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

sporting goods Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...

brand founded in 1878 by Edward John Riley, an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * 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 isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

expatriate living in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

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 game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

equipment maker, and has been described as the world's largest manufacturer of cricket bats at the time. From the 1890s, the brand expanded its range to a variety of

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

and

indoor games Indoor games and sports are a variety of structured games or competitive physical exercises, typically carried out either at home, in a well-sheltered building, or in a specially constructed sport venue such as a gym, a natatorium, an arena or a roo ...

, including

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

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gr ...

, and

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

, 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 UK ...

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 ...

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

went public Going public may refer to: * Initial public offering, financial action by a business * Whistleblowing, exposure of previously private information * ''Going Public'' (Newsboys album), 1994 * ''Going Public'' (Bruce Johnston album), 1977 {{Dis ...

in 1977 amidst the British

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in Ind ...

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 (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

-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 commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

Ken Doherty Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter. As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

* 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 Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray ...

* John Spencer * Mark Williams

Sports bar chain

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

pool halls A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

called

Rileys Rileys is a British sports bar chain. Once a division of the Riley sporting goods company, it currently is an independent entity with headquarters in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. At its peak, the chain boasted 165 locations. Historically k ...

, 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