Jocky Wilson
John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson (22 March 1950 – 24 March 2012) was a Scottish professional darts player. After turning pro in 1979, he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, then again in 1989. Wilson competed in all major darts tournaments of the era and won the British Professional Championship a record four times between 1981 and 1988. A contemporary and rival of Eric Bristow, Bob Anderson and John Lowe, Wilson's ungainly appearance and rough-hewn lifestyle belied his prowess in the sport. He was dogged by health problems, however, and suddenly retired from the game in December 1995. He withdrew from public life, and was rarely seen in public or gave interviews before his death in March 2012. In 2022 the new World Seniors Darts Championships was launched with the trophy engraved with the names of four deceased former World Champions on the darts: Wilson, Bristow, Leighton Rees and Andy Fordham. Early life As a c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seafield Colliery
Seafield Colliery was in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. Work on the colliery was started on 12 May 1954 and production began in 1966. On 10 May 1973, five men were killed when a roof collapsed. Despite it being said that it had a life of 150 years, with millions of tons, much of the coal being deep under the bed of the Firth of Forth, Seafield Colliery was closed in 1988. In September 1989, the Seafield Colliery twin towers were demolished. Darts player Jocky Wilson John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson (22 March 1950 – 24 March 2012) was a Scottish professional darts player. After turning pro in 1979, he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, then again ..., was once a miner at the colliery. The site of the former colliery has been built over and is now a housing estate. References External linkswww.fifeminingheritage.org.uk [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest settlement and the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, 12th most populous settlement in Scotland. Kirkcaldy has long been nicknamed the Lang Toun (; Scots language, Scots for "long town") in reference to the early town's main street, as indicated on maps from the 16th and 17th centuries. The street would finally reach a length of nearly , connecting the burgh to the neighbouring settlements of Linktown, Pathhead, Sinclairtown and Gallatown, which became part of the town in 1876. The formerly separate burgh of Dysart, Fife, Dysart was also later absorbed into Kirkcaldy in 1930 under an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament. The area around Kirkcaldy has been inhabited sin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leighton Rees
Leighton Thomas Rees (17 January 1940 – 8 June 2003) was a Welsh professional darts player. He is best known as the first British Darts Organisation, BDO World Professional Darts Champion, having won the inaugural 1978 BDO World Darts Championship and was a former Darts world rankings, World No. 1 player. He was one of the sport's most successful players throughout the 1970s, and retired from the game in 1991. Early life Rees was born in hospital in Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Mountain Ash and grew up in the village of Ynysybwl, Glamorgan, where he spent most of his life. He attended the local Mill Street School in Pontypridd where one of his teachers famously declared on his report card that he would be "good only for reading the sports pages of the South Wales Echo". After leaving school he found work in the store room of a motor spares company, a job he did for over twenty years until he became a professional darts player in 1976. It was during his time working as a st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World Darts Council (WDC). Sports promoter Eddie Hearn is the PDC chairman. The PDC developed and holds several championship competitions, including the annual PDC World Darts Championship, the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open, Premier League, and Grand Slam. It also runs its own world rankings based on players' performances. History In the 1980s, professional darts in Britain lost much of its sponsorship television coverage. From 1989, the only televised event was the annual Embassy World Championship. Some of the players felt that not enough was being done by the governing body, the British Darts Organisation, to encourage new sponsors into the sport and arrange more television coverage than just one event a year. As a result ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British Darts Organisation
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder member of the World Darts Federation in 1976. It also staged a BDO World Darts Championship, World Professional Darts Championship from 1978 to 2020. In the early 1990s, a dispute between Olly Croft and the top darts players over the decline in TV coverage and sponsorship led to an acrimonious Split in darts, split in the game, with the players breaking away to form their own governing body which became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Henceforth, the BDO and PDC ran their own separate tours, each with its own world championship. The BDO suffered an increasing number of problems in its later years. Many of its top players defected to the more lucrative PDC. Irregularities at the 2019 World Masters led to the BDO being demoted to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ITV Central
ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the restructuring of ATV and began broadcasting on 1 January 1982. The service is owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of ''ITV Broadcasting Limited''. Historically Central made a major contribution to the ITV network schedule - especially in entertainment and drama - but today its main responsibility is the regional news service. History Background During the 1970s ATV, the previous Midlands licence holder, was often criticised for its lack of regional output and character. Although ATV had purpose-built a modern colour production complex in the centre of Birmingham, most of its major productions were recorded at its main studios at Elstree in Hertfordshire, a legacy of the period when the company had also served London at the week ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jim Bowen
James Brown Whittaker (born Peter Williams; 20 August 1937 – 14 March 2018), known professionally as Jim Bowen, was an English stand-up comedian, actor and television personality. He was the long-time host of the ITV game show ''Bullseye'', which he presented from its beginning in 1981 through to the end of its original run in 1995. Bowen grew up in Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire, and went to Accrington Grammar School. In his early adulthood, he became a teacher, and took part in local dramatic groups. He eventually devoted himself to comedy full-time, having been influenced by Ken Dodd, and first appeared on television in '' The Comedians''. This led to other television work during the 1970s. He achieved national attention after becoming host on ''Bullseye'', which was a ratings success throughout the 1980s. He subsequently worked for various radio stations, and continued to perform stand up tours. Towards the end of his life, he was affected by a number of strokes which made p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bullseye (UK Game Show)
''Bullseye'' is a British darts-themed television game show created by Andrew Wood and Norman Vaughan. The show features three pairs of contestants, each consisting of an amateur darts player and a quizzer, competing in darts games and quizzes to win cash and prizes. The original series aired on the ITV network and was produced by ATV in 1981, then by Central from 1982 until 1995. Jim Bowen presented the show during its initial 14-year run. A revival produced by Granada Yorkshire for the Challenge TV network, hosted by Dave Spikey, aired in 2006. The show sported an animated mascot named Bully, an anthropomorphic large brown bull who wore a red and white striped shirt and blue trousers. ''Bullseye'' attracted audiences of up to 20 million viewers at its peak. History ''Bullseye'' was created and owned by Andrew Wood (with comedian Norman Vaughan), who came up with the idea after research into aspects of game shows with mass appeal. Programme associates on the show were Mi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lakeside Leisure Complex
The Lakeside Leisure Complex is a hotel, conferencing, entertainment and associated leisure complex in Frimley Green in west Surrey. It hosted in January the open/men's and women's BDO World Darts Championship from 1986 to 2019. History The complex was established in 1972, when Bob Potter (born 1928) bought Wharfenden House and the surrounding grounds and lake. He soon doubled the hall to 1,000 seats principally for hosting comedians and musicians, including North American and internationally acclaimed acts. The Lakeside had a fire later that decade and re-opened. During the 25th year of hosting the World Darts Championship, in 2010 the lake had largely iced over by 7 January. That day the body of a man, a hotel guest for the competition week, was found. Landowner-managers, Bob Potter Leisure Limited, were fined £85,000 for health and safety violations. Events The Lakeside became the venue of the World Darts Championship in 1986, The Club sponsored the event from 2004 to 2019. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rab Smith
Rab âːb( dlm, Arba, la, Arba, it, Arbe, german: Arbey) is an island in the northern Dalmatia region in Croatia, located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea. The island is long, has an area of and 9,328 inhabitants (2011). The main settlement on the island is the eponymous town of Rab, although the neighboring village of Palit has the biggest population. The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 m. The northeastern side of the island is mostly barren, karst, while the southwestern side is covered by one of the last oak forests of the Mediterranean. Ferries connect the island of Rab with the mainland port of Stinica and with the neighbouring islands of Krk and Pag. European Coastal Airlines offered multiple daily connections by seaplane from Rab to Zagreb and to Rijeka via Rijeka Airport in Omišalj on the neighboring island of Krk, until it ceased operations in 2016. Name The island of Rab was first mentioned in a Greek source Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko (born 16 March 1952) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "Big Cliff" due to his height (193 cm / 6'4") and weight (over 127 kg at his peak), he is known for being a colourful character on and off the stage.Hartley, Alan J. (2004) ''Darts for Everyone'', p. 71 Biography Lazarenko was born in Liss, Hampshire, growing up in Greatham, where his parents ran a garage.Gripton, Peter (2008) ''Greatham Memories'', Las Atalayas Publishing, , p. 72 He honed his darts skills in his local pub, The Queen. He later moved to Wellingborough. Before becoming a professional darts player in 1975, he worked as a labourer. Lazarenko first appeared in a televised match on the show ''Indoor League'' in the 1970s. He went on to win several singles and pairs titles. He won the British Open in 1980, winning it again later in the decade, and reached the semi-finals of the World Championship four times.Doyle, Paul (2004)'Big' Cliff Lazarenko, ''The Guardian'', 3 Dece ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire to the north-east, Dumfriesshire to the south-east, and Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire to the south. Like many other counties of Scotland it currently has no administrative function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. It has a population of approximately 366,800. The electoral and valuation area named Ayrshire covers the three council areas of South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire, therefore including the Isle of Arran, Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae. These three islands are part of the historic County of Bute and are sometimes included when the term ''Ayrshire'' is applied to the region. The same area is known as ''Ayrshire a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |