Richard Howson (born 19 December 1965) 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 who plays 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.

Career

In 2011, he played 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) tournament

World Masters The World Masters, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mita/Sky World Masters, was a snooker tournament held between 13 and 26 January 1991. Conceived by promoter Barry Hearn, the tournament had a similar format to the Grand Slam events in tenn ...

where he beat Scott Mitchell 3 legs to 0 and

Paul Hogan Paul Hogan (born 8 October 1939) is an Australian actor and comedian. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as ...

whom he beat by 3 legs to 1 before losing in the last 24 to

Andrew Gilding Andrew Gilding (born 7 December 1970) is an English professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He made his television debut in 2011. Gilding's best result at a PDC major event was reaching the sem ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He lost in the last 64 of the 2011 UK Open after falling to

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

9 legs to 2, after beating

Stephen Hardy Stephen "Steve" Hardy (born 24 October 1974) is an English professional darts player who has played in Professional Darts Corporation events. Known as The Nutcracker, Hardy qualified for the 2013 European Darts Open on the PDC European Tour The ...

and

Tony Ayres Tony Ayres (born 16 July 1961) is an Australian showrunner, screenwriter, director in television and feature film. He is most notable for his films '' Walking on Water'' and ''The Home Song Stories'', as well his work in television, including ...

. In 2012, Howson won a PDC tour card on the first day of Q School. His best result of 2012 was reaching the quarter-finals of the sixth UK Open Qualifier where he lost 6–2 to Ian White. Howson again lost in the last 64 of the

UK Open The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...

, in a 2–9 defeat to

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 ...

. He was ranked world number 69 going into 2013. Howson played in all eight of the

Qualifiers with his best results being two last 32 defeats to qualify for the event itself where he lost in the last 64 for the third successive year this time 9–2 to

Matt Padgett Matthew Padgett (born 27 March 1982) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. Career A bowling alley technician by trade, Padgett joined the PDC in 2010. In June 2010, he qual ...

. The rest of the year proved to be disappointing for Howson as he failed to qualify for any European Tour events and could not advance beyond the last 64 in the 14 Players Championships he competed in. He began 2014 89th in the world, well outside the top 64 who kept their PDC places and Howson therefore entered Q School to win his place back. He lost in the last 32 on the third day but couldn't advance beyond the last 256 in any of the other days to fall short of earning a new tour card. Howson now had PDPA Associate Member status which allowed him entry into all UK Open and European Tour qualifiers as well as the Challenge Tour. Howson failed to qualify for the

for the first time, but made the most out of an appearance at the final Players Championship of the year with wins over

Mark Dudbridge Mark "Flash" Dudbridge (born 11 January 1973) is an English professional darts player. He appeared in the 2005 Premier League Darts after reaching the final of the 2005 PDC World Darts Championship. He also is a former World Master and has r ...

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 ...

Keegan Brown Keegan Brown (born 5 November 1992) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2014 PDC World Youth Championship. Career Early career Brown began playing darts at the age of ni ...

and

Christian Kist Christian Kist (born 21 April 1986) is a Dutch professional darts player. In 2012, he won the BDO World Darts Championship, defeating Tony O'Shea in the final. Since 2014, he has competed in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career BDO K ...

to reach his second career PDC quarter-final, where he lost 6–4 against

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...

. Howson played in all 16

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History The ...

events in 2015, with his best result being a quarter-final exit in the sixth tournament. He played in 12 of them in 2016, but couldn't get past the last 64 once. Howson left the PDC in January 2020. Howson rejoining on the

in April 2022.

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howson, Richie English darts players Living people 1965 births Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders British Darts Organisation players