It was the Professional Squash Association’s COO Lee Beachill who first encountered Birmingham’s Rep theatre, widely considered the best indoor squash venue of them all after the successful staging of the 2023 British Open and the return of the sport’s oldest event to the city.

Beachill was in Birmingham last year as they looked for a location to host the event after Hull’s long run. Time was, however, running out. There was the option of Edgbaston Priory and a temporary venue, the more familiar NIA (now Utilita Arena) and NEC were mooted, but the big arenas weren’t seen as conducive for squash.

And so the former World No.1 was left perusing the internet when he came across The Rep. The eyes started to widen. Two days later he came back from Yorkshire to Birmingham and was taken around the venue. 

“There were still doubts,” Beachill recalls. He was waiting for The Rep official to stay “Ah, no you can’t do this or do that.” Some sticking point with bringing the glass court to stage that would scupper any potential hosting. But it never came. 

There were three or four more visits, which included events supremo Tim Garner admitting after one site perusal that this was “the best venue I’ve seen for squash”. Beachill agreed.

In the end, the ease of access for court and PSA equipment worked to their advantage. If there was ever a case of squash and theatre joined at the hip, this was it.

And so when news came through late last year that the British Open would be leaving Hull and moving to the midlands and The Rep, there were only positive vibes. “It’s a great starting point to putting on a great event,” Beachill said of the theatre set up. 

Over the week, there was talk of whether this really was the best indoor stage venue of them all. By all accounts, there have been around 10 theatre set-ups for the sport over the years, including Boston, Dubai, Derby, Sheffield’s Crucible. Some have been symphony and operatic, others simply way below The Rep’s pitch perfect staging for squash.

The tiered-seating, proximity of stage to seats, acoustics, the 825-capacity pretty much spot on for a squash crowd, central England. The British Open will be staged in Birmingham again next year as part of the PSA and Rep deal. Let’s hope it will be for longer. A destination for the sport is key, so is the ability to add extra entertainment to bring a festival feel to proceedings. The PSA also believe that they can go close to selling out every day in 2024, with every round mooted for the theatre venue. 

Squash Mad tested viewing across The Rep and there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. Granted, to the side you don’t get vision of the whole court, but even from these seats you were still taken in by the action on court. 

There has been talk that squash needs to be boisterous to stand out. The need for crowd interaction and ramping up the noise. There are unique places for that. Sure, you can talk through rallies at the Grand Central Terminus as the setting is catered for it. At the British Open, though, there were a variety of different atmospheres depending on time and type of crowd, be it Wednesday afternoon or Friday evening. That’s what venues like this bring.

Take finals day for example. You could hear a pin drop at some points during the women’s final as the Sunday crowd was taken in by the dexterity and skill on court of the Egyptian players – these were two brilliant players performing for a predominantly British audience – who gracefully and powerfully went toe-to-toe. The punter sitting behind Squash Mad was eating a packet of crisps and you almost expected a ‘tut’ from somewhere close. Whether refreshments had loosened the audience or not, there was certainly more crowd noise, shouts and participation during the men’s final. In all, yes, it was pure theatre.

Come awards time, there were positive signs that the British Open could well have a long-term home in Birmingham, with the city council harbouring aims of becoming “a major sporting city by 2032”. Given the Commonwealth legacy, squash has claims to be a front-runner of this initiative, which can only be a positive when it comes to finding a top-tier sponsor given the 2023 template they now have to showcase.

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Did the location and years in Hull take the polish off the importance of the British Open?

Rod Martin talked with fellow coach Rob Owen in Birmingham and said, in a Squash Mad interview, that they had agreed the British had lost some of its ‘lustre’.

He said: “People used to perceive it as ‘the’ tournament but over the last five or six years I don’t know if it has been seen as that. You look at the US Open, ToC, Black Ball, El Gouna, all those for the players are just as important as the British.”

There’s no doubting that the change to this new venue will put the gloss and prestige back for the sport’s oldest event.