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Since his professional debut in 1992, John Higgins quickly became one of the world’s greatest snooker players.
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His consistency at the top has ensured he is one of the sport’s top earners.
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With little sign of him slowing down, he is sure to consolidate his net worth in the future.
Born in May 1975 in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, John Higgins began his senior career in 1992 when he turned professional.
After he won his first ranking tournament during the 1994/95 season he rose in prominence, and has been near the top of the sport ever since.
Despite being embroiled in a match-fixing scandal in 2010, he returned as strongly as ever, and has been the world’s top-ranked player for four separate periods in his career, winning 31 ranking titles, including four World Championships, three UK Championships and two Masters titles along the way.
How Much Is John Higgins Worth?
Remarkably Higgins has defied the snooker odds and maintained his high standards as he progressed through his forties.
Despite losing three consecutive World Championship finals from 2017-19, he will have consolidated his net worth by remaining one of the sport’s highest-performing players over such a long period.
His current net worth is £8 million, which is one of the best in the sport, with over £5 million of that coming from tournament earnings.
With a cool quarter of a million pounds available to the winner at the time, Higgins’ peak earnings would have come in the late 2000s, when he won the World Championship on three occasions, while his subsequent final defeats would have still pocketed him over £500,000.
Having participated in 51 ranking finals, winning 31 of them, you can see how he has accumulated such wealth.
Higgins has also made plenty from endorsement deals, most notably through Negotiate Now, Scotland's business directory, bringing home an annual income of between £50,000-£100,000.
John Higgins Nickname
John Higgins is known as the Wizard of Wishaw, named after the town of his birth. It is a well-earned title for a player who has been winning ranking tournaments and major titles for well over two decades.
It is traditional for snooker players to have nicknames, so Higgins is far from alone. In fact, some players have had more than one nickname during their careers, and Higgins himself was once referred to as “The Kid”.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is “The Rocket”, while the current top-rank player Judd Trump is known as “The Ace In The Pack”, amongst other names.
Naturally, these are not terms for use in the sporting arena, but more for marketing purposes – you won’t find snooker referees referring to players in this way.
John Higgins Family
The son of John (Snr) and Josephine, John Higgins is himself a father to three children – two sons, Oliver and Pierce, and a daughter, Claudia, with his wife Denise Higgins.
John met Denise at a disco as teenagers, though she knew little of his snooker skills at the time. The couple got engaged in 1998 and married two years later.
As John’s career took off, Denise has commented how she wanted to keep working, as it was all she had known, and she opened her own beauty salon, while juggling the demands of parenthood.
John often has his family around him at major tournaments, hopefully to celebrate with, but he has commented in the past about how important Denise has been in picking him up when things don’t go as well as planned.
John Higgins 147
In August 2021, Higgins made the maximum 147 break in his very first frame at the British Open.
This was the 12th maximum of his long career, overtaking the brilliant Stephen Hendry, an achievement that Higgins called “a proud moment”, and which he partly attributes to a new fitness regime.
That figure puts him second in the all-time list, behind the genius of Ronnie O’Sullivan, who has had 15 maximums in his time.
Both players became professional in 1992, but Higgins is the oldest player to secure a 147 break at the elite level of the sport. Remarkably, his latest break came a full 21 years after his first maximum, at the Irish Open in 2000.
John Higgins Snooker Cue
Despite being a stalwart of the sport for over 25 years, Higgins suffered with erratic form between 2011-16, which caused him to repeatedly change his cue on at least three occasions in order to regain some of his old sparkle.
Eventually the form would return as he reached three consecutive World Championship finals, even if he was not to emerge victorious in any of them.
Even late in 2020 he was still changing cues, which resulted in fellow player Ronnie O’Sullivan commenting on how John and the legendary Alex Higgins were very alike in how often they did this.
Higgins himself has commented that recent cue changes were inspired by the performances of rival players, and the cue power advantage they appeared to have.
John Higgins World Titles
In his 29 years as a professional snooker player, Higgins has won four World Championship titles, but it could have been much more, as he lost three consecutive finals between 2017 and 2019.
Nevertheless, it is a wonderful return for a player who has demonstrated the ability to forge a long career in the sport, placing him among the elite of world snooker champions.
The first world title for Higgins came just six years after he turned professional, defeating Ken Doherty 18-12 in the final. He would have a wait for another title after losing the 2001 final but added three titles in five years between 2007 and 2011.
After a slump in form, Higgins proved his worth with those three finals, but could not add to his previous successes. There was however, the consolation of a Champion of Champions title in 2016.
John Higgins Everton
John sported an Everton scarf after securing the 2011 World Championship, which followed the toughest year of his life, following match-fixing allegations and the death of his father.
It was a surprise even to some Evertonians to discover John’s passion for the “Toffees”, as Everton are not his only team. In fact, Higgins is a passionate Celtic fan, with Everton seen as his “English” team.
Higgins celebrated his 1998 World Championship win by parading the trophy around Celtic Park on the day they won the league.
Unfortunately for the ace potter, the betting odds suggest quite a wait might be necessary until we witness further league success for Celtic.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Aijaz Rahi / AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 20th August 2021
