Inside the World of Snooker’s Most Iconic Players
Renowned music industry manager Harvey Lisberg, best known for managing iconic acts like Herman’s Hermits and 10CC, has turned his attention to the world of snooker in his latest book, Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker: Jimmy White and Alex Higgins, co-written with Charlie Thomas. We had the privilege of chatting with him about his book and hearing some of the wild tales from those truly head-spinning days.
Reflecting on his career, Lisberg notes, “The idea was to give a feel of what it was like in those days because they were unbelievable days.”
Managing Jimmy White: A Rollercoaster of Talent and Troubles
Managing these larger-than-life snooker players, Jimmy White and Alex Higgins, meant many ups and downs, according to Harvey. However, their resilience and determination shone through, inspiring all who witnessed their journey. His relationship with White, despite contractual disputes (and settlements), remains intact to this day.
“So in 1984, we had another three years to go, and somebody got talking to him, an ex-player who’d made a fortune in property in London. Jimmy just left, even though he had re-signed an extension agreement,” Lisberg recalls. “In England, the law is you can’t hold anybody to a service contract; all you can do is get damages. After six months of battle, we got a tremendous settlement, which we didn’t want. I would have carried on managing him if I could’ve… We’re always friendly because he’s a lovely boy. You couldn’t ever be angry with him, and I speak to him virtually daily now. In fact, I’m more or less, in a way, representing him now, which is weird. I negotiated a film deal for him and other things. But I always liked him. He was a wonderful player… the best sportsman I’ve ever been involved with. If he made a foul shot that the referee didn’t see, he would call it himself. He was unbelievable.”
Alex Higgins: The Unmanageable Genius
While managing Jimmy White, Harvey then took on White‘s idol, Alex Higgins.
Lisberg‘s tenure with Alex Higgins proved even more volatile. ” With Alex Higgins, we signed him because he saw a great job we’re doing on Jimmy White,” he explains.
“We put him in a hospital, tried to get him off drinks and everything. And he went through a horrible phase there because of coming off drugs and drinking. It’s not easy. When it finished, he was then very abusive to all the staff at my office because he was a rough diamond; he had two sides. He improved by 25% when he came out of the hospital. I told my partners that we had a meeting, and it was a big meeting of the four members of the company that controlled our sports interests. And it was 3-1 that we voted to get rid of him because he was so much trouble. I put a huge bet on him to win the tournament, but he had no chance of winning. I put, I think, £1,000 on the 25-1. And he went and bloody won it! Not only did he win it, but he beat Jimmy and all the others along the way. It was like a double whammy for me. The only money we ever made out of Higgins was that bet. And the only money we really made out of Jimmy was the court case.”
Higgins, known for his reckless spending habits, often found himself in financial turmoil. “Alex never had any money because he would bet £25,000 in an afternoon on the races, “he recalls. “Whatever money Alex ever had went in and out. We had a Professional Snooker League, and he was in it…And it got to a stage where it was getting into real trouble. So we decided we’d better fold this league. Alex then decided that I owed him £4,000. So every time I phoned him, he said, “Harvey, why don’t you pay me the £4,000 ?” And I said, “Alex, look, it went into liquidation. Forget it. It’s nothing personal. It just didn’t work out.” Higgins phones me up one day and says, “I believe you’re putting David Bowie on at Main Road…Could you get me tickets?” I said, “Don’t worry, Alex, I’ll get you tickets.” I phoned my partner and said, “Get him two tickets in the director’s box, whatever happens, and make sure he’s looked after.” Alex goes to see David Bowie and the next morning, he phones the office, “Harvey, that was fantastic, forget the £4,000!” That was his mentality when he got some money. It had nothing to do with reality. He was in a cloud of his own… I think Alex was unmanageable, quite honestly. He was just a phenomenally brilliant player, a wild kid from the streets of Belfast, and had his own laws and rules of life…He was the bad boy of snooker.”
Navigating Scandals and Protecting Reputations
Managing snooker players involves more than just overseeing contracts. Lisberg recounts how he once had to suppress a scandalous story involving Jimmy White and a British reporter. “Jimmy really did some stupid things. He once bedded a reporter from the Daily Mirror after an interview, and the News of the World, which was the biggest, like the National Enquirer in England, was going to run a two-page feature because this reporter had spilled the beans. My job as a manager was to keep him out of this, keep all the dirt out of the press. I managed to do it because I always employed the best people, from my artists and the publicist who represented Sinatra, and the Rolling Stones did a deal with the editor of the News the World. I never knew what it was, and I had to keep that story out. And I don’t know how he did it. And Jimmy came out of the house, and I said, “Jimmy, you can go with anybody but a reporter after an interview. How stupid is that? And after about 10 minutes, you’re back laughing with him because he’s like the artful dodger.
Today, White has turned his life around, working as a commentator for Sky Sports.
“He’s clean now—no drugs, no drinking. A different person,” he says.
A Life Among Crazy Characters
life, crazy characters were everywhere, whether they were managers, Colonel Parker (Elvis Presley’s manager), or snooker players, Jimmy White and Alex Higgins,” he says wistfully. “Wherever I went, there were people that had very bad managers. I think it has to do with money, glamour, and celebrities. It attracts all these wild people. That’s what I lived through.”
He shared a couple of stories of the excesses of those days. “My wife came to America, and my lawyer said, “Oh, I’ll arrange for her to be picked up at the airport.” She’s picked up in a white Rolls-Royce! I mean, it was all out of all proportion. We lived like billionaires, you know; it was just crazy, and everything was provided. When we went to Las Vegas for the first time, and in those days, Las Vegas was unbelievable. ..I got to the hotel with Herman’s Hermits, and the manager said to me, “Oh, everything you have on your bill will be free. Go to the shop, do what you like, spend what you like. It’s all free. And we’ve given each of your boys a hundred $100,000 credit limit each”. This was in 1960. It’s probably a million dollars today. And I said, “I don’t think we’ll be using that.” We didn’t, obviously. I didn’t tell the boys about it either. But that’s how they suck you in.”
The Secrets to Successful Management
When asked about what makes him a successful manager, Harvey shared his thoughts. ” I think experience, finding the right person, believing in it, staying with it, and also being able to let it go. You can’t flog a dead horse, you know what I mean?…
The other thing that I was good at was delegating. I used the best accountant and the best lawyer. If Jimmy needs a photograph, we’ve got Lord Litchfield to do (the photography), who’d just done Princess Diana and Prince Charles. We always went right to the top. But persistence, taking rejection, always and in the end, only take on what’s brilliant, what you really know is brilliant. And also try to avoid problems.”
He credits his 55-year marriage to his wife Carol for giving him a normal life away from the craziness of his past rock ‘n roll life. He reflects, “You’ve got to be very strong to be able to resist that… but if it’s thrown at you all the time it’s it’s not that easy. I mean, I wasn’t married (at the time), so I was a bachelor. It didn’t really match up to me. I got so fed up with it that by the time I was 27, I thought that’s it. I’m out of here. I’ve had enough I can’t take anymore. I’m gonna settle down.”
Lisberg recently quit gambling. “You go through a time in life where your luck is so preposterous. I couldn’t lose a gambler, and that’s unbelievable. I used to go with my wife and my in-laws to London, and I’d go to the gambling club to play roulette. I kept winning, and they kept saying we wanted to go to bed. We’re up until 4:30 am, and I won £10,000 and paid everybody’s hotels for the weekend. It was crazy. Maybe because we’re making so much money, we have no fear of money. And as a gambler, you have no respect for money. It’s just paper. When luck changes, it’s oh, we’ll have it (the money)next week. Oh, the bank’s overdrawn. Well, we’ll get money, and we’ll borrow from people. Becomes so very impulsive and stupid.”
“I was gambling so much not to make money, but it just took a lot of time up. And if you bet on a football match, it’s two hours of the day gone; you bet on an American football, it’s four hours.” Lisberg adds, “I’ve noticed that since I’ve stopped gambling, I’ve got a lot of time on my hands. But it’s been a good life.”
Get Your Copy Today!
Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker: Jimmy White and Alex Higgins is available for purchase from Amazon.com: Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker: Jimmy White and Alex Higgins, Audible at Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker and at New Home – Harvey Lisberg
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Snooker’s Wildest Secrets EXPOSED: Manager Spills ALL on White & Higgins!
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Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker – Jimmy White and Alex Higgins
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Harvey Lisberg: Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker – Jimmy White and Alex Higgins
An Exclusive Interview with the Author of ‘Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker‘
Inside the World of Snooker’s Most Iconic Players
Renowned music industry manager Harvey Lisberg, best known for managing iconic acts like Herman’s Hermits and 10CC, has turned his attention to the world of snooker in his latest book, Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker: Jimmy White and Alex Higgins, co-written with Charlie Thomas. We had the privilege of chatting with him about his book and hearing some of the wild tales from those truly head-spinning days.
Reflecting on his career, Lisberg notes, “The idea was to give a feel of what it was like in those days because they were unbelievable days.”
Managing Jimmy White: A Rollercoaster of Talent and Troubles
Managing these larger-than-life snooker players, Jimmy White and Alex Higgins, meant many ups and downs, according to Harvey. However, their resilience and determination shone through, inspiring all who witnessed their journey. His relationship with White, despite contractual disputes (and settlements), remains intact to this day.
“So in 1984, we had another three years to go, and somebody got talking to him, an ex-player who’d made a fortune in property in London. Jimmy just left, even though he had re-signed an extension agreement,” Lisberg recalls. “In England, the law is you can’t hold anybody to a service contract; all you can do is get damages. After six months of battle, we got a tremendous settlement, which we didn’t want. I would have carried on managing him if I could’ve… We’re always friendly because he’s a lovely boy. You couldn’t ever be angry with him, and I speak to him virtually daily now. In fact, I’m more or less, in a way, representing him now, which is weird. I negotiated a film deal for him and other things. But I always liked him. He was a wonderful player… the best sportsman I’ve ever been involved with. If he made a foul shot that the referee didn’t see, he would call it himself. He was unbelievable.”
Alex Higgins: The Unmanageable Genius
While managing Jimmy White, Harvey then took on White‘s idol, Alex Higgins.
Lisberg‘s tenure with Alex Higgins proved even more volatile. ” With Alex Higgins, we signed him because he saw a great job we’re doing on Jimmy White,” he explains.
“We put him in a hospital, tried to get him off drinks and everything. And he went through a horrible phase there because of coming off drugs and drinking. It’s not easy. When it finished, he was then very abusive to all the staff at my office because he was a rough diamond; he had two sides. He improved by 25% when he came out of the hospital. I told my partners that we had a meeting, and it was a big meeting of the four members of the company that controlled our sports interests. And it was 3-1 that we voted to get rid of him because he was so much trouble. I put a huge bet on him to win the tournament, but he had no chance of winning. I put, I think, £1,000 on the 25-1. And he went and bloody won it! Not only did he win it, but he beat Jimmy and all the others along the way. It was like a double whammy for me. The only money we ever made out of Higgins was that bet. And the only money we really made out of Jimmy was the court case.”
Higgins, known for his reckless spending habits, often found himself in financial turmoil. “Alex never had any money because he would bet £25,000 in an afternoon on the races, “he recalls. “Whatever money Alex ever had went in and out. We had a Professional Snooker League, and he was in it…And it got to a stage where it was getting into real trouble. So we decided we’d better fold this league. Alex then decided that I owed him £4,000. So every time I phoned him, he said, “Harvey, why don’t you pay me the £4,000 ?” And I said, “Alex, look, it went into liquidation. Forget it. It’s nothing personal. It just didn’t work out.” Higgins phones me up one day and says, “I believe you’re putting David Bowie on at Main Road…Could you get me tickets?” I said, “Don’t worry, Alex, I’ll get you tickets.” I phoned my partner and said, “Get him two tickets in the director’s box, whatever happens, and make sure he’s looked after.” Alex goes to see David Bowie and the next morning, he phones the office, “Harvey, that was fantastic, forget the £4,000!” That was his mentality when he got some money. It had nothing to do with reality. He was in a cloud of his own… I think Alex was unmanageable, quite honestly. He was just a phenomenally brilliant player, a wild kid from the streets of Belfast, and had his own laws and rules of life…He was the bad boy of snooker.”
Navigating Scandals and Protecting Reputations
Managing snooker players involves more than just overseeing contracts. Lisberg recounts how he once had to suppress a scandalous story involving Jimmy White and a British reporter. “Jimmy really did some stupid things. He once bedded a reporter from the Daily Mirror after an interview, and the News of the World, which was the biggest, like the National Enquirer in England, was going to run a two-page feature because this reporter had spilled the beans. My job as a manager was to keep him out of this, keep all the dirt out of the press. I managed to do it because I always employed the best people, from my artists and the publicist who represented Sinatra, and the Rolling Stones did a deal with the editor of the News the World. I never knew what it was, and I had to keep that story out. And I don’t know how he did it. And Jimmy came out of the house, and I said, “Jimmy, you can go with anybody but a reporter after an interview. How stupid is that? And after about 10 minutes, you’re back laughing with him because he’s like the artful dodger.
Today, White has turned his life around, working as a commentator for Sky Sports.
“He’s clean now—no drugs, no drinking. A different person,” he says.
A Life Among Crazy Characters
life, crazy characters were everywhere, whether they were managers, Colonel Parker (Elvis Presley’s manager), or snooker players, Jimmy White and Alex Higgins,” he says wistfully. “Wherever I went, there were people that had very bad managers. I think it has to do with money, glamour, and celebrities. It attracts all these wild people. That’s what I lived through.”
He shared a couple of stories of the excesses of those days. “My wife came to America, and my lawyer said, “Oh, I’ll arrange for her to be picked up at the airport.” She’s picked up in a white Rolls-Royce! I mean, it was all out of all proportion. We lived like billionaires, you know; it was just crazy, and everything was provided. When we went to Las Vegas for the first time, and in those days, Las Vegas was unbelievable. ..I got to the hotel with Herman’s Hermits, and the manager said to me, “Oh, everything you have on your bill will be free. Go to the shop, do what you like, spend what you like. It’s all free. And we’ve given each of your boys a hundred $100,000 credit limit each”. This was in 1960. It’s probably a million dollars today. And I said, “I don’t think we’ll be using that.” We didn’t, obviously. I didn’t tell the boys about it either. But that’s how they suck you in.”
The Secrets to Successful Management
When asked about what makes him a successful manager, Harvey shared his thoughts. ” I think experience, finding the right person, believing in it, staying with it, and also being able to let it go. You can’t flog a dead horse, you know what I mean?…
The other thing that I was good at was delegating. I used the best accountant and the best lawyer. If Jimmy needs a photograph, we’ve got Lord Litchfield to do (the photography), who’d just done Princess Diana and Prince Charles. We always went right to the top. But persistence, taking rejection, always and in the end, only take on what’s brilliant, what you really know is brilliant. And also try to avoid problems.”
He credits his 55-year marriage to his wife Carol for giving him a normal life away from the craziness of his past rock ‘n roll life. He reflects, “You’ve got to be very strong to be able to resist that… but if it’s thrown at you all the time it’s it’s not that easy. I mean, I wasn’t married (at the time), so I was a bachelor. It didn’t really match up to me. I got so fed up with it that by the time I was 27, I thought that’s it. I’m out of here. I’ve had enough I can’t take anymore. I’m gonna settle down.”
Lisberg recently quit gambling. “You go through a time in life where your luck is so preposterous. I couldn’t lose a gambler, and that’s unbelievable. I used to go with my wife and my in-laws to London, and I’d go to the gambling club to play roulette. I kept winning, and they kept saying we wanted to go to bed. We’re up until 4:30 am, and I won £10,000 and paid everybody’s hotels for the weekend. It was crazy. Maybe because we’re making so much money, we have no fear of money. And as a gambler, you have no respect for money. It’s just paper. When luck changes, it’s oh, we’ll have it (the money)next week. Oh, the bank’s overdrawn. Well, we’ll get money, and we’ll borrow from people. Becomes so very impulsive and stupid.”
“I was gambling so much not to make money, but it just took a lot of time up. And if you bet on a football match, it’s two hours of the day gone; you bet on an American football, it’s four hours.” Lisberg adds, “I’ve noticed that since I’ve stopped gambling, I’ve got a lot of time on my hands. But it’s been a good life.”
Get Your Copy Today!
Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker: Jimmy White and Alex Higgins is available for purchase from Amazon.com: Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker: Jimmy White and Alex Higgins, Audible at Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker and at New Home – Harvey Lisberg
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View all postsHello! I am the blog owner & Editor-in-Chief of this bilingual website Fashion Ecstasy (http://fashionecstasy.com ) (both Chinese and English)! Over 9 years since its inception, Fashion Ecstasy is the go-to media outlet for residents in Toronto and Taiwan. After relocating to Taiwan, Fashion Ecstasy has immediately caught the attention across all industries, including Taiwan's Tourism Bureau! I was personally invited to become the official media partner to review Tainan’s English-friendly businesses for 2 consecutive years. See: 2017: http://fashionecstasy.com/6-top-english-friendly-stores-for-travelers-in-tainan/ 2018: https://fashionecstasy.com/top-5-tainan-english-friendly-stores-2018/ I have also worked with many well-known global brands across all industries. I am proficient in various Adobe Master Suite design softwares, including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, PDF Acrobat Pro, and more. I am also active on all social media platforms. All of Fashion Ecstasy’s social media accounts are managed by me; please refer to: https://www.Facebook.com/fashionecsta Followers/fans: 3500 Twitter: @fashionecstasy Follower numbers: 2257 Instagram: @fashionecstasy Followers: 3500 Tiktok: @tanya.fashionecstasy Number of followers: 30,6000 In addition, I also have my personal social media accounts: Twitter: @hsutanya Instagram: @tanya.fashionecstasy What you get from a review from us will be in both Chinese and English translation to expand your potential clientele, as well as a YouTube review video You may reach me by: WhatsApp: (+886) 958771010 Line ID: Tinkeebellezza (capital T, without @, please send me a message first so I don’t miss you） WhatsApp ID: tinkerbellezza WeChat ID: tinkerbellezza Email: fashionecstasytv@gmail.com I look forward to collaborating with you. 您好！我是知名網站時尚高潮 / Fashion Ecstasy (https://fashionecstasy.com)（中英雙語）的布落客主人&總編輯！時尚高潮創辦已經10年之久，源起加拿大，7年前中風後轉戰台灣，也新增了不少當地的粉絲。 身為總編的我回台後立即受到相關業者的關注，包括台南市政府觀光局，並連續兩年內被台南市政府顧用介紹台南的英文友善特色商店與推廣台灣觀光業！請見： 2017: http://fashionecstasy.com/6-top-english-friendly-stores-for-travelers-in-tainan/ 2018: http://fashionecstasy.com/top-5-tain 因為我是嚴重中風生存者，動過開腦手術，所以對鬧部心血管疾病跟醫療有專業的知識，至今仍在治療中，所以沒有上班、可以趕稿，也特別需要這份工作 我從小在國外長大，精通中英文！ 我也曾與許多全球知名的品牌（美妝包括Body Shop, The Face Shop, Schwarzkopf 等等合作，請參考： 學歷我擁有意大利服裝設計名校Istituto Marangoni Masters 的碩士學位，精通Adobe各項設計軟體，包括Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, 跟 InDesign, PDF Acrobat Pro. 我也善長使用現當最受大眾喜愛的網路社交軟體，Fashion Ecstasy 的所有關方社交網站都是由我ㄧ手管理，追蹤人數請參考： 臉書/Facebook Fashion Ecstasy (http://fashionecstasy.com)追蹤人術/粉絲： 3335 推特/Twitter: I 追蹤人數2270 Instagram/IG: @fashionecstasy (http://www.instagram.com/fashionecstasy) 追蹤人數：3491 抖音Tiktok: @tanya.fashionecstasy 追蹤人數：306000 除了管理Fashion Ecstasy 的官方設交網站外，我還有自己私人的帳號 (Twitter: @HsuTanya Instagram: @tanya.fashionecstasy) 我去過四十幾個國家，可以無障礙的運用專業及當下流行的術語。日文略懂 轉戰台灣後，立即收許多粉絲注目，也連續兩年被台南市政府顧用介紹台南的特色商店與推廣台灣觀光業！ 請見： http://fashionecstasy.com/6-top-english-friendly-stores-for-travelers-in-tainan/ 2018: https://fashionecstasy.com/top-5-tainan-english-friendly-stores-2018/ 2017: https://fashionecstasy.com/6-top-english-friendly-stores-for-travelers-in-tainan/ Youtube頻道： https://www.youtube.com/user/FashionEcstasydotcom?sub_confirmation=1 （訂閱人數：5.23K） 希望有機會可以跟貴公司合作！與貴公司合作之文章我門都將中英譯，為貴公司帶來以及開發新客戶，真心希望與您合作！ 我的聯絡方式： 電話:/ WhatsApp: (+886) 979905968 Line (賴）ID: Tinkeebellezza ( T 大寫，沒有@,要給我訊息才看得到喔！） WhatsApp ID: tinkerbellezza Wechat ID: tinkerbellezza Email: fashionecstasytv@gmail.com
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