Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, world snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and current Liverpool FC star Milos Kerkez have all played a part in opening a new Formby Village venue. Potters Sports Lounge has been created from former office space on the first floor of 27 Brows Lane, with the transformation completed over the past four months.
The venue features 10 large TV screens - one 80-inch screen and nine 60-inch screens - showing Sky Sports and TNT Sports. It has been created by local business figures Jamie Rae, Sam Canning and Lee Byrne, who wanted to bring something different to Formby.
High-end facilities and a £20,000 snooker table
One of the main attractions is a World Championship Star Snooker Table worth £20,000, donated to the venue by O'Sullivan. There are also five championship pool tables, three professional interactive darts lanes with Scolia self-scoring technology, and a range of modern sports facilities.
Visitors can enjoy cocktails, wine, draught beers, bespoke wine and gin serves, matchday offers and a wide range of drinks. The walls are lined with signed sporting shirts and memorabilia from stars and teams across football, boxing, snooker and darts.
Design input and memorabilia
Gerrard helped design the venue as well as donating two signed shirts. Names featured include Gerrard, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister, Alisson Becker, Duncan Ferguson, Jordan Pickford, Leighton Baines, Paul Gascoigne, Henrik Larsson, Luke Littler, Phil Taylor, Tyson Fury, Erling Haaland and Bruno Fernandes.
Jamie said: "The past 16 weeks have involved a huge amount of hard work, but they've gone incredibly fast. We really wanted to create something new, exciting and completely different to anything else in the region."
Family-friendly and free membership offer
Jamie added: "There are lots of superb restaurants, cafes and bars locally, where you can get something to eat and drink, and we wanted to add to that with somewhere you can come for a unique competitive sporting experience. This is a top-quality sports lounge. It's not your typical sports hall from years gone by. All the facilities are very high-end and feature the latest technology."
"We are very welcoming to families, men and women, and people of all ages. It's a very friendly and inclusive space. We'd love to see local darts teams and pool teams come and speak to us about joining. We have the one and only Declan Brennan, the Ultimate Pool Tour world number one, as a resident pool player."
"We are keen to get a junior academy up and running to help children learn how to play snooker, pool and darts. Figures like Luke Littler and Ronnie O'Sullivan have done so much to inspire children to try these sports, so now they'll have the opportunity to come and play."
Potters held a soft launch on Friday evening, with special guests including champion boxer Liam Smith. Jamie added: "We will be offering our yearly membership of £10 per year for free for the first 250 members or the first 14 days, whichever it hits first."
Potters Sports Lounge will be open from 10.30am to 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday, and from 10.30am to 12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.
