Managing two of snooker’s most uncontrollable figures may sound like a serious headache, but Harvey Lisberg says it was just a whole lot of fun. Lisberg worked in management of musicians but branched out into snooker in the early 1980s as the sport approached its boom years.
![[Jimmy White]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-74372303.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=594)
He took on a young Whirlwind as a client, sprinkling a bit of glitz and glamour on his image as he looked to sell the talented Londoner to the world. Later came the Hurricane, with Lisberg taking on a mammoth task in trying to keep the legendary Northern Irishman in check.
![[Alex Higgins Snooker]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-837481918.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Fond memories abound for the 84-year-old, though, who has recalled some of the wild tales of working with the pair in his new short book ‘Managing the Bad Boys of Snooker’ which follows ‘I’m Into Something Good’ on his work in music. ‘The reaction to the snooker part of the other book was terrific and I reconnected with Jimmy for the first time in 40 years,’ Lisberg told Metro on his motivation behind the new book. ‘I speak to him now nearly every other day.
‘He told me these stories and the one for me that stood out was about the Kray twins.’. Indeed the tale Lisberg tells of White being bundled into a car and taken to visit Ronnie Kray in prison at the gangster’s instruction is a standout anecdote in the book.
There was also a sense of frustration that the Whirlwind’s distractions off the table were costing him silverware, but Lisberg says that was not the case at all. ‘The ride was like going to the Blackpool Pleasure Beach when you’re eight. It was just fun,’ he said. ‘The whole thing was like pantomime, it wasn’t real!.
