Dead Alex Higgins (And Snooker)

[Bibliogryphon 9,569]

On 29/02/2016 at 18:16, gcreptile said:

Willie Thorne still bankrupt, still battling prostate cancer, sort of asks for three million pounds:

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/cancer-stricken-willie-thorne-recovering-7456686

 

He'll have a second biopsy soon.

 

Rushed to hospital in Spain

[The Old Crem 3,581]

20 minutes ago, Bibliogryphon said:

 

Rushed to hospital in Spain

Luckily the virus has not been that widespread in Alicante so he shouldn't catch it in hospital.

[Spade_Cooley 9,515]

Honestly think Thorne should have the Eddie Large/Frank Bough "not that old, his illnesses aren't that terminal but Jesus Christ this man is a shambles health-wise" spot on next year's Deathlist.

[Fergie86 374]

30 minutes ago, Spade_Cooley said:

Honestly think Thorne should have the Eddie Large/Frank Bough "not that old, his illnesses aren't that terminal but Jesus Christ this man is a shambles health-wise" spot on next year's Deathlist.

Can’t see him seeing 70 which is due to hit in 2024, the bloke seems to be a bit of a walking disaster zone what with his gambling history, suicide attempt years ago due to bankruptcy and his health issues. I would put him on next years list. 

[Miracle Aligner 249]

2 hours ago, Bibliogryphon said:

 

Rushed to hospital in Spain

 

Given he's penniless due to his own irresponsibility it's hard to think anybody should be willingly donating money to the leech. 

 

38 minutes ago, Spade_Cooley said:

Honestly think Thorne should have the Eddie Large/Frank Bough "not that old, his illnesses aren't that terminal but Jesus Christ this man is a shambles health-wise" spot on next year's Deathlist.

 

Definitely.

[Lard Bazaar 3,799]

I tried to set my friend Pat up with a bloke who looked like Willie Thorne once, in a nightclub called Oscars that used to be in the grounds of Longleat. I always think of Pat and Oscars when I see Willie Thorne’s name.  Both Pat and Oscars are dead now.  Make of that what you will. 

[msc 18,436]

4 minutes ago, Lard Bazaar said:

I tried to set my friend Pat up with a bloke who looked like Willie Thorne once, in a nightclub called Oscars that used to be in the grounds of Longleat. I always think of Pat and Oscars when I see Willie Thorne’s name.  Both Pat and Oscars are dead now.  Make of that what you will. 

 

Well, that story has the biggest Act 3 mood change since Shadowlands!

[Octopus of Odstock 2,186]

How can he be penniless yet own a villa in Spain? Or have I misinterpreted the Mercury news report? 

[Toast 16,129]

 

28 minutes ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

How can he be penniless yet own a villa in Spain? Or have I misinterpreted the Mercury news report? 

 

" The GoFundMe campaign was launched to help Willie pay for a carer and his accommodation"

Perhaps he's renting.

[Miracle Aligner 249]

33 minutes ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

How can he be penniless yet own a villa in Spain? Or have I misinterpreted the Mercury news report? 

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/meandmymoney/article-7344835/Willie-Thorne-Ive-given-gambling-1million-debts-left-SNOOKERED.html

 

He rents his house. He's a million quid in debt.....

 

 

[msc 18,436]

Didn't he once commentate on a match for the BBC that he was actually losing a 6 figure bet on, as it happened?

[Miracle Aligner 249]

26 minutes ago, msc said:

Didn't he once commentate on a match for the BBC that he was actually losing a 6 figure bet on, as it happened?

 

5 figures.

 

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/willie-thorne-i-was-asked-to-fix-snooker-225685

[Spade_Cooley 9,515]

12 hours ago, Miracle Aligner said:

 

5 figures.

 

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/willie-thorne-i-was-asked-to-fix-snooker-225685

 

The story I heard, which he doesn't go into in detail there, is that John Parrott told him he'd lost his cue "so my opponent's probably worth a bet" as a joke, thinking he'd put £20 on him to lose, rather than £38,000.

[Miracle Aligner 249]

On 09/12/2006 at 20:53, Octopus of Odstock said:

Doug Mountjoy, for one.

 

Still alive 14 years later.....

[Miracle Aligner 249]

Seemed about time for an update on this list. 3 deaths in the intervening 6 years.

 

Worth noting that some 60s and 70s players aren't featured on this list because there's no information to indicate whether they are alive or not let alone their age, red is dead, green is new debutantes from 2015-2019.

 

Biggest notable shift is a load of 80s stars now in their mid to late 70s.

 

World Championship Survivors since 1969

Ray Reardon, 87

Rex Williams, 86

Mark Wildman, 84

Perrie Mans, 79

Graham Miles, (died 12 October 2014 aged 73)

Paddy Morgan, 77

Doug Mountjoy, 77

David Taylor, 76

John Virgo, 74

Jim Meadowcroft, (died 25 September 2015 aged 68)

Silvino Francisco, 74

David Greaves, 73 (died October 2019)

Terry Griffiths, 72

Cliff Thorburn, 72

Dave Martin, 72

Dennis Taylor, 71

Patsy Fagan, 69

John Campbell, 67

Joe Johnson, 67

Willie Thorne, 66

Jim Wych, 65

Warren King, 65

Steve Newbury, 64

Tony Knowles, 64

Eugene Hughes, 64

Danny Fowler, 63

Steve Davis, 62

Bob Chaperon, 62

Kirk Stevens, 61

Tony Meo, 60

Mike Hallet, 60

Wayne Jones, 60

Tony Jones, 60

Alain Robidoux, 59

Steve James, 59

Tony Chappel, 59

Peter Francisco, 58

Jimmy White, 58

Dean Reynolds, 57

Dene O'Kanne, 57

Neal Foulds, 56

Mark Bennet, 56

John Parrot, 56

Tony Drago, 54

Gary Wilkinson, 54

Mick Price, 53

Nigel Bond, 54

David Roe, 54

Stefan Mazrocis, 53

Darren Morgan, 53

Dave Harold, 53

Mark Johnston-Allen, 51

Martin Clark, 51

Brian Morgan, 51

Stephen Hendry, 51

Drew Henry, 51

Billy Snaddon, 50

Anthony Davies, 50

Nick Dyson, 50

Jason Ferguson,50

James Wattana, 50

Joe Swail, 50

Peter Lines, 50

Ken Doherty, 50

Patrick Wallace, 50

Rory McLeod, 49

Barry Pinches, 49

Alan McManus, 49

Peter Ebdon, 49

Sean Storey, 48

Dominic Dale, 48

Fergal O'Brien, 48

Rod Lawler, 48

Jimmy Michie, 48

Mike Dunn, 48

Terry Murphy, 48

Anthony Hamilton, 48

Ian McCulloch, 48

John Lardner, 48

Mark Davis, 47

Marcus Campbell, 47

Nick Walker, 46

Joe Delaney, 47

Chris Small, 46

Mark King, 46

Andy Hicks, 46

Gerard Greene, 46

Mark Williams, 45

Stephen Lee, 45

Joe Perry, 45

Robert Milkins, 44

Robin Hull, 45

Michael Judge, 45

Stuart Pettman, 45

Lee Walker, 44

Simon Bedford, 44

Ronnie O'Sullivan, 44

John Higgins, 44

Jamie Burnett, 44

Alfie Burden, 43

Leo Fernandez, 43

Stuart Bingham, 43

Graeme Dott, 43

Marco Fu, 42

Matthew Stevens, 42

Quienten Hann, 42

Andrew Higginson, 42

David Gray, 41

Michael Holt, 41

Dechawat Poomjaeng, 41

Barry Hawkins, 41

Ali Carter, 40

Ryan Day, 40

Stephen Maguire, 39

David Gilbert, 38

Neil Robertson, 38

Martin Gould, 38

Andrew Paggett,38

Craig Steadman, 37

Shaun Murphy, 37

Ricky Walden, 37

Mark Selby, 36

Tom Ford, 36

Kurt Maflin, 36

David Grace, 35

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, 35

Matthew Selt, 35

Jamie Cope, 34

Mark Allen, 34

Gary Wilson, 34

Tian Pengfei, 32

Jimmy Robertson, 34

Ding Junhui, 33

Lliang Wenbo, 33

Robbie Williams, 33

Jamie Jones, 32

Ben Woolaston, 32

Michael Georgiou, 32

Sam Baird, 31

Xia Goudong, 31

Judd Trump, 30

Michael Wasley, 30

Stuart Carrington, 30

Liu Chuang, 29

Cao Yupeng, 29

Anthony McGill, 29

Liam Highfield, 29

Li Hang, 29

Kyren Wilson, 28

Zhang Anda, 28

Jack Lisowski, 28

Michael White, 28

Mitchell Mann, 28

Chris Wakelin, 28

Noppon Saengkham, 27

Scott Donaldson, 26

James Cahill, 24

Zhao Xintong, 23

Zhou Yuelong, 22

Lyu Haotion, 22

Luca Brecel, 25

Yan Bigtao, 20

Lou Honghao, 20

[Youth in Asia 1,086]

Looks like the future of snooker is Chinese

[Arsewipe 202]

Paul Hunter aside, it seems Snooker is a good sport for longevity as long as you look after yourself, unlike Higgins and that fat Canadian with the long name.

[Miracle Aligner 249]

5 hours ago, Youth in Asia said:

Looks like the future of snooker is Chinese

 

To be fair that's only the world championships in the 'at venue stage'. I'll work on a slightly more comprehensive list of players at some point.

 

 

[Miracle Aligner 249]

43 minutes ago, Arsewipe said:

Paul Hunter aside, it seems Snooker is a good sport for longevity as long as you look after yourself, unlike Higgins and that fat Canadian with the long name.

 

That only includes players who were alive when that list was compiled in 2014, a fair few died young before that or old before that (Jackie Rea died in 2013 at 92 years of age.)

 

My next task is to compile a longevity list of everybody who's played the tournament - but that may take a little while due to deficiencies in data for more minor players 

[Deathrace 1,164]

3 hours ago, Arsewipe said:

Paul Hunter aside, it seems Snooker is a good sport for longevity as long as you look after yourself, unlike Higgins and that fat Canadian with the long name.

One might expect the younger generation of snooker players to last longer than their predecessors in the 70s and 80s who honed their craft in working men's clubs usually covered in a fog of tobacco smoke. 

[Miracle Aligner 249]

4 minutes ago, Deathrace said:

One might expect the younger generation of snooker players to last longer than their predecessors in the 70s and 80s who honed their craft in working men's clubs usually covered in a fog of tobacco smoke. 

 

A lot of those guys lived pretty respectable lifespans.

[Deathrace 1,164]

If he makes it to the starting line in 2021, what about Dracula look alike Ray Reardon for next year's list? 

[Miracle Aligner 249]

24 minutes ago, Deathrace said:

If he makes it to the starting line in 2021, what about Dracula look alike Ray Reardon for next year's list? 

 

Definitely. Rex Williams probably isn't as famous.

Willie Thorne is a good bet for the 'not old but  how's he not dead' slot as well.

 

It's a British deathlist, should have a snooker player on it - 

[Deathrace 1,164]

I doubt Jimmy White will make old bones but he's probably not going to trouble us in the immediate future 

[Miracle Aligner 249]

I thought I'd also have a delve at pre-1969 survivors. *There was no tournaments between 1958 and 1963.

 

The Challenge Period (1964-1968)

Rex Williams is definitely alive. No other players survive.

 

The MatchPlay Era (1952-1957)

Rex Williams is definitely alive.

 

Jim Lees is presumably dead? (given he was an active player in 1947)

 

1947-1952 (Post-War Era)

Appears to be no survivors.