Born
in Belfast in 1949, Alex Higgins was only ten years old
when he began playing in his local snooker hall, "The
Jampot". It was a tough environment in which to learn
and provided Alex will the mental strength and 'bottle'
that would stand him in good stead in his professional career.
As
a fourteen year old he was apprenticed as a jockey to Eddie
Reavey at Wantage, but due to continued weight increase
he was released. He only had one public ride. Alex had maintained
his snooker ability throughout this period and as a nineteen
year old won the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship and
almost single-handed took Belfast YMCA to the British amateur
team title. These successes catapulted him into the public
awareness and soon after Alex turned professional.
Alex
then decided to leave his native Ireland and move to England
to make an impact on the professional game here. He arrived
in the North 
West
of England and soon developed a reputation for fabulous
attacking snooker, playing in money matches, competitions
and exhibitions.
Shortly
after in his first attempt at the World Championships in
1972, Alex won his first World Professional Snooker championship.
He was 23 years of age.
Due
to the flamboyant nature of his play and his off the table
exploits Alex soon became the most popular and highest profile
professional player in the game. The "peoples champion"
as he became universally known, attracted media attention
wherever he went. His every move was scrutinised and his
many indiscretions with gambling, women and drink made tabloid
headlines. His fights with the snooker establishment were
also well documented, with Alex punished with fines and
bans for a myriad of offences.
Over
the course of the following decade, Alex would remain the
game's biggest box office attraction. He featured in many
great snooker matches, won many trophies, had major disappointment
and personal sadness, but also featured in many of snooker
most memorable moments.
He
was a snooker genius, a genuine star who helped make snooker
what it is today.
His
two world championship victories remain the highlight of
his snooker career. He won many other competitions including
the Benson and Hedges Masters twice, lost in numerous finals
and semi-finals and was Irish Championship from 1972 until
1980.
He
was also responsible for arguably one of the greatest clearances
ever witnessed. Trailing by two frames to Jimmy White in
the 1982 semi-
final,
Alex produced what is widely recognised as the greatest
clearance in the history of the championship. After winning
the final 18-15 against Ray Reardon, after clearing with
a century, Alex then lost by the odd frame to Griffiths
whilst attempting to complete the World / UK Championship
double in that year.
It
was the following season when Alex won his next major final,
recovering from 7-0 down to win 16-15 in the 1983 Coral
UK final. This avenged his earlier 16-6 defeat to Davis
in the 1980 UK final.
Major
successes followed in the 1984-85 season with Alex reaching
the Coral UK and Benson and Hedges Irish Masters, whilst
winning the Hofmeister World Doubles and the Guinness World
Cup for Ireland.
Alex
provided a roller coaster ride for his legion of fans throughout
the duration of his career as a professional. He provided
snooker with huge publicity and an anti-hero figure the
general public could identify with.
He
remains the most famous player the game has ever seen.
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