Snooker’s notorious bad boys, including crack-addict who went bankrupt and flawed genius whose girlfriend stabbed him
SNOOKER might sometimes be a slow game, but these stars of the baize live fast.
There used to be a time when players would sink pints of bitter between frames rather than a healthier mineral water.
But then there were more hellraisers in the sport, who enjoyed all the trappings of fame.
Booze, drugs, and plenty of women – these guys lived recklessly.
However, who was the baddest of them all?
SunSport ranks the top 10 most notorious snooker players of all-time.
10. Tony Knowles
Tony’s greatest problem was his love of women.
A notorious ladies’ man who was blessed with good looks, after leading a session against Steve Davis, he once headed out to a nightclub before play resumed in the morning.
Quite brilliantly, he returned to the Crucible the following day and polished off the frames needed to finish off the job.
He sold countless stories on lurid sexual conquests, including an interview for £25,000 where he called himself the “hottest pot in snooker.’
Knowles was subsequently fined £5,000 by the WPBSA for the expose.
9. Peter Francisco
The nephew of Silvino (more on him later), Peter was accused of match-fixing.
That came when the South African lost 10-2 in a World Championship match to Jimmy White.
An unusually high number of bets placed on that score triggered an investigation as betting on the match was suspended.
The findings saw Silvino banned from the sport for five years.
8. Bill Werbeniuk
Testament to Bill’s drinking prowess came from Jimmy White, who paid tribute to his great friend when he passed away in 2003.
“He was a great drinker but also a very good player,” Jimmy began.
“Only he could get tanked up with 10 pints before a match and still win.”
Werbeniuk’s reasons for drinking heavily before matches stemmed from a ‘a hereditary tremor in his arm’. He would drink to stop his arm from shaking.
Astonishingly, he even managed to claim the money back as expenses from the Inland Revenue.
He quit in 1990, but not before one final match where he revealed: “I’ve had 24 pints of extra strong lager and eight double vodkas and I’m still not drunk.”
7. Cliff Thorburn
If Bill’s poison was drink, Cliff’s was cocaine.
The Canadian was the first man to make a maximum at the World Championships.
However, he was also the first man to get banned for failing a drugs test.
In 1988, he was fined £10,000, had two ranking points deducted and was banned for two ranking tournaments by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association for bringing the game into disrepute.
According to a report, he had ‘minute traces of cocaine in his urine sample’.
6. Kirk Stevens
Snooker’s biggest playboy of his era, Kirk (another Canadian!) was renowned for being a flamboyant dresser.
That was enough to upset snooker’s reserved authorities, before he really rocked the boat.
It all came to a head during the final of the 1985 British Open when Silvino Franciso accused of him being “high as a kite” during their match.
Stevens would return to his homeland to seek treatment for cocaine, before jacking in snooker.
Instead, he became a car salesman.
5. Jimmy White
When it comes to being frank about his drug-taking, Jimmy’s your man.
However, he admits it could have been worse. He told the Daily Record: “I would’ve died if I’d beaten Higgins and won the World Championship in 1982 because I’d just found cocaine and I liked to drink.
“I always liked cocaine – whether drunk or sober. It was no one’s fault but my own.
“I’d just become famous, because we only had four channels in those days and, instead of queuing round the block to get into a West End nightclub, I was getting the treatment. I had such fun, even though I can’t remember much.”
He then moved on to crack on which he said he blew around £30,000 in one go, built up gambling debts and eventually ended up bankrupt after squandering £3million.
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4. Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ronnie’s clean and healthy living now. But there was a time when he knocked about with Rolling Stones axeman Ronnie Wood and artist Damien Hirst, and they painted the town red.
In 1996, he famously assaulted an official at the World Championships and was handed a two-year suspended sentence, a £20,000 fine and advised to donate £10,000 to charity.
The same year he was accused of being a bad sport after playing left-handed against Alain Robidoux – something he still does today.
Ronnie was also stripped of the Irish Open for testing positive for marijuana.
Don’t be fooled into thinking he’s tamed that much, with a spat with Ali Carter making headline news.
3. Silvino Francisco
The only man to have done time, Silvino was arrested for smuggling cannabis in 1997.
He was sentenced to three years in prison for his crime.
Before that, the Silver Fish had fallen on hard times. He split from his second wife, who took their £350,000 home, and he had to pay maintenance on four kids.
To make extra cash he worked in a mate’s fish and chip shop in the evenings.
On the snooker circuit, there were allegations against Silvino of match-fixing – but they proved to be unfounded when investigated.
2. Quinten Hann
As rebels go, not many push the boundaries as much as the brilliant Aussie cueiest did.
Another notorious ladies’ man, Quinten was known for conceding frames with ten reds or more still left on the table.
The peroxide blonde also loved breaking like he was on a pool table – smashing the white into a pack of reds.
Once, Quinten even played barefoot after he broke his toe doing a parachute jump.
Then, following a particularly aggie match against Andy Hicks he challenged his opponent to a boxing fight.
He retired in controversy, banned for eight years in 2006 and fined £10,000 for alleged match fixing.
1. Alex Higgins
Snooker’s ultimate bad boy, Higgins was as badly behaved as any sports star.
A clearly floored genius, alcoholism played its part in his darkest moments.
The chain-smoking boozer got into fisticuffs TWICE with officials during matches – headbutting one and punching another.
He also threatened to have fellow Northern Irishman Dennis Taylor shot.
Controversy continued to follow him in his later years, when he admitted in court to kicking a 14-year-old boy who interrupted a family discussion.
Before that, he was stabbed three times by a former girlfriend, Holly Haise at their home.
Higgins died aged 61 in 2010.
