Alex Higgins
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use Hiberno-English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox snooker player Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion, remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" for his rapid play, and known as the "People's Champion" for his popularity and charisma, he is often credited as being a key figure in snooker's success as a mainstream televised sport in the 1980s.
After turning professional in 1970, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1972, defeating John Spencer 37Template:Nbnd31 in the final to become the first qualifier to win the world title, a feat that only three other players have achieved since: Terry Griffiths in 1979, Shaun Murphy in 2005, and Zhao Xintong in 2025. Aged 22, he was then the sport's youngest world champion, a record he held until 21-year-old Stephen Hendry won the title in 1990. Higgins was world championship runner-up to Ray Reardon in 1976 and Cliff Thorburn in 1980. At the 1982 event, he recovered from 13Template:Nbnd15 behind to defeat Jimmy White 16Template:Nbnd15 in the semi-finals, producing a 69 clearance in the penultimate Template:Cuegloss which is regarded as one of the finest Template:Cueglosss in the sport's history. He defeated Reardon 18Template:Nbnd15 in the final, winning his second world title ten years after his first.
Higgins won the Masters title in 1978 and 1981 and the UK Championship in 1983, where he recovered from 0Template:Nbnd7 behind to defeat Steve Davis 16Template:Nbnd15 in the final. As of 2023, he is one of eleven players to have completed a career Triple Crown. He won the World Doubles Championship with White in 1984 and competed alongside Dennis Taylor and Eugene Hughes on the all-Ireland team that won the World Cup three consecutive times between 1985 and 1987. He won his last professional title at the 1989 Irish Masters, defeating Hendry 9Template:Nbnd8 in the final. He failed to qualify for the professional tour in [[1997–98 snooker season|1997Template:Nbnd98]] and played his last professional match in August 1997.
Remembered for his turbulent lifestyle, Higgins was a heavy smoker, struggled with drinking and gambling, and admitted to using cocaine and marijuana. He had tempestuous relationships with women—both of his marriages ended in divorce, and he had widely publicised altercations with other girlfriends, one of whom stabbed him three times during a domestic argument. Known as an unpredictable, difficult, and volatile character, he was often disciplined by the sport's governing body, most notably when he was fined £12,000 and banned for five tournaments in 1986 after head-butting an official, and banned again for the entire [[1990–91 snooker season|1990Template:Nbnd91 season]] after punching another official and threatening to have Taylor shot. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998 and died of multiple causes in his Belfast home on 24 July 2010, aged 61.
Life and career
Early life
Alexander Gordon Higgins was born in Belfast on 18 March 1949, the only son of Alexander Gordon Higgins, a labourer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Stockman), a cleaner; he had three sisters, Isobel, Ann and Jean.Template:Sfn<ref name="TOBIT" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He was raised primarily by his mother because his father sustained a brain injury after being hit by a lorry.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> The family lived on Abingdon Drive in Sandy Row, a predominantly Protestant working-class area of inner-city south Belfast, and Higgins was educated at the local Mabel Street Primary School and Kelvin Secondary School.<ref name=":0" /> From age 10, he began frequenting the Jam Pot, a local snooker and billiards hall, running bets for his father and doing odd jobs.<ref name=TG16/> He began to play snooker at the Jam Pot at age 11,Template:Sfn<ref name="WS profile">Template:Cite web</ref> and he later began playing with more challenging opponents at the Shaftesbury and YMCA clubs in the city centre.Template:Sfn
He left school in 1964 and worked as a messenger for the Irish Linen Company, but the job was short-lived as it offered few prospects, and the business was in decline.Template:Sfn At 15, after spotting a newspaper advert for stable boys at Eddie Reavey's stables in Wantage, Berkshire, he left Belfast in the hope of following in the footsteps of his idol Lester Piggott and becoming a jockey. His employer later recalled Higgins as "a starved little rat from the slums".<ref name=":1" /> Despite being fired six times, he was taken back on board and stayed with Reavey for almost two years, during which time he gained too much weight to be able to ride competitively.Template:Sfn He left the stables for London, where he settled in a flat in Leytonstone and took up snooker again. He won several money matches and earned extra income at a paper mill near London Bridge, but he grew homesick and returned to Belfast in late 1967.Template:Sfn
Higgins joined the snooker league at the Mountpottinger YMCA, where he faced tougher opponents and practised up to six hours a day, studying weaknesses in the other players and devising new shots in his game.Template:Sfn In January 1968, he entered and won the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship, defeating Maurice Gill 4Template:Nbnd1 in the final.Template:Sfn He won the title at his first appearance and, aged 18, he was the tournament's youngest-ever champion.<ref name="NI68" /> One week later, he won the All-Ireland Amateur Championship and turned professional for a short spell before reverting to amateur status.Template:Sfn<ref name="SCENE">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Around this time, he was appointed captain of the Mountpottinger YMCA snooker team.Template:Sfn<ref name="AI1968">Template:Cite news</ref> He defended his Northern Ireland Amateur title the following year but lost 0Template:Nbnd4 to Dessie Anderson in the final.<ref name="NI1969">Template:Cite news</ref> Higgins defeated world champion John Spencer in several exhibition matches, where he was given a start of 14 Template:Cuegloss per Template:Cuegloss.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn These victories, coupled with his rise in popularity (his matches were attended by as many as several hundred people), convinced Higgins to return to England and turn professional.Template:Sfn
Professional career
1970s
Higgins settled in Blackburn, Lancashire, as it presented favourable opportunities for pursuing a career in snooker.Template:Sfn His talent for the game was recognised by local salesman Dennis Broderick and bingo tycoons Jack Leeming and John McLaughlin, who became his agents and bought him a flat and some new clothes.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn McLaughlin originated the nickname "Hurricane", although Higgins would have preferred "Alexander the Great".Template:Sfn Higgins applied to the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC) to become a professional player, and his application was accepted in January 1970.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He was initially a probationary member, meaning that he had to prove to the BACC that he could earn a living from playing snooker.Template:Sfn By this time, he had worked out his strategy against the top professionals, noting that they were 'percentage players' and the way to beat them was to "attack with brute force and scare them to death".Template:Sfn His sister Isobel offered to pay the £100 fee for entry into the 1971 World Championship, but Higgins declined because he felt not quite ready.Template:Sfn
At the 1972 World Championship, which began in March 1971 and concluded in February 1972, Higgins defeated John Spencer 37Template:Nbnd31 in the final to win the world title at his first attempt.<ref name="T28FEB">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn He had won ten consecutive frames in the qualifying competition, defeating Maurice Parkin 11Template:Nbnd3 for a place in the main draw.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="AHMP">Template:Cite magazine</ref> He had then eliminated Jackie Rea 19Template:Nbnd11 in the first round, making Template:Cuegloss of 103 and 133 during the match.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Rea complimented Higgins on his performance, saying that "He does everything wrong. And yet he knocks such a lot in."Template:Sfn (In January 1972, whilst the World Championship was still in progress, Higgins defeated Rea in the final of the Irish Professional Championship, a title that Rea had held for two decades.)Template:Sfn In the quarter-finals, Higgins defeated former world champion John Pulman 31Template:Nbnd23.Template:Sfn In the semi-finals, Rex Williams established a 12Template:Nbnd6 lead against him by winning nine consecutive frames; Higgins trailed until the 50th frame, when he was able to draw level and then pull ahead 26Template:Nbnd25. The match ended with a Template:Cuegloss, in which Williams was leading by 14 points but missed an attempt to Template:Cuegloss the Template:Cuegloss from its spot into a middle pocket. Higgins then compiled a break of 32, and after an exchange of Template:Cuegloss play he potted the Template:Cuegloss to clinch victory.Template:Sfn Williams later commented "That blue could have changed the direction of both our careers."Template:Sfn
Spectators at the 1972 world final, held at Selly Park British Legion in Birmingham, were seated on makeshift benches made from wooden boards supported on beer barrels.Template:Sfn There was a miners' strike in progress at the time of the final, and without normal power on the first evening of play, the opening session was conducted with dim lighting provided by a mobile generator.<ref name="TOPPLE">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The scores were tied at 6Template:Nbnd6 after the first day of play and 9Template:Nbnd9 at the end of the third session; Spencer then pulled ahead in the fourth session to lead 13Template:Nbnd11.<ref name="SPENCER1311">Template:Cite news</ref> Higgins kept pace and ended day three tied again at 18Template:Nbnd18, this the half-way point of the match.<ref name="TOPPLE"/> After once more drawing level, at 21Template:Nbnd21, Higgins won six consecutive frames to lead 27Template:Nbnd21.Template:Sfn He also took the first frame on day five but lost four of the next five frames to finish 29Template:Nbnd25 ahead.<ref name="TOPPLE" /> On the last day, Higgins made a break of 82 in the 66th frame, maintaining a four-frame lead at 35Template:Nbnd31.<ref name="BP28F">Template:Cite news</ref> He took the opening frame of the concluding session,<ref name="BP28F" /> before compiling breaks of 94 and 46 to win the last frame he needed by 140 points to 0 to secure a 37Template:Nbnd31 victory.<ref name="T28FEB"/> On winning the championship, Higgins earned £480 in prize money.Template:Sfn Aged 22, he was the youngest-ever snooker world champion, a record he held until Template:Nowrap Stephen Hendry won the title in 1990.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Higgins was also the first qualifier to win the world title, (as of 2025) a feat only achieved by three other players—Terry Griffiths in 1979, Shaun Murphy in 2005 and Zhao Xintong in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During an exhibition match in Bombay, India, an inebriated Higgins was unable to play because of the high temperatures and proceeded to play shirtless, for which he was fined £200.Template:Sfn Making his debut appearance on Pot Black in 1973, he lost his first game and stormed off the set; Ted Lowe persuaded him to return and complete his other games, but Higgins was excluded from the show for the next five years due to ongoing friction between the two.Template:Sfn Defending his title at the 1973 World Championship, Higgins lost 9Template:Nbnd23 to Eddie Charlton in the semi-finals.Template:Sfn He blamed the defeat on having to use a new Template:Cuegloss, as his usual cue had been broken a few months before the tournament.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> At the time, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) had scheduled a meeting to hear a complaint that Higgins had dropped out of a tournament after objecting to the lighting conditions.<ref name="73DR">Template:Cite news</ref> Pulman, the WPBSA chairman, declared that he welcomed Higgins losing because he had "dragged the game down".Template:Sfn<ref name="73DR"/>
By the end of 1974, Higgins had started to alter his attacking style of play, adding more tactical and safety elements,Template:Sfn but he produced inconsistent results for the rest of the decade.Template:Sfn He reached the world championship final again in 1976 after narrow victories over Cliff Thorburn, Spencer and Charlton.Template:Sfn Higgins was leading 10Template:Nbnd9 against Ray Reardon in the final, but his game faded as the match progressed.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In a contest marred by erratic refereeing and a sub-standard table,Template:Sfn Reardon pulled away to win the title for the fifth time, the score finishing at 27Template:Nbnd16.Template:Sfn At the 1977 World Championship, the first to be held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, Higgins lost the deciding frame of his first-round match against Doug Mountjoy.Template:Sfn Although he was not one of the eight invited professionals to enter the 1977 Pontins Open, for which Lowe was an organiser, Higgins was one of 24 players from an entry of 864 to reach the stage where the invited professionals joined the draw, despite having to concede 21 points per frame against amateur players.Template:Sfn He whitewashed Reardon and Fred Davis, then defeated Griffiths 7Template:Nbnd4 in the final, watched by an audience of around 2,000 people.Template:Sfn In their book about world snooker champions, Masters of the Baize (2005), Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby wrote that the tournament "cemented his status as 'The People's Champion'".Template:Sfn
Outside competition, Higgins completed a Template:Cuegloss in a challenge match in 1976, making a break of 146; he potted the Template:Cuegloss as the first "red", and his 16 chosen colours were ten blacks, five pinks and one green.<ref name="clearances">Template:Cite web</ref> Higgins retained the Irish Professional title against Dennis Taylor in February 1978.<ref name="IPC2"/> The following week, he secured the 1978 Masters title with a 7Template:Nbnd5 victory over Thorburn, from 4Template:Nbnd5 behind.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the 1978 World Championship, he led Patsy Fagan 12Template:Nbnd11 in the first round but was eliminated after losing three close frames: the first on a Template:Cuegloss, the second on the final Template:Cuegloss, and the third on the final Template:Cuegloss.<ref name="BBC78">Template:Cite web</ref> He saw off challenges from Fagan for the Irish Professional title in 1978 and 1979.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1980s
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A few days before the start of the 1980 World Championship, Higgins lost the Irish Professional Championship to Dennis Taylor, having held the title for eight years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the World Championship, he won a deciding frame against Tony Meo in the first round, then eliminated Perrie Mans, Steve Davis, and Kirk Stevens to reach the final against Cliff Thorburn.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sydney Friskin of The Times described the match as a contrast of styles: "the shrewd cumulative processes of Thorburn against the explosive break-building of Higgins". He also noted that each player had accused the other of distracting him during the match.<ref name="06MAYT">Template:Cite news</ref> Higgins began the final playing the matchplay snooker for which he had been commended,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> leading 6Template:Nbnd3 at the end of the first session and extending his advantage to 9Template:Nbnd5. However, Thorburn tied the match at 9Template:Nbnd9;Template:Sfn they then drew level at 11Template:Nbnd11, 13Template:Nbnd13, 15Template:Nbnd15 and 16Template:Nbnd16, after which Thorburn won the two frames he needed to secure victory at 18Template:Nbnd16.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Higgins was runner-up to Davis at the 1980 UK Championship, losing the final 6Template:Nbnd16.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was the first player to win a second Masters title, beating Terry Griffiths 9Template:Nbnd7 in the 1981 final after finishing runner-up to Griffiths the previous year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He lost to Davis in the second round of the 1981 World Championship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The same year, Souvenir Press published "Hurricane" Higgins' Snooker Scrapbook, an autobiographical work that Higgins had written in collaboration with Angela Patmore, having worked on the manuscript for almost a decade.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Higgins won his second world title in 1982.Template:Sfn After eliminating Jim Meadowcroft 10Template:Nbnd5 in the first round,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> he won the deciding frame of his match against Doug Mountjoy and prevailed 13Template:Nbnd10 against Willie Thorne.Template:Sfn He trailed Jimmy White 13Template:Nbnd15 in their best-of-31 semi-final match, before taking the 29th frame and then compiling a break of 69 in the penultimate frame. Higgins had been 0Template:Nbnd59 points behind but managed to complete an extremely challenging Template:Cuegloss, during which he was rarely in good Template:Cuegloss; this is regarded as one of the finest breaks in snooker history.<ref name="CARPET">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name=TG16>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He faced Ray Reardon in the final; from 15Template:Nbnd15, Higgins took the next three frames for an 18Template:Nbnd15 victory, achieving a 135 total clearance in the final frame.Template:Sfn A tearful Higgins summoned his wife and baby daughter from the audience to celebrate with him.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He would have been top of the world rankings for the [[1982–83 snooker season|1982Template:Nbnd83 season]] had he not forfeited ranking points as a result of disciplinary action.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Higgins released a country and western styled single in 1982, titled "One-Four-Seven",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but it failed to chart.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
He lost 5Template:Nbnd16 to Davis in the semi-finals of the 1983 World Championship.Template:Sfn Later that year, he reached the final of the UK Championship, where he trailed Davis 0Template:Nbnd7 before producing a comeback to win 16Template:Nbnd15 for his first UK title.<ref name="UK Championship history">Template:Cite news</ref> After recovering to two frames behind at 7Template:Nbnd9 and levelling the match at 12Template:Nbnd12, Higgins had again fallen behind at 12Template:Nbnd14 on his way to victory.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Snooker journalist and historian David Hendon wrote in 2025 that Higgins had "demonstrat[ed] the heart for a fight that so thrilled audiences".Template:Sfn On winning the 1983 UK title, Higgins became the third player—after Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths—to achieve a career Triple Crown.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He wrote in 2007: "I knew I had triumphed in one of the greatest comebacks in snooker history. I was back on top, and nothing was going to stand in my way. – How wrong I was. This was just the beginning of the end."Template:Sfn Williams and Gadsby wrote that after this win "his career drifted into a gradual downward spiral", and they commented that Higgins was to lose many more matches as he moved "from one crisis and scandal to another".Template:Sfn The 1983 UK Championship proved to be the last individual title that Higgins won in the UK.Template:Sfn
In 1986, Higgins split with his manager Del Simmons and signed with Framework, a management group run by Howard Kruger who also managed White, Stevens and Tony Knowles. Later that year, the four players and the band Status Quo released a cover of "The Wanderer" by Dion as a counter to "Snooker Loopy", a pop single featuring snooker players managed by Barry Hearn's Matchroom.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the 1986 UK Championship, Higgins head-butted tournament director Paul Hatherell after an argument; he was fined £12,000 and banned from five tournaments,<ref name="BBC (2003)">Template:Cite news</ref> as well as being convicted of assault and criminal damage arising from the incident and fined £250 by a court.<ref name="Tel turbulent"/> At the 1987 Irish Masters, he was fined £500 for being abusive towards tournament director Kevin Norton.Template:Sfn He reached the Masters final for the fifth time in 1987, losing to Dennis Taylor in the deciding frame.Template:Sfn
By 1988, Higgins had been fined a total of £17,200 in his professional career.Template:Sfn That year, he was dropped by Kruger and acquired a new manager, Robin Driscoll.Template:Sfn In January 1989, he fell from the window of his partner's first-floor flat, breaking multiple bones in his ankle. He arrived at several subsequent matches on crutches and played while hopping on one leg.Template:Sfn Later that year, Kruger's Framework management company was wound up at his instigation, with Higgins claiming that he was owed over £50,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After Higgins had died, Clive Everton wrote that the money lost to Framework was "a financial blow from which [Higgins] never recovered."<ref name="FG"/>Template:Rp The last professional tournament that he won was the 1989 Irish Masters, where he beat Stephen Hendry 9Template:Nbnd8 in the final.<ref name="FG"/>
1990s
Higgins made his last appearance in a major final in March 1990, at the British Open, losing 8Template:Nbnd10 against Canadian player Bob Chaperon. Higgins received a runner-up prize of £45,000, the highest of his career.Template:Sfn After losing his first-round match to Steve James at the 1990 World Championship, he remained seated in the arena for some time, ordering several vodka and orange drinks, slouched in his chair and twitching.Template:Sfn Afterwards, he punched tournament official Colin Randle in the abdomen before attending a press conference at which he announced his retirement, and he threw insults at the media as he left. This followed another incident at the 1990 World Cup, where he had repeatedly argued with fellow player and compatriot Dennis Taylor, insulting his late mother and threatening to have Taylor shot if he returned to Northern Ireland.Template:Sfn For his conduct, Higgins was banned from the professional circuit for the remainder of the season ([[1990–91 snooker season|1990Template:Nbnd91]]) and the whole of the next ([[1991–92 snooker season|1991Template:Nbnd92]]).<ref name="Times online">Template:Cite news</ref> During his Template:Nowrap ban, he put together a biography video titled I'm No Angel (1991).Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He released a cover version of "Wild Thing" in 1992, in collaboration with actor Oliver Reed and the Troggs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In August 1991, Higgins began his return to the professional circuit by registering for pre-season qualifying matches. Now ranked 120th in the world, he was whitewashed by 20-year-old Adrian Rosa and subsequently failed to qualify for another five tournaments.Template:Sfn He reached the last 16 of the 1991 Dubai Classic but lost to James. He also reached the televised stages of the 1991 UK Championship but lost 4Template:Nbnd9 to Stephen Hendry in the first round. Hendry claimed that Higgins had said "Up your arse, you cunt" to him during their post-match handshake; he reported the incident to the governing body, and the case was settled in a London court nine months later. Higgins was fined £500, bringing the total amount of fines that he had received as a professional to £23,200.Template:Sfn He was heavily defeated 1Template:Nbnd10 by Darren Morgan in qualifying for the 1992 World Championship, in a match described by Higgins as "surreal snooker ... never in ten years would I believe that result"; he demanded that he and Morgan take a drug test but later apologised.Template:Sfn
Higgins competed in pre-season qualifying matches against amateurs, including former women's champion Stacey Hillyard.Template:Sfn He reached the televised rounds of the 1994 World Championship, his first appearance in the Template:Nowrap of an event in three years.Template:Sfn Drawn against fellow Irishman Ken Doherty in the first round, Higgins was defeated 6Template:Nbnd10.Template:Sfn The following year, during the qualifying rounds, he complained that the match referee John Williams was distracting him, not by standing in his line of vision but by being "in his line of thought", when he was on a break that had reached 103.Template:Sfn<ref name="ENDG">Template:Cite news</ref> When Williams refused to move, Higgins continued his break in tears, eventually making 137, his highest-ever in a world championship match.Template:Sfn<ref name="ENDG"/> In December 1995, he was a member of the victorious Europe Team for the Mosconi Cup, a nine-ball pool competition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Shortly after winning the 1997 World Championship, Doherty agreed to play Higgins in an exhibition match at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast as a benefit event. Doherty, who had idolised Higgins as a youngster, secured a 5Template:Nbnd4 victory, and the event raised £10,000 for Higgins.Template:Sfn At the end of the [[1996–97 snooker season|1996Template:Nbnd97 season]], Higgins was ranked 156th in the world, at a time when only the top 64 players earned a place on the main tour for the following season.Template:Sfn<ref name="SCR97">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Other players could opt to join a "qualifying school" played over the summer of 1997.<ref name="SCR97"/> In August of that year, Higgins played what was to become his final match on the professional circuit with a 1Template:Nbnd5 defeat to Neil Mosley at the Plymouth Pavilions.Template:Sfn He became aggressive after the match and was escorted out of the venue by police.<ref name="FG"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He then failed to appear at his next two scheduled qualifying matches, saying that he had been attacked with an iron bar; he had a sprained wrist and a sprained ankle.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn
Post-retirement
After his exit from the professional game, Higgins spent time playing for small sums of money in and around Northern Ireland. He made appearances in the 2005 and 2006 Irish Professional Championship, experiencing first-round defeats by Garry Hardiman and Joe Delaney, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 12 June 2007, it was reported that Higgins had assaulted a referee at a charity match in the north-east of England.<ref name="assault">Template:Cite news</ref> Higgins returned to competitive action in September 2007 at the Irish Professional Championship in Dublin, where he was whitewashed 0Template:Nbnd5 by former British Open champion Fergal O'Brien in the first round at the Spawell Club, Templeogue.<ref name="Higgins back in action">Template:Cite web</ref> His autobiography, From the Eye of the Hurricane: My Story, was published in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Higgins continued to play fairly regularly and enjoyed "hustling" all comers for small-time stakes in clubs in Northern Ireland and beyond; he entered the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship in May 2009, "to give it a crack",<ref name="N. Ireland Amateurs 2009">Template:Cite news</ref> but he failed to appear for his match.<ref name="TOBIT">Template:Cite news</ref>
On 8 April 2010, Higgins was part of the debut Snooker Legends Tour event at the Crucible in Sheffield, appearing alongside other retired or close-to-retiring professionals, including John Parrott, Jimmy White, John Virgo and Cliff Thorburn. He faced Thorburn in his match but lost 0Template:Nbnd2.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
It is estimated that Higgins earned (and spent) £3–4 million in his career as a snooker player.<ref name="fortune">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Tel death 2"/>
Playing style
In describing the unconventional playing technique used by Higgins, his fellow professional Willie Thorne said that "He does everything wrong: his stance is square, he lifts his head, his arm's bent, he snatches at some of his shots." Thorne concluded that Higgins would be the worst example for an aspiring player to imitate.Template:Sfn His grip on the cue was less firm than typically employed by professional players.Template:Sfn Author Brendan Cooper wrote that "Beset with twitches, sniffs, and odd jerks of the limbs, Higgins would approach the table like a battered boxer trying to stay upright."Template:Sfn
Originally an out-and-out attacking player, Higgins developed his tactical game throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Cliff Thorburn praised his innovative positional play, citing him as one of the first players to "break out reds from potting the red, which is a very difficult thing to do."Template:Sfn Williams and Gadsby wrote that as Higgins grew older, his "technical shortcomings became burdensome", and that he began to fail on more shots as his hand-eye co-ordination declined, but note that he maintained a world championship career lasting over two decades.Template:Sfn Writing for the Dictionary of Irish Biography, James Quinn said that "His daredevil style thrilled audiences and inspired the kind of adulation and raucous cheering normally heard in football stadiums rather than snooker halls", but a lack of consistency and discipline meant that Higgins failed to achieve as much as his potential should have allowed.<ref name="DIB"/>
Media appearances
In the summer of 1972, Higgins was the subject of a half-hour Thames TV documentary, Hurricane Higgins.Template:Sfn He partnered Kenny Lynch in Pro-Celebrity Snooker on ITV in 1978.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was a guest on A Question of Sport in 1980,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and on Give Us a Clue the following year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He appeared on the 1984 series International Pro Celebrity Golf on BBC2, partnered with Greg Norman against Lynch and Tom Watson.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Two video games were released for Amstrad computers in 1985, with his endorsement,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> titled Alex Higgins' World Snooker and Alex Higgins' World Pool.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He appeared with Howard Kruger on the chat show Wogan on 6 April 1987, just minutes after being fined £12,000 and banned for five tournaments by the WPBSA; Higgins seemed relaxed and said that he accepted the sanctions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He made another appearance on Wogan in 1991 to promote his video I'm No Angel.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In December 1997, he was featured in Alex Higgins: Rebel Without a Pause, which was aired in the Northern Ireland region on BBC1.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Irish Independent reviewer Vincent Gribbin complained that the show was a "40 minute paranoid rant" by Higgins.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to The Sunday Telegraph reviewer John Preston, Like a Hurricane: The Alex Higgins Story (2001) on BBC2 portrayed Higgins as "a wildly emotional and hopelessly insecure man: vain, fragile, peaceable enough off booze, a terror on it."<ref name="JP2001">Template:Cite news</ref> The RTÉ One documentary Blood Sweat and Tears (2005) charted his career and featured positive remarks about him from Ray Reardon and Steve Davis, despite their past differences.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2009, Higgins was a contestant in the Sporting Stars edition of the British television quiz The Weakest Link.<ref name="link">Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Remembered for his turbulent lifestyle, Higgins was a heavy smoker,<ref name="force-of-nature">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> struggled with drinking and gambling,<ref name="inspiration" /><ref name="warning" /> and admitted to using cocaine and marijuana.<ref name="BBC obituary">Template:Cite news</ref> He had tempestuous relationships with women—his two marriages both ended in divorce, and he had widely publicised altercations with other girlfriends.<ref name="HOTCOLD">Template:Cite news</ref> He was known as an unpredictable, difficult, and volatile character.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
At the time of his 1972 triumph at the World Championship, Higgins revealed that he had no permanent address and had recently been living in a row of condemned houses in Blackburn that were awaiting demolition. In the space of one week, he had drifted between five different houses on the same street, moving on to the next one each time his current dwelling was demolished.Template:Sfn
He was twice married and had four children from three different relationships.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He met Joyce Fox in 1971, and they had a son, Chris, in 1975.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> They separated six months later; in 2001, Fox told her son that Higgins was his father, and they reconnected in 2003.<ref name="DIB">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 1975, Higgins married Australian Cara Hasler in Sydney.Template:Sfn They had a daughter, Christel, and their divorce was finalised in 1979.Template:Sfn<ref name="warning">Template:Cite news</ref> He married Lynn Avison in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in January 1980.Template:Sfn Their daughter, Lauren, was born in 1980, followed by son Jordan in 1983.<ref name="Clive Everton assessment" /><ref name="HOTCOLD"/> Higgins split from Lynn in 1985,<ref name="Tel turbulent">Template:Cite news</ref> and they divorced. That same year, he began a relationship with Siobhan Kidd, which ended in 1989 after he allegedly hit her with a hairdryer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1990, he began a relationship with former call girl Holly Haise (a pseudonym of Laura Croucher, her real name). They split in August 1997 after Croucher stabbed Higgins three times during a domestic argument.Template:Sfn<ref name="Tel turbulent"/>
Higgins had a long and enduring friendship with actor Oliver Reed,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> who appeared as a guest on This Is Your Life when Higgins was the subject in 1981.<ref name="CARPET"/> Higgins met Marianne Faithfull during the 1980s and renewed his acquaintance with her in 1992, when they reportedly spent the night together in a Dublin hotel.Template:Sfn
Higgins helped a young boy from Manchester, a fan of his who had been in a coma for two months, after his parents had written to him. He recorded messages on tape and sent them to the boy with his best wishes in 1983. He later visited the boy in hospital and played a snooker match that he had promised to have with him when he recovered.<ref name="force-of-nature" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1996, Higgins was convicted of assaulting a 14-year-old boy and was given a conditional discharge. He later described the case as "a farce which should not have been brought to court".<ref name="Tel death 2">Template:Cite news</ref> During his lifetime, Higgins was arrested 17 times.Template:Sfn
Illness and death
Higgins reportedly smoked 80 cigarettes a day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had an operation on cancerous growths on his palate in 1996.<ref name="FG">Template:Cite magazine</ref> He was found to have throat cancer in June 1998<ref name="FG"/> and underwent major surgery on 13Template:NbspOctober of that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He could only talk in a whisper in his last years.<ref name="belfasttelegraph.co.uk">Template:Cite news</ref>
Suffering from pneumonia and breathing problems,<ref name="BBC obituary"/> Higgins was admitted to hospital on 31Template:NbspMarch 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April, his friends launched a campaign to help raise the £20,000 needed for him to have tooth implants, to allow him to eat properly and gain weight. Higgins had lost his teeth as a result of the intensive radiotherapy used to treat his throat cancer. It was reported that since losing them, he had been living on liquid food and had become increasingly depressed, even contemplating suicide.<ref name=belf-tele-suicide>Template:Cite web</ref> He was too ill and frail to have the implants fitted.<ref name="mourns">Template:Cite news</ref> Despite his illness, Higgins continued to smoke cigarettes and drink heavily until the end of his life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was admitted to hospital again in May.<ref name="belfasttelegraph.co.uk"/>
By the summer of 2010, his weight had fallen to 6.5 stone (41 kilograms).<ref name="Tel death 2"/> Despite his £4 million career earnings, Higgins was now bankrupt and having to survive on a £200-a-week disability allowance.<ref name=belf-tele-suicide/> He was found dead in bed in his flat on 24Template:NbspJuly 2010, aged 61.<ref name="Tel death">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BBC death">Template:Cite news</ref> The cause of death was a combination of malnutrition, pneumonia, tooth decay and a bronchial condition; his daughter Lauren stated that he was clear from throat cancer when he died.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Higgins's funeral service was held at St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, on 2Template:NbspAugust 2010. He was buried in Carnmoney Cemetery in Newtownabbey, County Antrim. Among the snooker professionals in attendance were Jimmy White, Willie Thorne, Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Joe Swail,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Shaun Murphy and John Virgo.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Legacy
On account of his exciting playing style and explosive persona,Template:Sfn Higgins is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in snooker's history.<ref name="BBCTRIB">Template:Cite news</ref> Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" for his rapid play,<ref name="BBC obituary"/> and known as the "People's Champion" for his popularity and charisma,<ref name="Nickname">Template:Cite news</ref> he is often credited as being a key figure in the success of snooker as a mainstream televised sport in the 1980s.<ref name="inspiration">Template:Cite news</ref> Journalist Donald Trelford wrote in 1986 that "it was undoubtedly Higgins who first brought the money into snooker after his dramatic victory in 1972 and all the attendant publicity."Template:Sfn
In Steve Davis's Interesting: My Autobiography (2015), he wrote that Higgins as a player was "a true genius. Perhaps only Ronnie O'Sullivan has achieved that same style of mercurial ability since."Template:Sfn Higgins arguably fulfilled his potential only intermittently during the peak of his career in the 1970s and 1980s; the snooker journalist and historian Clive Everton put this down to Davis and Ray Reardon both being too consistent for him.<ref name="Clive Everton assessment">Template:Cite news</ref> Ronnie O'Sullivan has called Higgins "the greatest snooker player I have ever seen" when he was playing at his best, while also acknowledging that his erratic lifestyle caused a lack of consistency on the table.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Reardon wrote in 1986 that "Unlike Steve Davis, Alex has a natural snooker brain. He sees situations and knows what to do in a flash. We can all see it eventually but he spots it immediately. Reverse side, screw, deep screw ... he created a lot of the modern play that you see today."Template:Sfn Similarly, John Spencer wrote that "Alex probably had the quickest snooker brain in the game."Template:Sfn As of 2023, he is one of only eleven players to have completed the "Triple Crown" of winning the World Championship, the UK Championship and the Masters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, both Davis and Reardon felt that the number of titles won by Higgins was low, considering his sizeable talent.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
In 2011, Event 8 of the Players Tour Championship was renamed the 'Alex Higgins International Trophy'.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That year, Higgins was one of the eight players added to the World Snooker Tour Hall of Fame in its inaugural year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2016, WPBSA chairman Barry Hearn announced that the trophy for the new Northern Ireland Open tournament would be named after Higgins.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Richard Dormer wrote and directed a one-person play based on the career of Alex Higgins, titled Hurricane (2004).<ref name="DORHUR">Template:Cite news</ref> Following performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, for which Dormer won The Stage Edinburgh Fringe Best Actor award, the production transferred to the West End and then toured the UK.Template:Sfn<ref name="DORHUR"/> The professional rivalry between Higgins and Davis was portrayed in a 2016 BBC feature film titled The Rack Pack, in which Higgins was played by Luke Treadaway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Performance and rankings timeline
| Season | 1971/ 72 |
1972/ 73 |
1973/ 74 |
1974/ 75 |
1975/ 76 |
1976/ 77 |
1977/ 78 |
1978/ 79 |
1979/ 80 |
1980/ 81 |
1981/ 82 |
1982/ 83 |
1983/ 84 |
1984/ 85 |
1985/ 86 |
1986/ 87 |
1987/ 88 |
1988/ 89 |
1989/ 90 |
1990/ 91 |
1991/ 92 |
1992/ 93 |
1993/ 94 |
1994/ 95 |
1995/ 96 |
1996/ 97 |
1997/ 98 |
Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | No ranking system | 2 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 24 | 97 | 120 | 72 | 61 | 48 | 51 | 99 | 156 | <ref>Template:Cite web Template:Cite magazine Template:Cite magazine Template:Cite magazine</ref> | ||||
| Performance Table Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
| MR / Minor ranking Event | means an event was a minor ranking event. | |||
Career finals
Ranking finals: 6 (1 title)
| Legend |
|---|
| World Championship (1–2)Template:Efn |
| UK Championship (0–1)Template:Efn |
| Other (0–2) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 1976 | World Championship | Template:Flagathlete | 16–27 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1980 | World Championship (2) | Template:Flagathlete | 16–18 |
| Winner | 1. | 1982 | World Championship (2) | Template:Flagathlete | 18–15 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 1984 | UK Championship (3) | Template:Flagathlete | 8–16 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 1988 | Grand Prix | Template:Flagathlete | 6–10 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 1990 | British Open | Template:Flagathlete | 8–10 |
Non-ranking finals: 63 (33 titles)
| Legend |
|---|
| World Championship (1–0)Template:Efn |
| UK Championship (1–2)Template:Efn |
| The Masters (2–3) |
| Other (29–23) |
Pro-am finals: 4 (3 titles)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1975 | Castle Open | Template:Flagathlete | 5–2 | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Winner | 2. | 1977 | Pontins Spring Open | Template:Flagathlete | 7–4 | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Winner | 3. | 1979 | Castle Open (2) | Template:Flagathlete | 5–1 | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1987 | Dutch Open | Template:Flagathlete | 2–6 | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
Team finals: 6 (5 titles)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team | Opponent(s) in the final | Score | Template:Ref heading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1975 | Ladbroke International | Rest of the World:Template:Bulleted list | England:Template:Bulleted list | +113Template:Efn | Template:Sfn<ref name="LINT">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Winner | 2. | 1984 | World Doubles Championship | Template:Bulleted list | Template:Bulleted list | 10–2 | Template:Sfn |
| Winner | 3. | 1985 | World Cup | Ireland "A":Template:Bulleted list | England: Template:Bulleted list | 9–7 | Template:Sfn |
| Winner | 4. | 1986 | World Cup (2) | Ireland "A":Template:Bulleted list | Canada:Template:Bulleted list | 9–7 | Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Winner | 5. | 1987 | World Cup (3) | Ireland "A":Template:Bulleted list | Canada:Template:Bulleted list | 9–2 | Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1990 | World Cup | Northern Ireland Ireland "A":Template:Bulleted list | Canada:Template:Bulleted list | 5–9 | <ref name="CAN2">Template:Cite news</ref> |
Amateur finals: 3 (2 titles)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1968 | Template:Nowrap | Template:Flagathlete | 4–1 | <ref name="GS profile">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NI68">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Winner | 2. | 1968 | All-Ireland Amateur Championship | Template:Flagathlete | 4–1 | <ref name="AI1968"/> |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1969 | Northern Ireland Amateur Championship | Template:Flagathlete | 0–4 | <ref name="NI1969"/> |
Straight pool
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1976 | Australian Invitational Pocket Billiards Championship | Template:Flagathlete | 200–98 | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
Notes
Template:Reflist Template:Notelist
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
External links
Template:Commons category Template:Portal
Template:World snooker champions Template:UK Championship winners Template:Masters winners Template:1995 European Mosconi Cup team Template:Authority control
- 1949 births
- 2010 deaths
- Anglicans from Northern Ireland
- Sportspeople from Belfast
- Snooker players from Northern Ireland
- Masters (snooker) champions
- UK champions (snooker)
- People from Northern Ireland convicted of assault
- Winners of the professional snooker world championship
- Pool players from Northern Ireland