From Wikipedia:
They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, on 1 April 1987, and their last at The Half Moon, Putney on 1 April 2012, exactly 25 years later. They initially played in local pubs with no ambitions to take themselves seriously or to turn professional.
Note: professional simply means paid or paid enough to give up your day job. Getting to the point of being paid or paid enough will start somewhere. Usually this is as an amateur and for fun not cash.