Its history is long and varied, with roots in activities such as archery. In its modern form, darts started to get going around the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was most often played in pubs. In 1927, the News of the World tournament began, which for the next five decades or so would serve as a de facto world championship. During this time, darts had stars such as Jim Pike and Joe Hitchcock, who were popular for their darting 'trickshots' (such as knocking nails off noses with a thrown dart - something which may fall foul of various safety standards today!).
The 1970s saw darts emerge as a major televised spectacle. The appeal to television bosses was that it was cheap to produce, and it got good viewing figures.note The British Darts Organisation (founded in 1973 by Olly Croft), along with the World Darts Federation, put on major tournaments that received television coverage. The most significant of these was the Embassy World Professional Championship, the first edition of which was held in 1978 and won by Leighton Rees. This effectively marked the end of the News of the World tournament's status as the most prestigious darts event.
The 1980s, or at least the first half of them, are widely considered as a Golden Age for darts as far as wider public popularity goes, with top players like Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Jocky Wilson and Bobby George becoming Household Names. The peak was perhaps the World Championship final of 1983, won by the youthful rookie Keith Deller over favourite Bristow in a major upset, watched by ten million viewers. This was also the era of Bullseye (arguably the quintessential 1980s British game show) which, as the title suggests, was based around darts.
Problems were on the horizon, however. The 1980s was a decade of great social and economic change (particularly in the UK, where much of the governance of darts was and is based), and darts began to develop a reputation as a downtrodden working-class game. This was cemented by an (in)famous Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch which played on stereotypes about players being overweight and overly reliant on alcohol (back then, players on the TV could and often did smoke and drink while playing, reflecting the sport's origins as a pub game). By the late 1980s, the television coverage had dramatically dried up, thanks in part to the demise of ITV's World of Sport and also the arrival of a new generation of television executives like Alan Yentob at BBC2 and Greg Dyke at ITV, who disdained darts and its audiences as "too working class" and promptly removed it from their schedules. By 1989 only the annual Embassy World Championship was still televised.
The professional players, understandably, were not exactly happy about the declining state of darts, and by 1992 divisions were beginning to appear between the establishment and the professionals. A breakaway organisation, the World Darts Council (WDC), later to become the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) staged its own World Championship in 1994. The competitors mostly consisted of those who had left the BDO (among them the most accomplished British players, such as Bristow, Lowe and the up-and-coming Phil Taylor) and several North Americans). Sky Sports, then still relatively new, televised the event.
However, the BDO did not take this lightly and banned the 16 rebel players from darts competitions worldwide, even down to the local level. The ban was also applied to anyone else who associated with the rebels, including playing them in exhibitions. Two of the defectors subsequently returned to the BDO, but the other 14 held firm. The result was a long and costly legal dispute, which only ended when a compromise was reached in 1997. The BDO and the PDC formally acknowledged each other and the right of players to choose which side they played for, but they remained separate with their own pool of players and each continued to stage a version of the world championship. However, the bitterness lingered for much longer. It is known among darts players and fans as simply The Split
and any mention of it in darting circles is still guaranteed to generate passionate debates/furious arguments.
In terms of general public and media recognition, the BDO (whose version of the World Championship continued to be broadcast by The BBC) was generally still ahead of the WDC/PDC for the reminder of the 1990s, though it was the latter who had Phil Taylor, now generally regarded as the greatest player ever.note By the turn of the millennium, though, the tables turned — especially after sports promotor Barry Hearn became chairman of the PDC. More major events gradually began to appear, such as the UK Open note and the Premier League. Just as crucially, the numbers of top-ranked players switching from the BDO to the PDC began to rapidly increase, to the point where it became almost a routine in January of each year to speculate which ones would defect next. The television and media markets were also more competitive and fragmented by this point, with more people getting satellite television and thus access to PDC darts coverage on Sky. By the late 2000s, it was clear to all but the most staunch of BDO loyalists which organisation was ahead in terms of standards, prestige, money and, quite frankly, competence.note Riven by financial difficulties, the BDO ultimately collapsed in 2020, by which time the BBC had not broadcast its World Championship for four years note .
The PDC, by contrast, has gone from strength to strength with players like Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis and the all-conquering Phil Taylor note . Since 2008, the PDC World Championship has been held at Alexandra Palace in North London with much bigger crowds and fields of players than had been the case previously. The game has also grown on a global scale, with many nations being represented in major tournaments note . The Internet age has also boosted darts, with tournaments being regularly streamed online. Prize money has also reached levels that would have seemed fantastical just a couple of decades ago.
Notable darters:
- Martin Adams: Known as "Wolfie". Had a reputation early in his career for throwing away big leads in televised matches (such as against Chris Mason in the 1999 BDO world quarter-final). From the mid-2000s onwards he developed into a more formidable player, and eventually won three BDO world titles.
- Bob Anderson: Known as the "Limestone Cowboy". Won three consecutive World Masters titles in the 1980s and the BDO world title in 1988. Known for his trademark finger point after hitting a 180.
- Gary Anderson: "The Flying Scotsman". Two-time PDC world champion.
- Nathan Aspinall: "The Asp", rose to prominence by making the semi-finals of the 2019 PDC World Championship on his first attempt. He is the reigning World Matchplay Champion.
- Steve Beaton: "The Bronzed Adonis" (or "Magnum" when he resembled Tom Selleck). 1996 BDO world champion.
- Eric Bristow: "The Crafty Cockney". The most successful player of the 1980s with five world titles.
- Rob Cross: "Voltage", 2018 PDC World Champion, not only did he win it at the first attempt, but he also defeated Phil Taylor in the final.
- Jose de Sousa: "The Special One", former Grand Slam of Darts champion, known for his unorthodox checkouts and miscounts when playing.
- Bobby George: "Bobby Dazzler". Two-time world finalist and two-time News of the World champion. Later became known for his punditry.
- Ted Hankey: "The Count". Two-time BDO world champion.
- Joe Hitchcock: A player of the pre-television age who became famous for his incredible trickshots.
- Luke Humphries: "Cool Hand Luke", current PDC world champion, capping off a run that saw him win the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts, and Players' Championship all within a month and a half of each other.
- Luke Littler: "The Nuke", came out of nowhere during the 2024 PDC World Championship by making it to the finals at 16 years old, then becoming the youngest dart player ever to throw a nine-dart leg.
- John Lowe: "Old Stoneface". Three-time world champion.
- Wayne Mardle: "Hawaii 501", one of the most energetic players in dart history. Best known for his commentary and his win over Phil Taylor at the 2008 PDC World Championship quarter-finals (the first time Taylor has lost at that tournament before the finals), only to lose in an even bigger upset at the semi-finals to relative unknown Kirk Shepherd.
- John Part: "Darth Maple". One-time BDO world champion, two-time PDC world champion, and when not playing a hugely successful analyst - as one of the sport's best mathematicians, he was an expert "spotter" who cameramen came to rely on to predict where the next dart would be going.
- Jim Pike: Like Hitchcock, a great of the pre-television age.
- Gerwyn Price: "The Iceman", A former rugby player, 2021 PDC world champion and arguably one of the biggest characters in the game at the present time.
- Leighton Rees: First ever winner of the World Professional Championship in 1978.
- Michael Smith: "Bully Boy", 2023 PDC world champion, long-awaited after previously finishing as runner-up in no less than eight major finals.
- Phil Taylor: Nicknamed "The Power". Sixteen-time world champion, generally regarded as the greatest player of all time. Retired in 2018. Such was his dominance that he won eight consecutive world titles from 1995 to 2002 and won over 200 titles worldwide, including 85 majors.
- Raymond Van Barneveld: "Barney". Five-time world champion (four times in the BDO and once in the PDC). Generally seen as the second-best player in the world in the 90s and 00s after Taylor. Became a national hero in his native Netherlands and inspired the likes of Michael van Gerwen to take up darts.
- Michael Van Gerwen: "MVG". Three-time world champion and often named as the greatest player currently active. As of February 2024, only Phil Taylor has won more trophies thrown more televised nine-darters than him, and ended a calendar year ranked number 1 in the world more times than him
- James Wade: Winner of various PDC majors, but as yet has never won a world championship.
- Simon Whitlock: "The Wizard", two-time world championship finalist (2008 BDO, 2010 PDC)
- Jocky Wilson: Erratic player of the 1980s who won the world title on two occasions. Became known to the wider public via a blooper on the music programme "Top of the Pops" where a picture of him was put up when the song 'Jackie Wilson Said' was played.
- Peter Wright: "Snakebite", Two-time world champion.
Tropes associated with darts:
- Always Second Best:
- A few players have earned the unenviable title of nearly man. Terry Jenkins reached nine major finals and lost them all. Tony O'Shea reached seven and lost them all, including three world finals. Michael Smith lost his first eight major finals, before finally breaking his duck.
- Although he did win two world titles early in his professional career, Dennis Priestley gained this reputation to some extent. Between 1996 and 2000 he made four out of five WDC/PDC world finals and lost them all (to, unsurprisingly, Phil Taylor). He also made the first three finals (in 1994, 1995 and 1996) of the World Matchplay and was defeated in all of those too.
- Though he eventually became a three time Lakeside champion, Martin Adams also had this reputation in the early part of his career, often failing in the latter stages of the major events. He also lost several big matches from winning positions.note In particular his nemesis was Raymond van Barneveld, who won each of their four meetings at the World Championship and the Masters.
- Big Entrance: Some of the pros make a really big deal out of this in the major tournaments, especially during the later stages. They've all got their own walk-on music.
- Calling Your Shots: At amateur level, most players can and will do this — especially when they are in a situation whereby they can check out with three darts, and definitely when they just need a double to finish (it doesn't always work out the way they intended, but at least they know what they need to hit). In some variants of the game, this is often a requirement. For televised events, the commentary team will have a spotter (invariably an old pro) who will do this, and the camera will focus on the relevant part of the board in anticipation.
- Character Signature Song: Every player has their own signature walk-on song. Phil Taylor (Snap's "The Power"), Wayne Mardle (the Hawaii Five-0 theme), Martin Adams ("Hungry like the Wolf" by Duran Duran), Michael van Gerwen ("Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes). One of the best choices was Vincent van der Voort's "Give It Up" by KC and the Sunshine Band, as his name conveniently fits into the song's catchy chorus.
- Crowd Chant: Spectators at the big tournaments (many of whom are in fancy dress and have probably had a few beers) love to do this. "Stand up if you love the darts" is a particular favourite.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Phil Taylor often inflicted these, winning no less than four world finals via a whitewash.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: Such was Phil Taylor's dominance of the sport for two decades that anyone who managed to beat him while he was in his prime (early-to-mid 1990s to early-to-mid 2010s) could be said to have done this.
- Down to the Last Play: It can happen.
- In the 1983 World Championship final, Keith Deller checked out from 138 to win after Eric Bristow had passed on a shot at the bullseye to save the match and instead left himself double-16 for his next throw (having figured, wrongly as it turned out, that Deller couldn't possibly finish 138).
- In 1992, the final between Phil Taylor and Mike Gregory went to a tiebreaker in the last set. Gregory missed no fewer than six match darts.
- In both 1998 and 1999 BDO finals, Raymond van Barneveld scraped through last-set tiebreaks against Richie Burnett and Ronnie Baxter respectively.
- John Part defeated Phil Taylor by seven sets to six in the 2003 PDC final, seen by many at the time as the greatest ever PDC match...
- ...until it was arguably overtaken by the following year's final, where Taylor regained the title with a sudden death final leg victory over Kevin Painter.
- 2007 saw what is probably still widely considered the greatest match of all-time. In the last-ever PDC world final to be held in Purfleet, Essex, Raymond van Barneveld (recently defected from the BDO) defeated Phil Taylor in a sudden death decider. Notable for how 'Barney' won the throwing advantage for the final leg; he used Taylor's shot at the bullseye as a marker and hit the target.note
- Gary Anderson defeated Phil Taylor (then in the latter stages of his career) in the 2015 PDC final in the final set.
- Duelling Shows: Following to the BDO/PDC split in 1993, each organisation staged its own World Championship until the BDO collapsed in 2020. Moreover, the PDC world final was usually just a few days before the BDO event started. On one occasion, the two actually overlapped. Due to the initial breakaway from the BDO consisting of most of the top players of the time, the PDC quickly came to be seen as the more high-quality product but the overall public perception did not really shift towards it until the early 2000s. Players on the BDO circuit tended not to play against their PDC equivalents, although they were often invited to tournaments organised by the latter. On the few occasions when they accepted the invitations, the PDC players usually won, and most BDO World Champions tended to switch to the PDC sooner or later (a noted exception being Martin Adams, the three-times champion who remained loyal to the BDO until it collapsed, and rarely accepted the invites to PDC events; the 2015 Grand Slam was the first time PDC tournament he'd taken part in for 14 years).
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The inaugural BDO World Championship is unique for two reasons. It was played over a leg format (the only instance of a World Championship, BDO or PDC being played in such a format) and it was held at the Heart of the Midlands Club in Nottingham. Subsequently, it was held at Jollees in Stoke. The event didn't actually move to the now-familar setting of the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, until 1986.
- The 1994 Embassy/BDO world championship, the first held after the split and without its top 16 players, featured 17 debutants. The 1994 WDC edition introduced a round robin group stage to boost the number of matches. This was abandoned after a few years though.
- The early WDC/PDC initially experimented with some odd formats, most notably a 'quadro' board, where a quadruple ring was situated between the treble and bull rings, thus making the maximum score 240 instead of 180. As one can imagine, working out scoring and checkout combinations must have been something of a chore for referees and players alike. They also had an event which used the "equal darts" format, which takes away the advantage of throwing first by allowing both players to throw the same number of darts in each leg.
- Various long-running WDC/PDC majors had odd formats in their early years. The World Grand Prix began with best-of-three leg sets (the same format as used in the World Masters) played over the best-of-21 and best-of-25 sets. In the first year of the Premier League, 'dead rubber' legs were played out, where a group stage match would continue even if a player had crossed the winning line. Perhaps most oddly, the Las Vegas Desert Classic had a best-of-seven leg sets format, possibly unique in the entire history of darts.
- Game Changer: In 2001, the BDO and PDC were still fairly evenly matched. Then the PDC invited Barry Hearn to become their chairman.
- Large Ham: See the walk-ons of players like Peter Wright and Peter Manley
- Large-Ham Announcer: Present and correct at the big televised tournaments. And some of the smaller ones. And at pub tournaments, sometimes; if there isn't one present, players may well do it themselves if they achieve the maximum possible score with three darts...ONE HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNDRED AND EIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!
- There have been a few of these in the commentary box. Sid Waddell was known for his excitability and colourful metaphors. John Gwynne and Wayne Mardle also fit this to a lesser extent. Averted with the softer, calmer tones of John Part and Dave Lanning.
- Master-Apprentice Chain: With 23 World Championships between them ... Eric "The Crafty Cockney" Bristow → Phil "The Power" Taylor → Adrian "Jackpot" Lewis.
- The Nicknamer: Hoo boy. Professional darts is really big on this — every pro has a nickname which is used in tournament publicity, by commentators and by fans (who may well only know them by their nickname); some of them even use their nicknames in their lives away from the oche. Examples include Phil "The Power" Taylor, Raymond "Barney" van Barneveld, Gary "The Flying Scotsman" Anderson, etc, etc.
- Sometimes there is difficulty in coming up with a nickname. One example is James Wade, who went through nicknames such as "The Blade" and "009" before settling on "The Machine". The most famous might be John Lowe, who eschewed the tendency of the day to heavily drink and smoke and gain weight, and nobody could think of a nickname for such a successful yet relatively stoic performer - until they realised that very stoicism could become the nickname and "Old Stoneface" was born.
- Paying Their Dues: For all the talk of how the PDC is better and more successful than the BDO/WDF, all bar three of the PDC World Champions to date note started out in BDO darts. At one point the PDC made an offer to buy out the BDO and run it as a developmental circuitnote , an offer that was rejected. Given the subsequent BDO collapse, they should probably have taken it.
- Rage Quit: Several players, including Jelle Klaasen, Raymond van Barneveld and Gary Anderson, announced their intention to switch from BDO to PDC within days of defeat in the BDO World Championship.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The BDO/PDC split of 1993 saw 16 high-profile professionals (including John Lowe, the then-reigning World Champion, and every previous World Champion who hadn't retired at that point) walk away from the BDO to form their own organisation following a big decline in television coverage of the sport from its mid-1980s heyday.
- Start My Own: How the PDC started, more or less. Phil Taylor (at the time, a two-times World Champion) was a key player in this, although the PDC was (and still is) the Professional Darts Corporation, not "Phil's Darts Club" as some wags suggested.
- Surpassed the Teacher: Phil Taylor started out as a protégé of five-times World Champion Eric Bristow note . By the time Taylor retired in 2018, he'd won the World Championship a record 16 times, in addition to his having won a total of 214 professional tournaments and been World Number One for a total of 13 years — far surpassing all of Bristow's achievements.
- You Go, Girl!: Although the PDC organises women's tournaments, the ladies can and do compete against the men. In 2019, Fallon Sherrock became the first women to win not one but two matches at the World Championship (earning herself the nickname "Queen of the Palace" — after Alexandra Palace, the tournament venue — in the process). Two years later, she made it to the quarter-final of the Grand Slam of Darts, the furthest a woman has ever progressed in a major PDC international tournament.note
