Patsy Houlihan?

[GrahamMiles]

Thanks for some great stories on Patsy. Hopefully there will be some more. He was certainly a very colorful character.

[spike]

This is a very interesting read..

http://observer.theguardian.com/osm/...708304,00.html

[franksandellsnooker]

This is a very interesting read..

http://observer.theguardian.com/osm/...708304,00.html

What a great read. I met Patsy a few times in the early 80's well after his great playing years. He was a lovely bloke to talk to and my best memory of him was when we did an exhibition for a kid's charity. Some of the little disabled
kid's were able to come along and somewhere I've got a picture of him with one of the little ones on his knee. I also saw him play at Romiley Forum in Stockport in a world qualifier. I think!!!? he lost to Paddy Morgan. F.

[mattyshinobi22]

pic of jimmy and patsy. found in snooker annual

[mythman69]

"A couple of days later, White withdrew with food poisoning."

Hmmmm, can you get food poisoning from drinking beer?

[culraven]

"A couple of days later, White withdrew with food poisoning."

Hmmmm, can you get food poisoning from drinking beer?

Of course not, but we should never blame those we love!

[szaboss]

I was having a convo with some snooker buddies in the 80s and they said that they'd seen a hustler called Patsy Houlihan play around various billiard halls around South East London in the 60s and they reckoned he was the best player they'd ever seen. I said "better than Spencer, Reardon or Davis?" they said "yes"

I never really believed it, but a few years ago when I read Jimmy White's book he said the same thing. And that took me back to that convo.

What I've heard about this player was that he played fast and loose and was a short guy with a lot of front and a great character, apparently he was a rag n bone man from Deptford and very rough around the edges and as a consequence was turned down pro status at a time when the pro circuit had a gentlemans reputation.

Apparently he'd walk into a hall usually with a minder and say "who want's a 60 start?" He was seen on the BBC in 78 or 79 playing Cliff Thorburn. Unfortunately I never saw this match. Apparently he was passed his best at that point.

He played a very small part in the 1984 Bob Geldof film, Number One. Other than that I've seen no footage of him.

He beat Spencer 11-5 in the final of the English ams in 1965. Also he had a victory over Reardon around this time.

Can anyone add to this and shed some light on Patsy Houlihan?

Wow, THE Graham Miles !! awesome I never really saw you play and there isnt alot of footage of you on Youtube, do you have any footage of yourself playing that you would be able to upload ???

[billabong]

Wow, THE Graham Miles !! awesome I never really saw you play and there isnt alot of footage of you on Youtube, do you have any footage of yourself playing that you would be able to upload ???

Aparently not - -

I'm not thee Graham Miles. I'm just a massive Graham Miles fan, as he was the player that inspired me to take up the game in the 70s.

Graham Miles was not the same player in the 80s and Houlihan was near 60 with eye trouble so I wouldn't imagine the play was a high quality match. I think Miles won 9-4 or 9-5.

[szaboss]

Aparently not - -

Sorry, I just got excited reading his name and i actually legitimately thought it was him....... didnt read all the posts in this topic properly before posting. I was at work when I signed up today so didnt have the time to concentrate and read everything during the day

[billabong]

Sorry, I just got excited reading his name and i actually legitimately thought it was him....... didnt read all the posts in this topic properly before posting. I was at work when I signed up today so didnt have the time to concentrate and read everything during the day

We DO have Stuart Bingham though. :snooker:

[szaboss]

We DO have Stuart Bingham though. :snooker:

Really ? does he go by his own name as his username or does he have a guise like most of us ?

[jrc750]

We DO have Stuart Bingham though. :snooker:

I don't think "Ballrun" has been on for a while though?

[DeanH]

he goes by his nickname Ballrun but has not been on much since 2011 when he won Aus Open

[szaboss]

how did you confirm it was actually him though ?

[jrc750]

how did you confirm it was actually him though ?

He told us ;-)