Patsy Fagan

Patsy Fagan (born 15 January 1951) is an Irish former professional snooker player. Having been runner-up in the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he turned professional in October 1976. He experienced early success with victories at the 1977 UK Championship and the 1977 Dry Blackthorn Cup but following a car accident, developed a psychological block when using the which affected his playing and he did not win another title. He lost his professional status in 1989 following a 2–9 playoff defeat by Brady Gollan and now works as a snooker coach. His highest career ranking was 11, in 1978/79.

Early life and amateur career Fagan was born in Dublin on 15 January 1951, one of twelve children. He started playing snooker at the age of 12, and moved to London in 1968.

He played at the Chiswick Memorial Club, and in 1974 it was reported in a local newspaper that in a six-frame session he had recorded a break of 106, another over 80, and three more over 70. In the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he defeated Mick Fisher 6–1 in the Southern section final before being beaten 7–11 by the reigning world amateur champion Ray Edmonds in the main final. In 1975, Fagan became the youngest player ever to win the London and Home Counties billiards championship, playing with a focus on potting the red ball as he defeated Ron Riggins 1,176–881 in the final. In the 1975 English Amateur Snooker Championship he lost 1–4 to Terry Griffiths in the Southern region quarter-finals, and in the 1976 Southern area final he lost 6–8 to Chris Ross despite making a tournament record break of 115. an amount equal to that received by the winner of the 1974 World Snooker Championship. Fagan turned professional in October 1976. He made his first maximum break on 15 January 1977, his 26th birthday, against Dave Gilbert at the Clapton Bus Garage Social Club. having finished the first session of the match level at 4–4 and the second 7–10 behind. Reardon then won all three in the final session, taking the last two of them on the black. The matches between Fagan and Reardon, and between Fred Davis and John Pulman, were the first to be held at the Crucible Theatre, which as of 2022 had remained as the venue for the World Snooker Championship for 45 years.

At the UK Championship in 1977, which at the time was a non-ranking event open only to UK passport holders, eventually winning the match 12–9. along with world championship winners Alex Higgins, John Spencer and Reardon. He beat Spencer in the semi-final then Higgins 4–2 in the final to win the tournament. He received £2,000 prize money for his Dry Blackthorn Cup win, the same amount he had received for his UK championship victory a couple of weeks earlier.

In the 1970s and until 1982, the Irish Professional Championship was played on a challenge basis, Higgins won the match 21–13.

Entering the 1978 UK Championship as defending champion, Fagan lost the first four frames of his opening match against David Taylor before tying the match at 4–4, eventually losing 7–9. From late 1978, following a car accident, Fagan started to experience a psychological block when using the . This version of the "yips" caused him to spend a long time cueing and then usually ; because of this, he would play left-handed rather than using the rest where possible. This problem affected his match against Taylor at the Masters in January 1979. Two months later, he challenged Higgins again for the Irish Professional title. Higgins won the match 21–12, making a break of 124 in 2 minutes and 45 seconds on the final day.

Fagan was part of the "rest of the world" team at the 1979 World Challenge Cup, along with Perrie Mans and Jimmy van Rensberg. In their match against the Northern Ireland team, Fagan lost 0–1 to Dennis Taylor on the first day, in a match where Taylor asked him to play again after Fagan had fouled by touching the blue ball with his sleeve whilst using the rest in attempting to hit the yellow ball. Fagan was quoted afterwards as saying "Dennis took advantage of my rest problems but it didn't bother me." On the second day, he beat Jackie Rea 1–0 but then lost 0–3 to Higgins on the second. Northern Ireland won the match 8–7 after having been 2–7 behind. Fagan and his fellow team members also lost 7–8 against the England team. and 10–8 at the close of the second session. The third session saw Fagan make a break of 107 on his way to building a 15–12 lead. However, Taylor retained the title, winning 22–21. His highest career ranking had been 11, in 1978/79, and his best finish in a ranking tournament was reaching the quarter-final at the 1978 World Snooker Championship. He subsequently worked as a landscape gardener and a night-shift sorter for the Post Office. Ronnie O'Sullivan sought coaching advice from Fagan in 2011.

He entered the 2021 World Seniors Championship, losing 0–3 to Stephen Hendry in the first round.

Performance and rankings timeline

Performance Table LegendLQ lost in the qualifying draw#R lost in the early rounds of the tournament(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)QF lost in the quarter-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournament NH / Not Held means an event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.

Career finals Non-ranking finals: 6 (3 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.Winner 1. 1977 UK Championship Doug Mountjoy12–9 Runner-up 1. 1978 Irish Professional Championship Alex Higgins13–21 Winner 2. 1977 Louth Town & Country Club Pro-am 8–5

Amateur finals: 1 OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.Runner-up 1. 1974 7–11