Leonard "Len" Heard (born January 18, 1942) is a former English-American 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 who competed in

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 ...

(BDO) events in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He was nicknamed Lenny.

Career

Heard reached the final of the 1979 North American Open, losing to

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 ...

. Heard then played in the

1980 BDO World Darts Championship The 1980 Embassy World Darts Championship was the third year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. Again the field was 24 players, with the top seeds receiving a bye to the last 16 stage. For the second successive y ...

, losing in the first round to

Dave Whitcombe David Whitcombe (born 27 June 1954) is an English former professional darts player who won several major tournaments and reached two World Championship Finals between 1980 and 1992. Biography Whitcombe was twice a winner of the Winmau World M ...

. Heard then won the 1980 North American Open. Then of the 1980 World Masters who losing to Kari Saukkonen of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In the

1981 BDO World Darts Championship The 1981 Embassy World Darts Championship was the fourth year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. The field was expanded from 24 to 32 players, the format which would remain for many years. For the third successiv ...

, Heard lost in the first round to fellow American

Jerry Umberger Jerry Umberger (born 21 January 1942) is a former American professional darts player, who played in Professional Darts Corporation events. He used the nickname Tucker. Career From Pennsylvania, Umberger first competed in the BDO World Darts Cha ...

. Heard represented team USA of the WDF Pacific Cup with

Tony Payne Thomas Anthony Payne (born April 10, 1955) is an American former professional darts player. He is also well known for publishing an article in the ''Bulls Eye News'' magazine famously titled "Thermonuclear Cricket". Career Payne played in s ...

in 1986. Heard then won the 1981 Las Vegas Open he beating Andy Green of United States. Then losing of the 1981 Houston Open Runner Up. He then played in the 1982

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 ...

but lost in the first round to

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 ...

. Heard reached the quarter finals of the 1990 News of the World but lost to Steve Hudson Heard then won the 1991 Camellia Classic beating by

Paul Lim Paul Lim Leong Hwa (born 25 January 1954) is a Singaporean professional darts player. He was the first player to hit a perfect nine-dart finish during the Embassy World Darts Championship, which he achieved in 1990 during his second round ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Heard quit the BDO in 1991.

World Championship results

BDO

* 1980: Last 24: (lost to

0–2) * 1981: Last 32: (lost to

0–2)

External links

Profile and stats on Darts Database
American darts players Living people British Darts Organisation players 1942 births Sportspeople from San Diego {{US-darts-bio-stub