Saying goodbye to a craftsman of modern darts — the Crafty Cockney

The sporting world has taken numerous blows over the past several days, and the death of footballing icon Ray Wilkins left fans wondering “how could this week possibly get any worse?”. Unfortunately it did, and in the most devastating fashion we were forced to say goodbye to yet another marvel of our time.

The darting legend that is Eric Bristow, a five-time World Champion, five-time World Masters winner and founding member of the Professional Darts Corporation, died suddenly of a heart attack at the young age of 60.

What perhaps is hardest to accept is that Eric was present at the Premier League darts on Thursday evening without the slightest indicator of what horrors were to come. His passing sent shock waves throughout the world of darts, both fans and players alike, and in the simplest of words was utterly heart-breaking.

“Close to tears” is how a friend of mine put it, and there is every reason as to why followers of the sport feel such pain upon this news.

Eric was a truly mesmerising player at his peak, lifting the BDO World Championship trophy five times during a period of domination between 1980 and 1986, and also clinching the World Masters title on five occasions between 1977 and 1984. It is arguably the psychological phenomenon of dartitis that saw the end of his seven-year reign at the top of the world rankings, with the 1986 World Championship being his last major title triumph.

Though he is often known as darts’ first superstar, his contribution to the sport goes beyond his once sensational darting ability. As any well-read darts fan will know, Bristow was one of the sixteen founding members of the WDC (now the PDC out of respect for the WDF), breaking away from the BDO to form in 1992 what is now the world’s leading independent darts organisation.

Thanks to Bristow and his fellow leading players of the game, the PDC grew year on year, leaving the BDO behind in a new era of darts — one which brought the sport onto the international stage for the first time. Since the very first WDC World Championship in 1994, the prize pot has expanded from £64,000 to a whopping £2.5 million, and the home of darts has moved from the beloved Circus Tavern to the colossal Alexandra Palace, which has never failed to sell out in the thousands since its debut in 2007.

Eric’s legacy didn’t stop at the formation of the WDC, however. One talented young player from Stoke-on-Trent was lucky enough to receive Bristow’s financial backing; that same player repaid him with perhaps one of the world’s greatest and certainly longest sporting careers. Of course that young man was Phil Taylor, the record-breaking sixteen-time PDC World Champion.

And although Bristow’s reign over the sport had ended after his contraction of dartitis, he put on one last display in December 1996 when he faced-off with Phil Taylor in an epic semi-final during the 1997 World Championship, a 5–4 victory for Taylor which would go down in the history books as one of the greatest darting showdowns of all time.

Off the oche, Eric earned a reputation as a pundit which is now as illustrious as his playing career. As an expert observing from the studio and the commentary box, he was never afraid to speak his mind — whether it was telling off commentators for laughing at players, or more controversially telling football child abuse survivors that they should have taken action themselves. The latter famously led to Bristow’s sacking from Sky Sports in 2016, but that never stopped him from coming back to the darts whenever he could.

His unique personality, not to mention his sensational darting ability at his peak, is what made him such a lovable and admirable character. He touched the hearts of many, as will recall his I’m A Celebrity campmates from when he participated in the ITV reality show back in 2012. Boxer and fellow former campmate David Haye labelled him a “darts legend” and a “true gent”.

“I was fortunate enough to spend 3 weeks as his campmate living in the jungle, even on the toughest of days his dry sense of humour and quick wit truly made the trip memorable.”

David Haye

It’s obvious that without Eric Bristow, darts simply wouldn’t be where it is today. His contribution to the game, which was deemed worthy of an MBE, stretched far beyond his own playing career. Not only did he accomplish all a darts player could ever dream of achieving; he also helped to tow the sport into a new golden era, and he paved the way for perhaps the greatest darts player of all time.

The sudden and unanticipated nature of his passing has made it all the harder to swallow, but the optimists will most certainly say that he died exactly where he would have wanted to spend his final moments: at the darts for one final time.

Whether we will see another of his kind is out of the question; there will only ever be one Eric Bristow.

Rest in peace, the Crafty Cockney.