The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme
I was very lucky to get my hands on this The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme, which has been signed by many of the players.
Back in the 1970s, the United Kingdom was the centre of the squash world. Obviously, there were tournaments in other countries, and those countries had active squash communities, but the UK was the place to be if you wanted to be a professional squash player. In addition, many UK-based sports equipment companies sprung up from massive popularity of squash at the time.
Started in January 1972, Yellow Dot Sportswear made squash clothes. Later, they also made rackets and bags, but I am unclear when they increased their range. This bag↗, which I posted on my Instagram account, is an example of their equipment. The name makes it quite hard to perform proper research as most of the results are for balls! I remember them making bags, rackets and of course clothes. In fact, I clearly remember owning a towelling T-shirt with their logo on it.
The Championship
The tournament itself was held 2 days after the end of The 1974 British Open Squash Championship↗. Utterly shockingly, the event was sponsored by Benson and Hedges - a cigarette company. To us today, the idea of a cigarette company sponsoring a squash tournament is beyond belief, but back then, smoking was not considered bad for you.
Again, just like the sponsor, having a tournament start two days after the British Open seems crazy, but things were different back then.
The Programme Gallery
Quick Note: I have added all the pages of the programme, including the advertisements. They are photographs, but I will try to properly scan the pages and upload those instead.
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 01
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 02
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 03
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 04
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 05
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 06
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 07
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 08
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 09
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 10 and 11
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 12
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 13
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 14
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 15
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 16
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 17
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 18
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 19
The Yellow Dot International Open Squash Championship 1974 Programme: Page 20
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this article. If you have any information about the tournament or have similar programmes that I can feature on the site, please email me.
By the way, if anybody wants to make me an offer I can't refuse for this programme, please email me. I am open to selling it.