Author: Ollie Cowan

Crowds in their thousands visited Victoria Park, Southport at the weekend to watch an incredible fireworks spectacular.

Due to the changing wind conditions on Friday, September 27 the decision to cancel the displays for that evening was made by for the safety of all visitors.

Despite the weather conditions throughout the weekend the competitors worked tirelessly to fire Friday evenings displays across Saturday and Sunday, delighting visitors with an extra display each evening.

An incredible display by Distant Thunder Fireworks, who performed the 4th display on Saturday evening slot, was enough to wow the judges and seal first place.

Second place was awarded to ‘Pyro 2000’ who fired first on Sunday and third place was given to 1st Galaxy Fireworks who fired second on Sunday.

For the first time in the history of the event, the show closed with an incredible exhibition display by last year’s winners, Illusions Fireworks, who also included a moving tribute to late judge Wilf Scott.

Cllr Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council’s Labour Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said: “The British Musical Fireworks Championship was yet again a fantastic weekend for Southport and Sefton.

“The safety of our visitors is our priority and with the change in wind direction and speed, the conditions were no longer suitable to carry on with the competition on Friday evening”

“Despite that thousands of families enjoyed incredible displays in Victoria Park and Saturday was full to capacity, selling out completely, proving what a draw the Fireworks and Southport really are.

“I would like to congratulate everybody involved in putting on this year’s championship, which was a fitting and fantastic end to our 2019 Sefton events calendar along with big thanks to Sefton’s tourism team who work tirelessly on the event.

“As the season draws to close once again, it is also important that we acknowledge the huge economic impact these fantastic events have on our borough.”
“Planning is well underway for the 2020 Borough of Culture making the next 12 months very exciting for the borough”.

Routine maintenance will continue to take place on Marine Way Bridge, Southport over the next two weeks due to bad weather delaying works.

The extensive works are scheduled to continue on the bridge, which is now fifteen years old, from Monday, September 30.

In order to carry out the works safely and to allow for access for large equipment, Marine Way Bridge will be closed to all traffic, including pedestrians during weekdays until Friday, October 18.

However to compensate for increased traffic on weekends, the bridge will be reopened temporarily for both weekends commencing October 5 and October 12.

Diversions will be in place throughout the closure to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.

Cllr John Fairclough, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Locality Services, said: “While contractors worked tirelessly to carry out as much work as possible, we are powerless to stop nature from getting in the way!

“The Marine Way Bridge is a vital asset both to our highways network and is the gateway to some of the most beautiful coastline in the North West.

A diversion route will be in place to direct traffic across Marine Lake and advanced signs on Marine Drive at the North and South will allow motorists to choose their preferred route to the East or West of Marine Lake.

For more information about road closures across the borough please visit www.roadworks.org

Southport will host a snooker world ranking event for the first time early next year when the Coral Players Championship comes to the town.

The event will run from February 24th to March 1st in 2020 at the Southport Waterfront. Tickets will be on sale soon.

The Coral Players Championship features the leading 16 players on snooker’s one-year ranking list. Ronnie O’Sullivan won the title last season, beating Neil Robertson in the final. The match had a memorable finish as O’Sullivan made the 1,000th century break of his career in the last frame.

Other top stars in the field last season, when the event was staged in Preston, included Judd Trump, John Higgins, Mark Selby, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson and Mark Williams.

The one-year ranking list started at the Riga Masters last July, and the cut-off point for the Coral Players Championship is the Shoot Out which finishes on February 23rd. The top 16 on the list at that point go through to Southport.

The 16 players will start in a seeded draw, with a knockout format. All matches will be best of 11 frames, until the final which is best of 19.

It’s the second of three events in the Coral Series, preceded by the 32-man Coral World Grand Prix in Cheltenham (February 3-9) and followed by the eight-man Coral Tour Championship in Llandudno (March 17-22). The player earning the most money across the series will receive the Coral Cup and a £100,000 bonus. All three events are televised live by ITV.

Total prize money in Southport will be £385,000 with the winner to receive £125,000.

A spokesman for World Snooker said: “We are very excited about bringing this prestigious tournament to Merseyside for the first time. We know there’s a lot of support for snooker in the area so we’re expecting big crowds, and once tickets are on sale fans must get them booked early as many of the sessions will sell out.

“The Southport Waterfront is a fantastic venue in a beautiful location on England’s North West coast. It’s will be a superb stage for snooker’s biggest names.

“The Coral Players Championship will bring together 16 of the best players on the planet. The great thing about the Coral Series is that all 128 tour players begin the season on zero as they start the race to qualify for the three lucrative events. So only those in form make it into the elite field.

“That race is well underway now and it will be fascinating to see whether all of the big names make it to Southport, or whether we get new faces and outsiders earning a place in the line-up.

“For fans in the area it’s fabulous news as it’s a chance to see live sport at its very best, and the value for money is exceptional.”

Emma Lloyd, Head of Creative for Waterfront Southport said:
“This is huge for the venue and the town. We are delighted to be working with the team at World Snooker to bring it to the Waterfront and we hope it’s the start of a great working relationship. The North West is known for its love of snooker and Southport is no different!”

Ticket details will be announced as soon as they are available