Joe O’Boye (born 6 March 1960) is an Irish former professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player. He represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

at the 1988 Snooker World Cup. He was the winner of the 1980

English Amateur Championship The English Amateur Championship is an annual snooker competition, the highest-ranking and most prestigious amateur event in England. It is also the oldest and longest-running snooker tournament in the world, having been established in 1916, th ...

Career

O’Boye had three applications for professional status declined by the

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards. It is headquartered in Bristol, England. Founded as the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) in ...

after his 1980

victory before they relented and he was accepted. In October 1985 he made his television debut at the 1985 Rothmans Grand Prix held at the Hexagon in Reading against

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...

, losing 4-5 but with White winning the last three frames. Before the game O’Boye was unable to find his dress suit and was still undressed four minutes before play; White offered to lend him his spare, before it was eventually found. O’Boye reached the quarter-final at the

1987 International Open The 1987 International Open (officially the 1987 Fidelity Unit Trusts International Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between September and October 1987 at Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The last 6 ...

where he played

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and a current Sports commentator, commentator and pundit. One of the most successful players in snooker history, he turned professional in 1985, ag ...

following wins against Martin Clark,

Kirk Stevens Kirk Stevens (born August 17, 1958) is a Canadian former professional snooker player. Career Stevens started playing young, achieving his first aged just 12. He turned professional aged 20, and reached the semi-finals of the World Championship ...

and

Robby Foldvari Robby Foldvari (born 2 June 1960) is an Australian player of snooker, English billiards, and pool. He is a multi-year World Billiards Champion (1986, 1997, 1998), and a national-level champion in both snooker (2006, 2008) and nine-ball pool (2 ...

. O’Boye defeated

Danny Fowler Danny Fowler (born 30 July 1956 in Worksop) is an English former professional snooker player. Early life Danny Fowler was born on 30 July 1956 in Worksop. Fowler played snooker recreationally from the age of 15 to 20, but then stopped playing ...

and

Barry West Barry West (24 October 1958 – 15 December 2022) was an English professional snooker player. Biography Barry West was born on 24 October 1958, in Wickersley, England, and became a professional snooker player in 1985. At the end of his first ...

to reach the last 32 of the Snooker World Championship in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. He lost 10–6 to

Silvino Francisco Silvino Francisco (3 May 1946 – 14 December 2024) was a South African professional snooker player who won the 1985 British Open. Snooker career Francisco came from a snooker-playing family. His brother Manuel and nephew Peter both played at ...

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

. O’Boye had previously reached the last 32 of the

UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican in York, England. Ronnie O'Sull ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, where he lost to

Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He turned professional in 1972 and won the 1985 World Snooker Championship, in which he lost the first eight frames of 1985 W ...

. O’Boye would often practise at a snooker club in Kings Cross along with

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English retired professional snooker player who is a former world champion and current coach. Ebdon won nine ranking titles during his career, placing him in joint 14th position (with John Parrott ...

and

Tony Drago Tony Drago ( ; born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 ...

. Drago beat O’Boye 9-0 in 81 minutes at the 1990 UK Championship. O’Boye was said to have been a significant influence in terms of his break-building abilities on the likes of Drago and Ebdon, as well as

who was considered a drinking buddy of O’Boye and their escapades together "tended to involve an inordinate amount of alcohol" although O’Boye was later said to have remarked "I don’t regret anything. You’re only young once, and you can’t buy youth." O’Boye's behaviour at the 1990 Rothmans Grand Prix in Reading in October 1990 caused him to be banned from the 1991 Mercantile Credit Classic. Further charges of abusive behaviour towards sponsors and match officials during the 1990 UK Championship in Preston and the Benson and Hedges satellite tournament in Glasgow caused further suspensions to include the 1991 World Snooker Championships.

References

* Irish snooker players Living people 1960 births Sportspeople from Limerick (city) {{England-snooker-bio-stub