E.J. Riley, later Riley Leisure and just Riley, is a British

sporting goods Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since the p ...

brand founded in 1878 by Edward John Riley, an

Irish Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state ***Erse (disambiguatio ...

expatriate living in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

History

E.J. Riley started as a local chain of sports retail stores, before branching out into manufacturing in the 1880s. The company first gained fame as a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

equipment maker, and has been described as the world's largest manufacturer of

cricket bats A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making batter ...

at the time. From the 1890s, the brand expanded its range to a variety of

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

and

indoor games Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

, including

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

, and

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

, the latter becoming its main calling card around 1910. It acquired rights to use

Crystalate Crystalate is an early plastic, a formulation of nitrocellulose, camphor, and alcohol invented in the late 19th century and patented by American inventor George Henry Burt. It is best known as a material for gramophone records produced in the ...

plastic in its early products, and later marketed a proprietary compound called "Ri-leene". As its manufacturing business outgrew its retail division by a wide margin, E.J. Riley sold its shops in the early 1920s to focus on its

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

factory. Founder Riley died in 1926, but the company kept expanding through various acquisitions, and eventually

went public An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in 1977 amidst the British

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

boom of the era. In the 1990s, Riley's fortunes began to change and, despite exporting its products to 67 countries throughout the world, the factory⁠—by then based in Hapton⁠—closed its doors in 2002. Rights to the brand were acquired by competitor BCE (originally Bristol Coin Equipment, later rebranded as Billiard Cues of England), who continues to use the Riley name for one of their product lines. The Billiards Company, a

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-based company owned by former players John Benton and Darren Lennox, used to trade as E.J. Riley Ireland. It was formed in 1994 as a subsidiary of Riley, before going independent in 2002.

Notable endorsers

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...

Ken Doherty Kenneth Joseph Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player who also works as a commentator and pundit on televised snooker broadcasts. From Ranelagh in Dublin, he is the sport's only World Snooker Championship, wor ...

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and a current Sports commentator, commentator and pundit. One of the most successful players in snooker history, he turned professional in 1985, ag ...

* George Gray *

George Hirst George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...

Ray Reardon Raymond Reardon (8 October 1932 – 19 July 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to h ...

* John Spencer * Mark Williams

Sports bar chain

As an outlet for its products, the company started a chain of

pool halls A billiard hall, also known as a pool hall, snooker hall, pool room or pool parlour, is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as Pool (cue sports), pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve al ...

called Rileys, which is no longer part of the same group.

References

External links

Official website

{{Sports equipment brands Companies based in Manchester British brands Cricket equipment manufacturers Cue sports equipment manufacturers Sportswear brands Sporting goods manufacturers of the United Kingdom

History

Notable endorsers

Sports bar chain

See also

References

External links