history of darts
Darts is one of the oldest
established English pub games which, since the late 1970s, has become one of the
most popular sports in the world.
As far as the origins of the game are concerned, javelins, crossbow bolts and archery have all been
considered. Of these the most likely scenario is that the game has its roots in
archery. Indeed, glance back to the earliest type of dartboards and you will
see that these were concentric targets – miniature forms of the archery target.
Moreover, darts is most commonly known as ‘arrows.’ Some would say that these
two points alone are sufficient to confirm our sports heritage.
Up until the early part of the 20th century, darts existed in disparate forms across parts of England, the
only matches taking place being either ‘in-house’ or friendly matches between
pubs which were close to each other. (The cost of transport was prohibitive at
that time.) However, after World War 1, the first brewery leagues appeared and
grew to such an extent that, by 1924, the seeds had been sown for the
establishment of a national darts association. The News of the World
competition was established in London in the 1927/28 season and by the end of
the 1930s had expanded to cover, by region, most of England. The total entrants
in the competition in 1938/39 was in excess of 280,000.
Such was the take up of darts by the brewers and the dart-playing public that, by the 1930s, it had
become a popular national recreation in England and parts of Wales, played by
all classes, often ousting existing pubs games such as skittle and rings (indoor
quoits). The development of darts found some resistance in places like parts of
Manchester (where the smaller Manchester/ Log-End) board still holds sway.
Darts playing boosted morale in the forces during the Second World War being played in the Officer’s
Mess and PoW camps alike. Darts was standard issue in the NAAFI sports pack.
American soldiers visiting our shores took darts home with them and generated
substantial interest in this ‘olde Englishe’ game in the US which up until then
was little played in that country.
The News of the World Individual Darts Championship was revived in 1947/48, this time on a national
basis, and continued to be described as ‘the championship every dart player
wants to win’ until its demise in the 1990s. The end of the war also saw the
return of The People National Team Championships (first played for in 1938/39).
However, the original national darts association did not survive the war and
although a number of attempts were made to introduce another national,
controlling agency, nothing firm was realised until 1954 when The People
supported the setting up of the National Darts Association of Great Britain.
The 1950s and 1960s were periods when darts maintained a fairly low profile even though participant
levels were still extremely high. The NDAGB was undertaking sterling work both
in establishing county leagues and organising top competitions such as the NODOR
Fours. The 1960s saw darts on TV for the first time and through the work of the
British Darts Organisation (BDO), established in 1973, and the introduction of
split screen technology darts really took a hold of Britain and then, it seemed,
the rest of the planet.
The 1970s and 1980s witnessed the first darts ‘stars’ such as Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Alan Evans,
Jocky Wilson, Leighton Rees, Cliff Lazarenko becoming household names.
The establishment of the Professional Darts Corporation PDC (initially the World Darts Council (WDC))
following the ‘great split’ of 1993 took darts in a new direction. This has
resulted in the introduction of key, high profile competitions including the
World Matchplay, Grand Prix and the World Championship.
The PDC's plans for the game are expanding at the furious rate with a 'world circuit' of darts now
underway following the Las Vegas Desert Classic in July 2002 and the innovative
UK Open proving that the organization are earnest in their plegde to take the
sport to new heights.
© Patrick Chaplin 2002
|
