By Elliott West
Introduction
Howard Kruger is a controversial figure in the history of snooker. His advisory role with players such as Alex Higgins and Tony Knowles in the so called ‘Golden Age’ of snooker in the 1980s, largely involved promoting players and being at the end of a telephone when it all went wrong. A businessman and entrepreneur, worked with ballet, music industry and sport such as football and horse racing, to attempt to create the best experience for the audience.
In snooker, was one of the first promoters to tour and take snooker global, by creating sports events and tours, including the first snooker tournament in Beijing,The Tokyo Snooker Challenge, The Hong Kong Kent Masters and he was the first person in the history of snooker to set up and complete a big money transfer deal when he purchased the contract of Alex “Hurricane” Higgins.
The Man in the Wings
Kruger has worked with many sports celebrities over the years such as Torville and Dean, Vinnie Jones and Mike Gatting but for the purpose of this piece, I want to concentrate on his association with Alex Higgins. Alex was clearly very vulnerable in the latter part of his career and as his fame grew, he became more volatile. Although Higgins could be one of the kindest people, he could often switch at the flip of a coin to becoming a enraged individual that the media loved to write about. It was then that Howard Kruger stepped in and helped Alex deal with the flashing cameras, legal advice and signing off the media appearances.
Personally, I don’t believe that Kruger was good for Higgins. He almost legitimised Alex’s mistakes and scrapes. What the Irishman needed was love and constructive help. A solution that was fraught with danger as so many of close friends experienced first hand but necessary. Today, Alex would probably be seen to have been suffering from a mental illness, probably Bi Polar Disorder. An illness that I have had first hand experience of, having lost my own Mother to this, at only 54 years old.
Howard Kruger can’t be blamed entirely, as there were many negative forces in his life but Kruger defended the indefensible. Higgins often wanted to make a statement and he did this in the most dramatic form, head butting a tournament official, urinating in a plant pot, falling off a window ledge and breaking his foot after a row with his girlfriend, Siobhan Kidd and later fracturing her cheekbone or appearing inebriated at his retirement press conference, complete with a tirade of abuse. Howard, was always there at his side, providing the conversation when Higgins was rambling and holding his hand on media appearances such as Wogan.
Kruger would claim that he had Alex’s best interests at heart but did he? Higgins was a broken soul and deteriorated as he got older. Although close to his sisters, children and a few players, Higgins largely destroyed most of his friendships, largely due to that unrestrained inner rage he possessed. Howard’s actions fuelled it, bringing him to the forefront of the media throng that surrounded him outside his family home or a snooker venue.
The sting in the tail for Alex, was when Kruger’s media company, Framework Management Limited went into liquidation, wound up with debts of £374,361. Alex claimed he was owed £51,536 as a result of his contract with Howard. In October 1991 in a Brighton court, Kruger was disqualified for five years from holding a company directorship.
Howard Kruger was for a while, part of the ignition that fuelled the mania that consumed Alex Higgins. Alex shouldn’t have been in the media eye during this period and clearly could have been in a clinic, helping him with his inner demons of alcohol, drugs, and mental instability. Instead, he homed in on his volatile lifestyle and the raging fire that surrounded his snooker career. Rather than firefighting, his damage limitation tactics just fuelled the fire. Perhaps Higgins couldn’t be saved from his self-destructive path in life but Kruger didn’t suppress the ailing dam, seeking instead the monetary reward that this snooker maverick could generate with Alex ultimately being the victim.
