frames were played out. Three points were awarded for a win and one point for a draw. The winner of the tournament was the player, who finished top of the league. In 1990 there was also a tournament in Europe, called Matchroom International League.
In 1992 a play-off system was added. The top four players after the leagues phase advanced to the semi-finals and a final was held to determine the winner. In 1993 the event was renamed the European League and in 1998 the Premier League Snooker. In 2005 Betfred took over the sponsorship of the tournament and introduced a 25-second shot clock and the matches in the league phase were shortened to six frames. In addition they offered £1000 for every century and frame won in the league phase. In the 2005/2006 season the event was moved from the second half of the calendar to the first, thus there were two events in 2005.
The event was dominated by Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan, who between them won 20 of the 27 titles in the competition's history. O'Sullivan was the tournament's most successful player, winning ten titles in total, including five consecutively between 2005 and 2008. In 2013 the Premier League was discontinued and replaced by the Champion of Champions.
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