Darts History

When it comes to Darts origins, this is a very grey area. It is thought that the game possibly evolved from either archery, crossbow or javelin. What is not in doubt is the fact that more and more people started playing darts in pubs following the first world war. In 1927 the first News Of The World Darts Championship was held and by the swinging sixties Darts was on television.

The seventies saw the emergence of the British Darts Organisation (1973) and The first Embassy World Darts Championships was played at Heart of The Midlands Nightclub in Nottingham with Leighton Rees defeating John Lowe 11-7. John Lowe went on to become a darting legend, winning the world crown in three different decades. The eighties belonged to the Crafty Cockney, Eric Bristow. He dominated the game and went on to win five world titles. Little did he know that a player he had discovered and backed with his own money to play darts professionally would not only topple him, but go on to be the greatest darts player of all time! Phil Taylor was a factory worker from Stoke On Trent earning £74 a week. Eric discovered him playing in a local pub and turned him into a champion and the rest as they say his history. Phil The Power Taylor currently holds fourteen world titles and has taken the game of darts to a whole new level, setting match averages that the other professional players can only dream of.

Darts enjoyed a golden era in the eighties with the likes of Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Jockey Wilson playing in tournaments televised live on the BBC and ITV, but by the nineties it was beginning to unravel. In 1993 a group of leading players (including Phil Taylor) who had become disillusioned with the governing body and the direction the game, broke away from the BDO and formed their own circuit and organisation which later became known as the Professional Darts Corporation. This is still the case today with two world championships being held each year.

The is little doubt that darts has been revitalised under the PDC which is run by sports business supremo Barry Hearn. Backed up with exclusive contracts with Sky Sports and ITV the tour will offer a record breaking six million pounds in prize money in 2009. The Premier League screened on Sky consecutively for 16 weeks has taken darts to huge arenas across Britain with record crowds in attendance. Professional players (all with nicknames) walking on to loud music with glamour models by their side is all part of the show at a televised PDC event. It's a far cry from the working class pub game that was once played with wooden darts and a board made of plasticine.

For how long two governing bodies and two world championships can co-exist in one sport remains to be seen, but for now darts is riding the crest of a wave and Phil's getting richer.

Chris Waddington is the publisher of the Dart Masters Coaching Course Ebook. This course is not just about how to play darts, it contains serious methods of learning designed to improve your game beyond your optimum level in around six weeks. For more details on the course and the opportunity to receive free snippets from the course visit playgreatdarts.co.uk

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