DARTS

Dartboards

London Dartboard - or East London Darts Board - used to be known as a Clock board. Twelve segments in units of five: 5, 10, 15, and 20, and no trebles. It was made redundant by the London Trebles board. Some East End pubs still have them. The London Trebles board spread to the rest of the country, superseding existing other types of board and thereby standardising the game. A parallel development occurred with the length of darts.

Darts Commentator

Sid Waddell

Sid Waddell (1940-2012) was a television darts commentator. Despite being a populist working in a populist medium, the Geordie had read history at the University of Cambridge. He was given to lacing his commentaries with references to the likes of Wittgenstein, J.K. Galbraith, Milton, and the Classical World.

Darts Organisation

The British Darts Organisation

In 1927 the News of The World newspaper established a darts competition.

Oliver Croft (1929-2019) ran a tile shop in Crouch End. He came to appreciate the popularity of darts after witnessing The Haringay Arms pub in Hornsey become deathly quiet after the words of Game On were shouted out. In 1961 he started playing for its team. In 1972 Yorkshire Television made a television called Indoor League that featured pub games. The following year Oliver set up the British Darts Organisation, which refused to work with the existing National Darts Association of Great Britain and set up its own inter-county league. It set up an England side that competed internationally. Both the B.B.C. and I.T.V. asked it to help develop their coverage of darts. May of the leading players became full-time professionals. The likes of Eric Bristow, Bobby George, and Jocky Wilson became household names. Despite the game s success it developed an image problem, becoming associated with oafish men who had large beer bellies.

In the early 1990s the popularity of darts waned. The News of The World ended its competition. There was less television coverage and sponsorship. A number of the leading players asked Croft to make changes to the game. He proved to be unresponsive. Therefore, sixteen of them broke away from the B.D.O. and set up the World Darts Council. It established competitions that only professionals could play in, the B.D.O having had a more open approach. Litigation ensued in 1997, on the grounds of restraint of trade. The High Court ruled that the B.D.O. had to recognise the W.D.C.. The latter changed its name to the Professional Darts Corporation and developed a relationship with Sky. Twenty years later the two organisations still had separate pools of players and tournaments. Players tended to build their careers within the B.D.O. and then switch to the P.D.C., which had tournaments with more prize money. In 2011 Croft was voted off the board of the B.D.O..

Location: The Haringay Arms, 153 Crouch Hill, N8 9QH

Darts Players

Eric Bristow

Eric Bristow (1957-2018) was raised in Stoke Newington and attended Hackney Downs Grammar School. He developed a formidable technique. He was able to compute at speed where he should be seeking to land his dart. This meant that his rhythm of play was very smooth. A personal touch was to daintily crook the little finger of his hand when throwing a dart; he was to admit It s me gimmick, innit. He left school at fifteen and went to work as a proofreader at an advertising agency. He was paid 14 per week. He was soon was earning ten times as much at weekends playing darts and became a fulltime player. He proved to be able to handle pressure. While playing he conducted himself with considerable swagger, goading his rivals with wide-boy self-assuredness; he created theatre on the oche. I have two bowls of confidence for breakfast each morning . During his early career this help to make him a contentious figure, who had a love-hate relationship with audiences. Upon one occasion he beat Jocky Wilson, a Scot, in Scotland - the spectators pelted him with McEwan s cans. Television appreciated that darts was a cheap way of making television programmes. Bristow s contentiousness helped to make it attractive to the public.

His nickname, the Crafty Cockney , was derived from a bar in Lose Angeles. He was given to wearing its commemorative shirt, which feature the Union flag and a British bobby. He won the World Championship in 1980, 1981, 184, 1985 and 1986, as well as being the runner-up four times. Following his 1984 victory Sid Waddell, the television darts commentator, exclaimed When Alexander of Macedon was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer. Bristow is only 27. He also won five World Masters during the era. Bristow believed money was for spending and his earnings were spent on holidays, he made over 50 visits to Las Vegas. He tended to sport a tan most of the year.

In 1989 he was awarded an M.B.E.. After having been given it by the queen, he unthinkingly broke royal protocol by turning his back towards her. He realised what he had done, turned around, and said Sorry, darling. He claimed that she burst out laughing.

In 1986, while playing in the Swedish Open Bristow suffered an attack of dartitis, the game s equivalent of golf s yips, that involves being unable to release the dart and follow through. Subsequently, the dominance he had enjoyed was never recovered. The underlying strength of his game meant that he remained a leading player. In 1990 he became the No. 1 player for the sixth time. By 1997 Phil Taylor, someone whom he had mentored and funded while particularly badly afflicted with the dartitis, was the dominant force in the game, Bristow stopped playing in the majors. A decade later he retired from competition and became a darts commentator. He was forthright in his opinions and was eventually sacked in 2016. His final job was assisting at a cattery. Something that he managed to keep hidden was that he was an avid stamp collector.

David Backhouse 2024