Gods of Snooker

Alex `The Hurricane' Higgins helped transform snooker from a game played in the backrooms of working men's clubs to a national sporting obsession. Interest in the sport had been growing thanks to the new possibilities of colour broadcasting.

Though snooker was firmly established on TV screens by the early 80s, the game's money-spinning potential had not yet been realised. One of the first to spot a business opportunity was savvy Essex-based sports promoter Barry Hearn, who had recently taken a young hopeful called Steve Davis under his wing.

By the mid-80s snooker was the biggest sport in the country but two distinct camps had emerged amongst the players. On one side were Barry Hearn's `Matchroom Mob', including Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis: clean-living, utterly professional and family friendly. In sharp contrast was a group that included Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and Kirk Stevens, who all embraced a more rock and roll lifestyle.