Jim Donnelly

Jim Donnelly (13 June 1946 – 24 February 2026) was a Scottish professional snooker player and coach.

Biography Donnelly won the Scottish Amateur Snooker Championship in 1978, beating Eddie McLaughlin 6–4 in the final. He was accepted by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) as a professional in 1981.

He defeated fellow Scottish players Matt Gibson and Eddie Sinclair, both with a scoreline of 9–8, in the qualifying competition for the 1982 World Snooker Championship and became the first Scottish player to qualify for the main stage of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre.

He reached the final of the 1987 Scottish Professional Championship by beating Murdo MacLeod and Sinclair, but finished runner-up as he was defeated 10–7 by Stephen Hendry in the final. In his obituary in Snooker Scene, Marcus Stead wote that Donnelly was "known for his shrewd snooker mind and his sense of fun."