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A Brief Introduction to Professional Darts

The game of darts is played and enjoyed by millions of people in UK pubs and clubs and by millions more across the World. The game has come from the humble roots of the tap and public rooms of the traditional English pub on to the international stage and is regularly televised to millions across the World.

In 1978 the first World Darts Championship was organised by the British Darts Organisation and sponsored by Embassy tobacco. The winner, Leighton Rees from Wales, received a trophy and a cheque for the sum of £3,000.

Prize money has since increased considerably in the game of darts, and the winner of a major competition can expect to pick up a vast amount of money. Take for example the 2019 PDC World Championship, and a losing first-round player receives £7,500, the competition winner £500,000. One of the biggest contributors to the rise in prize money in such competitions has been as a result of increased lucrative sponsorship deals.

Since 1978 the game has grown into one of the best-loved and viewed sports on television. It has made many darters into household names here are just a few:

John Lowe three-time world champion, John Part three-time world champion, Martin Adams three-time world champion, Eric Bristow five-time world champion, Raymond van Barneveld five-time world champion, Micheal van Gerwen three-time world champions, and Phil Taylor sixteen-time world champion.

In March 2005 the 'game' of darts was recognised by 'Sports England' as a sporting activity which could pave the way to the sport featuring in future Olympic Games. However, I still feel we are a long way from that day.

Darts is one of the fastest-growing sports in Holland, Germany, China and Asia. Over a third of the Dutch population watched Raymond Van Barneveld become the first Dutch player to take the world darts title in 1998; he has since won the title a further four times 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 (PDC World Darts Championship). Raymond beat the reigning champion Phil Taylor 7 sets to 6 and a sudden-death leg in the final set. The famous Bull up for the right to throw first will long be remembered as Phil hit an outer Bull Raymond asked for the dart to be left in as he used it to push his own dart into the centre Bull. Since then the Bulling up procedure in the PDC events has changed. All darts are removed before the opponents throw. Raymond now equals Eric Bristow's achievement but still trails Phil Taylor's staggering sixteen world title victories.

The prize fund over the years has steadily increased, with players playing for £500,000 first prize in 2019/2020 PDC World Darts Championships. It is a far cry from the first World Championships prize of £3,000. The sports prize money continues to grow, making a few of the current player's millionaires.

In December 2007 PDC World Darts Championship moved to the Alexandra Palace. The Alexandra Palace is affectionately known as the 'Ally Pally' and was the stage set for the world-renowned 'News of the World Individual Darts Tournaments'.

The New of the World Darts Tournament was probably one of the most challenging dart events to win with a best of three legs format throughout the competition, including the final. Legendary dart player Bobby George managed to win this event twice, and on one occasion Bobby didn't lose a single leg throughout the tournament.

In 2001 the BDO introduced a Ladies World Darts Championship which was won by England's Trina Gulliver MBE. Trina has won this event for seven consecutive years and made the final yet again in 2008 and 2009 but only to lose to a new up and coming star Anastasia Dobromyslova from Russia in 2008 and Francis Hoenselaar from Holland in 2009. In 2010 Trina again regained the title beating Rhian Edwards from Wales 2-0 she then repeated this feat in 2011 again beating Rhain Edwards by the same margin 2-0. In 2016 Trina won the World Darts title yet again making her the most successful ladies darts player in the World, a record-breaking Ten World Titles. Trina has been awarded the MBE for services to darts and charitable fundraising.

In 2008, Ladies dart player Anastasia Dobromyslova moved away from the BDO to the PDC. Anastasia played in a preliminary qualifying round for the PDC World Darts Championship 2009 but lost to Dutchman Remco van Eijden 5 legs to 3. She also tried to qualify for the 2010 championship but failed. Anastasia moved back to the BDO late 2010 / early 2011, and in 2012 she won BDO / WDF Ladies Worlds Darts Championship for the second time and then again in January 2013.

In 2007 the PDC introduced the first Youth World Championship. This event was won by Arron Monk who beat Michael van Gerwen 6 - 4 in the final. However, it wasn't until 2015 when the BDO followed suit and introduced its own Youth World Championship. It was sixteen-year-old Colin Roelofs from the Netherlands who became the first victor beating seventeen-year-old Harry Ward from England 3 - 0. Harry, unfortunately, didn't win a single leg in the final however I am sure we will see a lot more from all of these youth players in the future.

Lisa Ashton from Lancashire has since been a dominate in the ladies game, winning in 2014, 2015, 2017 and again in 2018. However, in 2019 Lisa was sensationally knocked out in the first round by the Japanese soft-tip star, Mikuru Suzuki. Mikuru went on to win the 2019 Lakeside title beating Englands Lorraine Winstanley. Mikuru followed this up by winning the Dutch Open the following month. Mikura retained her title in 2020, gain beating the tournament favourite, Lisa Ashton.

During the 2019 Lakeside World Championships calls for a significant review of the ladies' prize fund and short match format were called into question. The winning prize for women was just £12,000 compared to the men's £100,000. The chairman of the BDO at the time said this would be reviewed.

2019 also witnessed a number of the top BDO players move to the more lucrative PDC. With a £14M annual prize fund, and with the BDO contract restrictions taken off, players flocked to win a PDC tour card.

Glen Durrant who had just won his third consecutive BDO World title, and former BDO No.1 Mark McGeeney, were among the thirty successful players to win a two-year PDC tour card. They were joined by a few others that featured the BDO World Championship event, thus depleting the BDO's main contenders. With the main BDO stars at the time moving to the PDC, the BDO was left with the old ageing guard to re-established the once firm grip the BDO held in World Darts.

In 2020 with a new chairman on-board Des Jacklin, the BDO moved their world darts championship away from the Lakeside venue to the O2 Arena. The move was not met with overall approval from the loyal BDO darts fans as they decided to not attend in their thousands. The BDO world championship will go down in history for all the wrong reasons. The change of venue and the recent loss of professional darts referees all added to the BDO misery. Promised prize money was slashed, and the conversation turned away from the players and was directed to the chairman. The poor management left the BDO in debt, and the future of the organisation in 2020 looked in dought. Des Jacklin later resigned as chairman but was later reinstated following a narrow county representative vote victory. However, Jacklin was not able to convince all, and there was a challenge to the BDO dominance in the UK. The BDO had lost its status as it didn’t represent a Country within the WDF and lost its vote. The respective organisation had finally lost its support, and in 2020 several challenges were made to take over the running of the Inter-County Championships. Following a vote, the UK Counties voted for a new organisation UK Darts. The 2021 British Inter-County Championships will now be known as the UK National League. The WDF may now introduce a World Darts Championship and World Masters. The PDC now firmly run the professional side of darts with more players competing to join each year.

In 2019 John Lowe the former three-time World Darts Champion was awarded an MBE in the UK Queens New Year's honours list. John became the second male dart player to be awarded the MBE. The late Eric Bristow was the first recipient in 1989. The only other player to date to receive such an award is Trina Gulliver, the ladies ten-time World Darts Champion.

Dart fans may question the above because Phil Taylor was appointed an MBE in 2001. However, he didn't receive the award medal as this was annulled because he was found guilty on an indecent assault. Taylor denied the charges but had to pay £2,000 as a result of his conviction.

In 2010 Russ Strobel submitted to the Darts Australia a new recommended dartboard height for Wheelchair users. The height Russ has come up with is 137cm to the centre Bull. The height based on the perceived origins of the standard hanging height of the standard clock dartboard. It said the average height of a man in the England UK was 5'8" around the 1920s, the height of the centre bullseye of a standard board. Modern adjustments make that 173cm. Russ took this analogy and worked out what the height would be should a man of 5'8" (173cm) be sitting in a wheelchair. His exact figure came out to be 136.5cm however, as Russ explained the addition of 0.5cm would make the recommended wheelchair dartboard height easy to remember 137cm (wheelchair) - 173cm (Standard). The concept of the new height for Wheelchair uses was accepted by Darts Australia, and in 2012 it was also accepted by the World Darts Organisation. More about Disability Darts can is featured on this website.

On this site, you will find a brief history of this intriguing sport along with all the information you will need to set up the dartboard and organise darting events. You can also learn how boards are constructed using sisal (a material used in rope making) and how dart weights, lengths, shafts and flights can alter the flight of the dart.

The site also features traditional games played on today's standard dartboards and UK Regional dartboards; The Yorkshire and the Manchester log-end to name just two. You can download rules and many games from here as well as those all-important checkouts.

You will also find Practice routines to improve your accuracy and scoring consistency, as well as information about maintaining your dartboard and darts. There are also many dart related links to professional dart organisations, manufacturers, suppliers, professional dart players. My thanks go to them for their help and support in building this site.

I hope you enjoy the website your feedback is always welcome, and if you like the site, please inform others.

Darts501 was established in 2004 and from its humble beginnings and a few makeovers the website has had over well over 14 million viewers, and the increasing trend continues. In 2019 the website attracted a conservative 1.6 million. However, with more people opting not to have their visit to this website recorded this figure is vastly undervalued. Thanks to all that visit and keep calling back to see regular updates.

 

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