If there’s anyone who finds Club 200’s very existence hard to fathom, it’s the place’s co-owner Simon Wong.
Best friends Simon, Keith, Thomas and Tim, all from backgrounds in the hospitality business, were only looking for somewhere to hang out after their respective restaurants and takeaways closed for the evening, and none of them were particularly interested in clubs or late-opening casinos.
What they did love, though, was snooker. So they accidentally opened up a snooker club.
First, the idea was to get a place that would be big enough to have a couple of full-size tables. Then it was four, so that they could all play with mates. Then it was eight, so that they could get ‘a little competition going’.
But what would they eat? A fryer should do it. And maybe a wok. Then it was two fryers, then a couple more woks. Then it was a ‘mini-bar’ and a dining area.
Anyway, they’ve now got a full kitchen, chefs serving up traditional Hong Kong dishes, 12 professional snooker tables (one of which was used in the world snooker championships), five full size American pool tables, private rooms with tables for mahjong and cards, as well as karaoke, dartboards where you can play with other clubs in other countries in real-time, and seating for 60 people in their bar and restaurant area.
It really did get out of hand.
Despite it barely being open a year, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has already hailed its ‘fantastic facilities… and superb tables’, though sadly no mention of its mean line in BBQ lamb skewers.
It’s a long, long way from where it started. When Simon and the gang first got the keys to the place, he said it was ‘like Mad Max’. It had squatters, rubbish everywhere and a fair bit on the ‘to do’ list.
“It was like a warzone,” says Denton-born Simon. “Derelict, no gas, no water. People squatting, rubble, mountains of burnt stuff.”
The intention was never to make a profitable business, just to cover costs. “Loads of clubs just get proper run down, not maintained,” he goes on. “There’s two types of people who own snooker clubs; businessmen and snooker enthusiasts. Either way, you’re buggered.
“[So] we didn’t really want it to be an out-and-out snooker club. I mean, it is, but it’s not. It’s more like a community centre. But because our facilities are so good, it’s just become that.”
They now host national tournaments and pro-am snooker tours, the under 14 and 16 national championships, the 2024 British Open for billiards. Not bad for an accidental snooker club.
The influx of Chinese students in recent years has meant that membership got a bit of a kickstart when Club 200 opened last year. Many of them now treat it like an extension of their homes.
Perhaps not least because of the homely cooking. Soup noodles with brisket, Hainanese rice with boiled chicken and dipping sauces, baked pork cutlet with egg fried rice and cumin-caked skewers of lamb, gizzard and chicken heart.
Not many snooker clubs in the UK – if any – could offer the same.
“ It’s not about the money,” says Simon. “Coming to work now is just seeing my friends. Life’s too short to do something that you don’t enjoy.”
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