As the season draws to a close, here is a look back on what has been another fantastic year for the St Albans & District Pool League.

Across the divisions we’ve seen title races go to the wire, memorable individual performances, new champions crowned, familiar faces adding to impressive records, new faces making their mark, great sportsmanship and some extremely high quality pool.

The 2025/26 season saw 253 players across 32 teams and 4 divisions battle it out for team and individual glory...

Premier Division

A closely-fought battle with the top 3 teams all losing only 3 matches each across the whole season. Crash Bang Wallop secured the top spot, with Amigos to Hitchin sealing the Runners Up spot by just 1 frame from Talk to Franks in the final match of the season.

Division 1

The newly-formed Crocinators were the runaway winners of Division 1 with an undefeated record - the uniform requirement of wearing Crocs was clearly the winning factor. With several teams in the mix for the second spot, Pocket Munchers demonstrated their consistency in the second half of the season and emerged deserving Runners Up.

Division 2

A new venue but some familiar faces in the form of Borehamwood Social Club delivered a bit of a whirlwind to Division 2. With the highest points tally of all 32 teams in the league, BSC comfortably secured the Champions position. Breaking Wind also had a strong season, securing the Runners Up spot with a few matches still to go.

Division 3

From the halfway point of the season, two teams emerged as potential champions, switching spots a couple of times along the way. Raging Balls edged the victory from Touching Cloth by just 3 points - a well-fought battle from both teams.

Individual Honours

This season's individual honours once again highlighted the quality and consistency on display throughout the league, with some standout performances from all four divisions.

In the Premier Division, Dave McKenzie enjoyed an exceptional season, securing the Top Gun title whilst also sharing the 8 Ball award with Jim Lewis. Meanwhile, Rob Alletto’s consistent performances across the campaign earned him the MVP award.

Division 1 saw David Thrilling dominate the individual categories, claiming both Top Gun and MVP honours (with a phenomenal 80.5% win rate) whilst also sharing the 8 Ball award with Mario Delyfer to cap off an impressive season.

Division 2 produced arguably the tightest race of all with the Top Gun honours shared between Gary Bell, Cass McCarthy, Brad McCarthy and Eddie Benoit. Brad McCarthy also added an 8 Ball award alongside Lee North, whilst Paul Wade’s consistency across the season secured the MVP award.

In Division 3, Malcolm Pereira completed a clean sweep of the major individual awards, claiming Top Gun, 8 Ball and MVP honours to round off a hugely impressive season.

These awards recognise the quality, consistency and dedication shown week after week across another fiercely contested season.

Cup Finals

With league positions settled, the closing weeks delivered a fitting conclusion to a memorable season with team and individual cup competitions all reaching their climax.

The standout story undoubtedly came in the Premier Singles final where Joe Flaherty produced an outstanding comeback. Trailing Michael Andrews 4-0, Joe battled back frame by frame to complete a remarkable 5-4 victory and claim the winner's trophy.

Meanwhile, Patrick McLaughlin continued his recent winning form and secured the Open Singles crown with a 6-3 victory over Rob Alletto - also claiming his spot in "The Showdown", the season-ending contest between the Open Singles and Premier Division Singles champions.

With both Joe and Patrick having already secured major silverware, The Showdown was a fitting finale between the two champions that saw Joe win 7-4 to cap off an impressive finish to the season.

Division 1 Singles produced one of the most dominant performances of the finals schedule with Lewis Gardner delivering a flawless display to defeat Stan Stanfield 5-0 and secure the title.

Elsewhere, there was no shortage of close contests. The Mixed Doubles final saw Sophia Sutcliffe & Jim Lewis recover from 3-1 down against Rosie Brown & Harry Isaacs to secure the title 4-3, whilst the Doubles final also went all the way with Jack Foster & Dave Head edging past Dave McKenzie & Nav Kazi by the same scoreline.

The Ladies Singles provided another high-quality contest after both finalists had survived deciding-frame semi finals, with Claire Morris overcoming Miriam Clancy 5-2 to lift the title.

The Division 2 and Division 3 Singles competitions both added new names to the honours list; Brad McCarthy claimed his first league singles title after defeating Paul Wade 5-2 in the Division 2 competition, whilst Ellis Wiseman secured his first singles title with a 5-2 victory over Bradley Pyne (having been runner up in the same Division 3 competition last year).

In the team competitions, Crash Bang Wallop produced a commanding performance to defeat Barrymore's Pool Party 9-2 in the Daniel Dent Cup, whilst Taxi for Dutton claimed the Larry Hinrichs Trophy with a 9-5 victory over Breaking Wind.

The final trophies of the campaign were decided in the 3 Player Team Final where Harry Isaacs, Patrick McLaughlin & Nial Clancy completed a dominant 5-0 victory over Kit Wong, Jack Foster & Dave Head.

Congratulations to all champions, runners-up and award winners, we look forward to seeing everyone back at the tables for another season of competition in 2026/27.

As always, none of this happens without the players, captains, venues, committee members and supporters who keep the league running week after week. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to another successful season.

Save the Date

The End of Season league celebration, including the trophy presentation, will be at Frank's on the evening of Friday 10th July.