Ron Bentley passes away at the age of 84
Ron Bentley, who was very well known amongst Nottingham’s snooker players, has sadly passed away at the age of 84.
Ron owned Masters Snooker Club for a number of years (see photo below) which many current players will remember visiting when they played in the Institutes Snooker League on Monday evenings and in the Nazareth House Snooker League on Tuesday evenings.
Ron eventually sold the club and it was subsequently run by Michael Holt’s Father prior to its eventual closure.
Ron continued playing for many years after he left Masters, playing for teams at Top Spot Club in Carlton and more recently at Building Trades Social Club (now also closed) where he also took great pride in maintaining the club’s snooker table.
Ron was a member of the Building Trades team that lifted the Monday Team League Knockout Cup trophy in the Summer of 2015. It was a terrific final that required a deciding frame. Here is the match report courtesy of Mike Langdon:
Building Trades Social Club 4-3 Phoenix Cue Sports “A”
Frame Scores
Mick Walker 55-77 Ben Monk
Ron Bentley 68-28 Matt Gascoigne
Nick Bentley 65-69 Mike Lee
Dave Milner 77-40 Ben Monk
Nick Bentley 77-30 Gaz Birks
Dave Milner 22-60 Julian MarshallMatch Report
Frame 1: Mick Walker starts off very strongly in the opening frame hardly missing a ball. Ben digs deep and salvages the frame with breaks of 23 and 34 to put Phoenix one up.
Frame 2: Not the best of starts for Matt who went in-off twice in as many visits which kind of set the tone of this frame which turned out to be a tactical encounter. However a flourish of pots from Ron here and there ensured he built upon his handicap and ran out a comfortable winner (1-1)
Frame 3: Excellent frame this one seeing Nick race off helped by a 32 break. Nick looked good for this frame until he snookered himself when the brown had to be replaced as close to it’s spot as possible. From that moment the momentum swung and Mike finally won the frame potting an excellent black. (1-2)
Frame 4: Very good win for Dave who withstood a comeback from Ben who laid snooker after snooker to get himself back in contention. A relieved Dave finally getting over the line by potting green and brown. (2-2)
Frame 5: Nick in excellent form in this frame scoring well with each visit which included a 28 break. Gaz never got going (3-2)
Frame 6: A very tense and tight tactical encounter which saw Julian playing some excellent match-play to send the final into a deserved deciding frame. (3-3)
Deciding Frame: Nick off to a flyer making a quality 33 break. Ben responds immediately with a good 28. Nick continued to pot well as he had done all night and a strong finish saw him run out a comfortable winner.
Congratulations to Building Trades and well played to both teams on producing a fantastic final.
Ron will be remembered with fondness and we send our condolences to his family.
Celebration of Life
A celebration of Ron’s life will be held as follows:
Saturday 21 February 2026 from 1pm until 5pm
The Vale Social Club, 54 Vale Road, Colwick, Nottingham, NG4 2ED
Steve Butler
Nottingham Snooker