John Michael Walton (born 10 November 1961) is an English professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

player currently playing in

World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the natio ...

(WDF) events. He is best known for winning the 2001 BDO World Darts Championship. He adopted the nickname John Boy and used the song "

Cotton Eye Joe "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (also known as "Cotton-Eye Joe") is a traditional American Country music, country folk song popular at various times throughout the United States and Canada, although today it is most commonly associated with the Southern Unite ...

" by

Rednex Rednex is a Swedish musical group whose style is a mix of American country music and modern Eurodance, with their appearance and stage names taking inspiration from the American redneck stereotypes. The band originally consisted of the lead sin ...

as his walk-on theme.

BDO career

1993–2000: Early career

Walton picked up some small tournament victories in the early stages of his career, including the Websters 150 Championship in 1993 and the Highlands Open Championship in 1996 but didn't manage to qualify for the World Championship until 1999 when he lost 0–3 to Roland Scholten on his first round debut. He failed to qualify for the World Championship in 2000, but in the autumn of that year he won the prestigious

Winmau World Masters The World Masters is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments, which began in 1974. The tournament is sponsored by darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was unusual in darts in that its sets are th ...

. Despite that success, he was 50/1 with the

bookmakers A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

to win the World title in the New Year, and his Masters form possibly led to him being tipped by darts pundit

Bobby George Robert Francis George (born 16 December 1945) is an English television presenter and former professional darts player. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King ...

at the start of the BBC televised coverage as a possible winner.

2001–05: World title

Walton opened his 2001 campaign with a 3–1 first round win over

Ritchie Davies Ritchie Davies (born 27 November 1971) is a Welsh former professional darts player from Aberdare. He is best known for his run at the 2003 BDO World Darts Championship, where he reached the final. Career Davies made his World Championship debu ...

and averaged an excellent 100.62 during the match. He then beat Mervyn King 3–0 with another high average of 99.00. His quarter-final victory over

Marko Pusa Marko Pusa (born 15 April 1977) is a Finnish former darts player. Career Pusa made his televised debut at the 1999 Winmau World Masters, reaching the semi-finals with wins over Andy Gudgeon, former World Champion Steve Beaton and Andy Jenkin ...

saw Walton achieve an incredible 14 consecutive legs. Not surprisingly, the result was a 5–0 whitewash. Walton then beat

Wayne Mardle Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil ...

5–3 in the semi-final and

Ted Hankey Edward Hankey (born 20 February 1968) is an English former professional darts player and convicted sex offender. Nicknamed "The Count", he won the BDO World Darts Championship in 2000, was runner-up in 2001, and won the title for a second time ...

6–2 in the final to become World Champion and also one of only a few players to have held both the

and World Championship simultaneously. He joined

Eric Bristow Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was ...

, Phil Taylor,

Richie Burnett Richard Mark "Richie" Burnett (born 7 February 1967), nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World No. 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Cha ...

and Bob Anderson as the fourth player to win them in the same season.

Martin Adams Martin Adams (born 4 June 1956) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) events. Nicknamed "Wolfie", he is a three-time BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion. He represents Cambridges ...

and

Stephen Bunting Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed The Bullet, Bunting won the 2014 BDO World Darts Championship and is a twice former Wor ...

have since joined this elite group of players. He has enjoyed only moderate success since his 2001 World Championship victory – the defence of his title ended with a second round loss to

Colin Monk Colin Monk (born 29 September 1967) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Career Monk won the Winmau World Masters in 1996, where he be ...

and he went out in the second round to Davies in 2003. He did manage to reach the 2004 quarter-finals, but lost 1–5 to

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...

. In 2005 he lost to

Darryl Fitton Darryl Fitton (born 5 May 1962) is an English professional darts player. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song " One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses; one of the most popular walk-ons with the audienc ...

in the second round and he was knocked out by Stephen Roberts in 2006. Another second round defeat, this time to Gary Robson followed in 2007, and in 2008 he lost in the first round to the then-reigning

champion Robert Thornton. He hasn't won any of the major open events since his successful year in 2001 when he took the British Open, British Classic, Belgium Open, Scottish Open and Portland Open. Overall his tournament success has dried up since winning the world title, but he continues to maintain a high world ranking by progressing to the quarter-final and semi-final stages of several Open darts events.

2007–14

Walton made history at the 2007 Winmau World Masters in

Bridlington Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 Cen ...

by hitting a televised

nine dart finish A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly an ...

. It was the first time a player had hit a nine-darter in the televised stages in the 34-year history of the event ( Chris Mason achieved one in the preliminary round a few years previously), and was the first on BBC television since Paul Lim's historic World Championship feat in 1990. Walton's 2008 campaign was hampered by a shoulder injury but despite sliding down the world rankings, he entered the 2009 BDO World Championship as the number 15 seed. He won through an emotional first-round game against his friend

Shaun Greatbatch Shaun Greatbatch (13 July 1969 – 5 June 2022) was an English professional darts player. He lived in Suffolk and worked in the construction industry. His nickname was Nine Dart Man, having been the first player to hit a perfect nine dart fin ...

who was battling bone marrow cancer. He then caused a major shock by beating defending champion Mark Webster 4–0 in the second round. He then played Hankey in the quarter final, a repeat of the 2001 Embassy Final which Walton won. Hankey avenged the earlier loss with a 5–1 win, and went on to win the championship. On 24 May 2009, Walton hit another 9 darter at the Antwerp Open in the final against Drik Beni. The 9 darter came in the third leg and he went on to win the game 4–0, only to go out the next round to

Joey ten Berge Joey ten Berge (born 18 October 1985) is a Dutch former darts player. Career BDO Ten Berge won the 2001 WDF Europe Youth Cup beating Sweden's Markus Korhonen in the final. Six years later, he captured his first professional title by capturing ...

in the last 32. In the 2010

Six Nations Cup The Six Nations Cup is an international darts team competition currently organised by the English Darts Organisation (EDO),2011 World Championship, but beat 16th seed

Dave Prins David Michael Prins (born 16 November 1968) is an English professional darts player. Career Prins reached the last 16 of the 2009 Winmau World Masters, where he lost to Tony O'Shea in three straight sets. Prins qualified for his first BDO Wo ...

3–1 in the first round before being defeated by Martin Adams 4–3 in a sudden death leg. The match has already been touted as one of the best in the tournament's history. In 2011 season, he retained the English Masters beating

Ross Montgomery Ross Montgomery (born 16 October 1962), nicknamed The Boss, is a Scottish professional darts player who played in World Darts Federation (WDF) tournaments and as of January 14th 2022 now plays on the Professional Darts Corporat ...

in the final. Walton failed to qualify for the 2014 BDO World Darts Championship, the first time since 2000 he did not appear at the event.

2015–18

Walton lost the Malta Open 2015 final in November 2015 against Ümit Uygunsözlü. Walton qualified for the 2016 BDO World Championship. Since 2016 he has rarely played in many BDO Events, He did however qualify for the TV Stages of the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

beating

and

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

in the floor stage of the event. However he lost in the last 32 by 3 sets to 1 to

Glen Durrant Glen Durrant (born 24 November 1970), nicknamed "Duzza", is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He previously won the BDO World Darts Championship three times consecutively fr ...

World Seniors Darts Championship

Walton made a return to the TV Screens by playing in the Inaugural

World Seniors Darts Championship In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, He beat fellow World Champions

Les Wallace Les Wallace (born 22 February 1962) is a Scottish retired professional darts player. He adopted the nickname "McDanger", coming out for his matches dressed in a traditional kilt. He won the 1997 BDO World Darts Championship which is one of th ...

3-2 and

John Part John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...

3-1 In the opening two rounds, before losing in the Quarter final to

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

3-1. Walton also competed in the Modus Super Series and Live League in 2022.

PDC career

In January 2015, Walton joined the rival PDC by entering the PDC Qualifying School in an attempt to win a tour card. He was unsuccessful in doing so having failed to finish in the top 18 of the Q School Order of Merit.

World Championship results

BDO

* 1999: 1st round (lost to Roland Scholten 0–3) (sets) * 2001: Winner (beat

6–2) * 2002: 2nd round (lost to

2–3) * 2003: 2nd round (lost to

0–3) * 2004: Quarter-final (lost to

1–5) * 2005: 2nd round (lost to

0–3) * 2006: 1st round (lost to Stephen Roberts 0–3) * 2007: 2nd round (lost to Gary Robson 3–4) * 2008: 1st round (lost to Robert Thornton 0–3) * 2009: Quarter-final (lost to

1–5) * 2010: 1st round (lost to

Willy van de Wiel Willy van de Wiel (born 15 April 1982) is a Dutch former professional darts player. BDO career Van de Wiel won the 2008 Norway Open, beating Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting and John Henderson, before beating Paul Hanvidge in the final. He also ...

2–3) * 2011: 2nd round (lost to

3–4) * 2012: 1st round (lost to

Martin Atkins Martin Clive Atkins (born 3 August 1959) is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, and Killing Joke. He also works as ...

1–3) * 2013: 1st round (lost to

Tony O'Shea Tony O'Shea (born 9 May 1961) is an English professional darts player. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname "Silverback". O'Shea has reached the finals of seven British Darts Organisation (BDO) major darts tournaments, but to date ...

0–3) * 2016: 1st round (lost to Brian Dawson 2–3)

WSDT

* 2022: Quarter-finals (lost to

1–3)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 2 (2 titles)

Performance timeline

Nine-dart finishes

References

External links

Official website
(archived)
Profile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, John 1961 births Living people Sportspeople from Bradford English darts players BDO world darts champions British Darts Organisation players Darts players who have thrown televised nine-dart games