‘Sheffield is the home of snooker’: talk of Crucible exit sparks local concern

The fan zone in Sheffield. ‘It’s hard to imagine it feeling the same anywhere else,’ one spectator, Michael, says. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Picture the scene. There is live sport on a big screen, and on the artificial grass deckchairs are laid out, with pints of lager flowing. It sounds like a scene from continental Europe during a major football tournament: but this is Sheffield city centre on a grey, murky Friday morning.

It is perhaps fitting that Tudor Square, the part of Sheffield where the Crucible Theatre is situated, is dubbed the “Heart of the City” on the tourist information around town. Because for two weeks every year, snooker and its most iconic venue is at the beating heart of Sheffield – for now, at least.