“Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you…”

While the bad boys of snooker aren’t particularly dangerous, their many deeds still shock people. Because snooker is a gentlemanly sport, the acts of the bad boys are perhaps looked upon more severely compared to, let’s say, boxing.

So what is the worst action ever committed by a professional snooker player? Well, there are quite likely a few things that never reached the public and that will be forever buried in the past.

There are also a lot of different categories, most of which involve match-fixing. Australian Quinten Hann might be the worst case ever revealed. He agreed to lose a match with Ken Doherty in the 2006 China Open in return for money, but gave himself away during an interview with an undercover journalist. He ended up with a £10,000 fine and an eight-year ban which has probably marked the end of his career.

There was a similar incident involving Peter Francisco who was banned for five years after being found guilty of match-fixing in a World Championship match against Jimmy White. His uncle, Silvino Francisco was accused of match-fixing as well, but was never found guilty.

There have also been a few cases of drug use throughout the years. The 1980 world champion Cliff Thorburn was banned from two ranking tournaments after having taken cocaine. Bill Werbeniuk, who suffered from essential tremor, used to drink eight pints of beer before every match. Alex Higgins is another infamous example of a heavy drinker. Ronnie O’Sullivan was tested positively for marijuana after having won the 1998 Irish Masters against Ken Doherty. The title was taken away from him and given to Doherty who, however, refused to accept the trophy.

Spats are another quite frequent occurrence in this context. Hann once wanted to go outside to fight with Andy Hicks after a match, and O’Sullivan has sure had his arguments with other players and referees. But the most violent player has to be Higgins, who once punched a referee in the face and threatened to have Dennis Taylor killed.

The most harmless of all the bad boys of snooker is probably Tony Knowles. Knowles was a lover, not a fighter. The women admired him and Knowles had no intention of disappointing them. He eagerly shared passionate stories about his bedroom activities with those who wanted to hear and those who didn’t. Eventually he went over the line and was fined for bringing the game into disrepute.

Bad boys are a distraction from the game and mostly a bad one. But one has to admit that some of these stories – like the ones about Tony Knowles – do add a certain spice to the sport.