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The sport or game of darts is unique in several ways: the equipment required to play is reasonably inexpensive, a relatively small amount of space is required to play, and special clothing is not required. Age, gender, size and physical strength/endurance have almost no effect on a player's ability to do well. These factors combine to make darts the appealing and popular game it is today.
The game of darts is hundreds of years old...rumour has it that the sport originally began as a contest between bored soldiers / archers during respites from battle. The soldiers threw short throwing spears into the upturned ends of wine barrels. As their competition progressed, a more critically marked target became necessary, which led to the use of a slice of a tree as a target. The natural rings of the tree proved perfect for scoring purposes, as did the radial cracks which appeared as the wood dried out. The winter forced the game indoors, and shorter darts and basic indoor rules were adopted. As the game caught on, even the nobility tried their hand: in 1530 Anne Boleyn gave Henry VIII a set of "darts of Biscayan fashion, richly ornamented," and even our Pilgrim fathers are said to have played darts on the Mayflower (1620), using the butt of a wine cask as a "board".
The dart itself became more or less standardised as the practice of throwing "missiles" at targets became a general pastime -- the barrel was typically a piece of wood about 4 inches long with a metal point stuck in one end and feathers on the other. An American patented a folded-paper flight in 1898, and the all-metal barrel was patented by an Englishman in 1906.
The Darts Board numbering system...
The number system on the board is often credited to Brian Gamlin, a carpenter from Bury, Lancashire, who is said to have invented it at the age of 44 in 1896 but he died in 1903 without patenting it. But after extensive research viewing the
English and Wales Census and contacting Bury News papers and archives no trace
of Brian existence can be found. This is not to say he didn't exist, as some
reports say that Brian was also attached to a travelling circus and may have
missed the census at the time...
According to another source, Thomas William Buckle invented the dartboard in 1913. The source in question is his son, Thomas Edward Buckle who 1992 made this statement in Darts World (issue 234).
The Oche....
The standardisation of the throwing distance took place around the same time, although there is still more than one "standard" in use. It is said that the throwing distance was marked by placing three crates end to end from a brewery called Hockey & Sons (which supplied beer to the Southwest of England). The crates were three feet long, making the distance from the line to the board nine feet. The size of the Hockey & Sons crates was eventually reduced to two feet, and four crates lined up to mark the distance (eight feet). The 8-foot distance remained the standard for many years -- and still exists in some places.
The phrase "toeing the hockey" has been said to have been brought about by the use of the Hockey & Sons crates, and the toe line is still called the "hockey", though it is more often spelt oche, and is pronounced without the "h". Other theories state the word 'Oche' is derived from Old Flemish (or similar) meaning a notch or nick or its derivation is obscure word 'hocken' an old English word meaning 'to spit.' And given that darts was originally played in the public bar or vault where the floor was covered in sand and the room liberally furnished with spittoons, the ‘hockey’ line was determined by the length that a given player could spit from a position with his back to the dartboard.
I prefer the theory that the standard length was determined by three crates but
did Hockey & Sons really exist or is this just a nice plausible explanation?
Well unfortunately it seems to be a myth, Hockey & Son's
didn't exist and we still can not say 100% how the distance was arrived at.
The sport was nearly banned in the public houses of Great Britain!...
In 1908 a decision was made by the Magistrates in Leeds, England which effectively ensured the eventual popularity of darts as a sport. At that time, "games of chance" were illegal in public houses (pubs). A pub owner called "Foot" Anakin was accused of operating a game of chance and prosecuted for allowing darts at his establishment. Foot argued that darts was not a game of chance, and obtained permission for a board to be set up in the courtroom. It is said that Anakin threw three darts in the 20 and invited any magistrate to do the same. The challenge was accepted, however the court officials were unable to duplicate Foot's shot, thus proving darts was indeed a game of skill and not of chance; the case was dismissed. The years afterward saw the progression of the game in British public houses; by World War II the majority of pubs had dartboards, and teams and matches with other pubs were arranged on a regular basis.
The first major step towards making darts the international game it is today occurred when The News of the World, a British Sunday newspaper, instituted its championship in 1927. Originally confined to the London area, the event nevertheless drew large numbers of participants, and due to its success became a national competition after World War I. This event grew into one of the most prestigious and sought-after international titles in the sport, but was suspended in 1990. It returned in 1997, but is now restricted to players in the UK.
(This event sadly is no longer being played)
Major credit for promotion of the game goes to The News of the World and also to the National Darts Association of Great Britain (NDA), formed in 1954, for their contributions in creating both an international forum for the sport, and establishing basic acceptable rules of play.
The NDA drew together various Counties and London groupings, and began holding English national competitions in 1957.
The British Darts Organisation....
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was formed in 1973 by Olly Croft, he helped
to coordinate the strengths of the various County associations and the development of various County championships, with the organisation of international events following soon after. The BDO's primary focus at that time was acquiring sponsors and running special events for television. In 1978 the BDO organised the Embassy World Professional Championships, one of the biggest events in darts.
In 1976 the BDO was a major force in setting up the World Darts Federation (WDF), which was formed by representatives from 15 Countries to govern and promote the sport of darts on an international basis. Among the first decisions of the WDF were the recommendation of a standard throwing distance for all countries, and the inauguration of the World Cup, an international event held every two years since 1977 in which top players compete for their respective countries. Today the WDF is comprised of the national darts organising body from each of 49 member countries, representing six continents.
The 1970's and 1980's witnessed the first darts 'stars' such as Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Alan Evans, Jocky Wilson, Leighton Rees, Cliff Lazarenko,
to name just a few. All became household names during this period.
Four World Champions left to right Leighton Ress, John Lowe, Eric Bristow
& Jocky Wilson
In 1992 saw a great split between the BDO and a number of professional players. The game had lost some sponsors and had declined from the TV screens leaving the Embassy World Championship as the only televised event. The professionals felt that not enough was being done to encourage more sponsors into their sport and TV courage should be greater than one event a year. A group of professional including Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley and many more formed a new darts organisation known as the World Darts Council
(WDC) and the following few years saw any member of this new organisation excluded from BDO
events. A legal battle between WDC and the BDO was also on the way. This bitter dispute over the rights to darts organisation fell in favour of the
WDC but one of the words ‘World’ had to be dropped. The organisation as we know it today is the
Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) The PDC have now introduced some key, high profile competitions including the World Matchplay, Grand Prix and the PDC World Championship. The British Darts Organisation (BDO) continues to support youth and County darts and organises major championships including the Winmau World Masters and the Lakeside World Championships (formerly the Embassy World Professional Darts Championship.)
Phil' The Power' Taylor...
To make a history page and still be at the top of your game is some achievement
by anyone's standard. But by far the one darter that has dominated the sport for the past decade and a
half is Phil 'The Power' Taylor. Phil has won the PDC World Championships no
less the thirteen times. During this time darts promoter and chairman of the PDC
Barry Hearn arranged a head to head encounters with the then current BDO, WDF
World champion, Phil has always won these encounters, proving beyond doubt he
is the greatest darts player the World has even seen in the modern sport of
darts.
Is it a Sport or a Game?...
On The
24th March 2005 Sport England took the lead in officially recognising darts
as a sporting activity.
The decision was approved at a recent Sport England Main Board meeting and
paves the way for further recognition from other sports councils in
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In taking the initiative to acknowledge darts as a legitimate sporting
activity, Sport England took into account its status as a national and
international sport, its high and growing levels of participation and the
physical and mental skills and dexterity needed to compete successfully.
Sport England Chief Executive, Roger Draper, said that the Board decision
looked beyond the stereotypical image of darts and took into account its
many positive sporting and social values: “The presentation of darts as a
pub game has helped popularise its cult appeal, but the reality is that it
is a sport played by many thousands of people across the county in locations
ranging from schools to village halls, social clubs and sports centres".
"By taking the lead in recognising the skills and social and community
values associated with darts, we hope others will follow suit in the near
future to complete its formal and official recognition as a sport,” he
added.
Full sporting recognition will allow darts authorities to take advantage of
tax incentives afforded to recognised sports by the Government. There are
currently no plans for Sport England to fund darts, as in February this year
(2005)
the four-year funding strategy was confirmed for the national governing
bodies of sport.
Initially recognised by Sport England, on the 3rd June
2005 Sport Wales, Sport Northern Ireland and Sport Scotland have now added their
unanimous agreement that darts is to be recognised as a sport.
The Historian...
Where would we be
without the help of others providing and researching history? Like all other
pages on this site, I like to be as accurate as possible with the information I
provide. History of the sport, it's origins, founders and development in my
opinion is as interesting as the sport itself.
For one person
the history of the game has become a passion, that person is Patrick Chaplin,
who is fondly known in the darts fraternity as 'Doctor Darts'! Patrick can
probably give any enquiring person the answer to most aspects of the game during
the twentieth century. He has just finished and submitted his PHD thesisand in
December 2006 was awarded a PhD by the Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge – the
title of his dissertation being ‘DARTS IN ENGLAND 1900-1939
– A SOCIAL HISTORY’.
I have conversed
with Patrick on a number of occasions, trying to prove or disprove history as
it's been presented. Brian Gamlin’s existenceto name one point.
Patrick's approach to history is thorough and his research into the sport has
become widely respected within the darts community. He is without doubt the
authority on the history of darts in the twentieth century. Normally a reserved
man, Patrick is the writer behind many books and co writer behind some dart
players autobiographies. You may have even bumped into him at one of the many
darts events without evening knowing. He still plays pub league darts but
confesses not to being a great player.
Patrick deserves
his own place in history as the man who's helped uncover the origins and
many aspects of the sport of darts.
For more
information about the history of the game and to read other aspects of the great
sport of darts visit
