Mark Allen reveals he made snooker return after 10-week stay in mental health clinic

Mark Allen has revealed he spent 10 weeks in a mental health clinic before discharging himself to play in this week’s Northern Ireland Open. In a long statement posted on X, the 40-year-old said he was “not OK” but vowed to show his renowned “fighting qualities” as he continues his recovery.

Allen’s 4-2 defeat by his friend and compatriot Jordan Brown on Tuesday was his first match since his world championship semi-final loss to Wu Yize in April, when he missed a black off its spot to win.

After losing to Brown, Allen conducted an emotional interview with TNT Sports in which he said he was “really overwhelmed”, and suggested his career could be over. He wrote on Wednesday: “Everything I said in that interview was true. However, rest assured I’m doing my best to turn things round.

“I have been in a mental health clinic for the last 10 weeks, finally discharging so I could attempt to play in Belfast. I owed that to my family, in particular my daughter to see me play for what could be the last time … I also owed it to the fans who have supported me throughout my 21 years on tour.

“I also owed that to World Snooker who have been amazing from day one in all this, in particular Simon Brownell and Neil Tomkins who have remained in touch regularly, even Simon paying me a visit in the clinic itself.

“I’m not OK, but I’m OK in that itself. I’ve been much worse in the last few months than you saw yesterday. I literally didn’t see a future in anything. My daughter kept me going, the therapists, staff and all the other patients were amazing and helped me through some really dark days.

“I see the light now that I couldn’t see before but I do now. I also know it won’t happen overnight. I’m a work in progress. My fight and determination on the table has always been there for ones to see. I need to show those same fighting qualities off it now for a while.

“Please don’t detract anything from Jordan yesterday, he’s been aware of my struggles and that can’t have been easy to play in but he handled it with grace and skill as I knew he would. I’m proud to call him a friend.

“I hope the rest of the event is a success and I will continue my treatments going forward and then see what’s ahead.”

Since his defeat by Wu, Allen has stayed away from the tour for unspecified personal reasons that are understood not to relate to any repercussions from the manner of his defeat at the Crucible.

Allen has won both UK and Masters titles in a total of 12 ranking tournament wins, and has reached the world championship semi-finals three times. He was ranked world No 1 for four months in 2024.