The Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) is an organisation for professional dart players within the
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 ...
(PDC). Its intention is to look after the interests of all professional players through an annually elected Board of six current professionals. They work in partnership with the PDC (Promoter) and its governing body (DRA)
Formation
The PDPA was initially formed in the early 1980s with the main protagonists being
John Lowe John Lowe may refer to:
Sports
* John Lowe (darts player) (born 1945), English darts player.
* John Lowe (footballer) (1912–1995), Scottish football player
* John Lowe (rugby league), English rugby league footballer
* John Lowe (cricketer) (18 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
Tony Brown. As darts was beginning to decline, players from the PDPA eventually set up the World Darts Council (which is now the
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 ...
) to run their own tournaments. The PDPA remained effectively a players union.
Current board and fees
The six board members are
Peter Manley
Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twic ...
(chairman),
Alan Warriner-Little
Alan Warriner-Little (born Warriner; 24 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Iceman, he is a former World Grand Prix champion and a former runner-up at the World Professional Darts Championship.
Darts car ...
(ceo), Andrew Scott and Jacques Nieuwlaat. With administrative and secretarial support from Zoe Banks.
Membership of the PDPA is open to all players of the appropriate standard, but have to first enter its annual Qualifying School every January to try and win a PDC Tour Card. The initial joining fee for Qualifying School is £250 with an upgrade fee of £250 if a Tour Card is won (full membership is £500). There are around 600 members of the PDPA, with 128 Tour Card Holders, 350 Associate Members, 200 Youth Members and 200 European Day Member's. All Tour Card Holders have the right to qualify and play in PDC Premier televised tournaments with other members via qualifiers or related merit tables.
The
William Hill World Darts Championship
The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split ...
,
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations are c ...
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
and
bwin Grand Slam of Darts
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dart ...
have qualifiers which are exclusive to Tour Card Holders with all PDPA members eligible to play in the PDC World Darts Championship qualifier.
References
External links
PDPA web sitePDC web siteDRA web sitePDC Europe web site
{{PDC Darts
Darts organizations
Sports trade unions
Professional Darts Corporation