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Sid Waddell (10 August 1940 – 11 August 2012) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
sports commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
and television personality. He was nicknamed the 'Voice of Darts' due to his fame as a darts commentator, and worked for
Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
. Due to his joke telling skills he was also nicknamed the Thief of Bad Gags, firstly by
Dave Lanning Dave Lanning (24 March 1938 – 29 October 2016) was an English sports commentator and journalist, best known for his coverage of Professional Darts. He was brought up in Poole and educated at Poole Grammar School. Broadcasting career He was o ...
. He was nominated for two prestigious awards for his work, and published several books.


Early life

The son of a Northumberland miner, he attended King Edward VI School,
Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...
, and he went on to obtain a scholarship to St John's College,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, where he graduated with an upper second degree in Modern History. At Cambridge, Waddell played rugby for St John's, and the Cambridge University LX Club, the rugby second team. Injury brought him to darts and he started the inter-college darts competition. St John's lost in the final of this in 1961 to a team of trainee vicars from Selwyn College.


Career


Granada and Yorkshire

Waddell went into academia for a few years in 1962. He joined the Social Studies Department at
Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...
and assisted the Professors of Politics and Economics in writing their books. He toyed with the idea of writing a book on trade unions but settled for folk singing in a duo with Charles E. Hall called the Gravyboatmen. They played on BBC ''Tonight'' and
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
locally. In 1966, Waddell joined
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
working with
Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
on local news programmes. In 1968, he moved to
Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
. Between 1968 and 1974, Waddell was a producer for over 600 editions of local news programme, ''Calendar''. He also devised the ITV network children's series ''
The Flaxton Boys ''The Flaxton Boys'' is a British historical children's television series set in the West Riding of Yorkshire and covering a timespan of almost a century. The series was made by Yorkshire Television and was broadcast on ITV between 1969 and 1 ...
'' a historical adventure series that ran for three years from 1969. 1972 was a big year for darts as ITV broadcast the
News of the World Darts Championship The News of the World Championship was one of the first major organised darts competitions, which began in 1927. It became England's first national darts competition from 1947, as the years went by it gradually became international essentially ...
for the first time. Waddell was an observer at
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
during the 1972 News of the World Championship and was particularly impressed with the play and character of the eventual finalist, Welshman
Alan Evans David "Alan" Evans (14 June 1949 – 12 April 1999) was a Welsh professional darts player and former World No. 1 who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Evans was one of the early faces of television darts and had some tournament success in th ...
, who beat reigning champion Dennis Filkins in the semi finals with a fiery display. Also in 1972, Waddell created the show ''
The Indoor League ''The Indoor League'' was a pub games competition series that was produced by Yorkshire Television and aired from 1973 until 1977. The programme was hosted by former England cricketer Fred Trueman (1931–2006). Background The first series of ...
'', which featured various pub games including
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 ...
,
pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...
,
bar billiards Bar billiards is a form of billiards which involves scoring points by potting balls in holes on the playing surface of the table rather than in pockets. Bar billiards developed from the French/Belgian game billard russe, of Russian origin. The cu ...
, bar skittles,
Table football Table football, also known as foosball, table soccer, futbolito in Mexico, Taca Taca in Chile and Metegol in Argentina is a table-top game that is loosely based on association football. The aim of the game is to move the ball into the opponen ...
(aka foosball),
arm wrestling Arm wrestling (also spelled armwrestling) is a sport with two opponents who face each other with their bent elbows placed on a table and hands firmly gripped, who then attempt to force the opponent's hand down to the table top ("pin" them). The s ...
and
shove ha'penny Shove ha'penny (or shove halfpenny), also known in ancestral form as shoffe-grote ['shove- groat' in Modern English], slype groat ['slip groat'], and slide-thrift, is a pub game in the shuffleboard family, played predominantly ...
. ''The Indoor League'' was only shown on Yorkshire Television in 1972 but went national on the ITV network from 1973 to 1977, although Waddell had left ITV by the last series of the programme.


BBC

In 1976, Waddell switched to the BBC and his experience with televised darts helped him to become one of the commentators on the first
World Professional 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 ...
when it began in 1978. Waddell stayed with the BBC until 1994, commentating on all darts events covered by the BBC from 1978 to 1994, with his last darts commentary on the BBC being the first four sets of the 1994 BDO World Championship Final between
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 ...
and
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 ...
. During his time with the BBC, Waddell penned ten episodes of a successful children's television series, ''
Jossy's Giants ''Jossy's Giants'' is a children's footballing comedy drama that ran on BBC1 between 1986 and 1987. The show's plot centred on a boys' football team, the Glipton Grasshoppers, and their enthusiastic Geordie manager Joswell 'Jossy' Blair. The sh ...
'' in 1986. He was also the writer of two series of another children's show ''Sloggers'' which ran from 1994 to 1996. He was also a director for ''
Mop and Smiff ''Mop and Smiff'' is a children's pre-school television programme, the first episode "The Hang Glider" was broadcast on 4 April 1985 on BBC1, the final episode "The Snow" aired on 1 January 1986. Repeats of the programme were shown on BBC2 until ...
'' and assistant producer for the follow-up series ''Mike, Mop and the Moke''. His credits also include working with the eccentric scientist
Magnus Pyke Magnus Alfred Pyke (29 December 1908 – 19 October 1992) was an English nutritional scientist, governmental scientific adviser, writer and presenter. He worked for the UK Ministry of Food, the post-war Allied Commission for Austria, and diff ...
and he was
Alan Whicker Alan Donald Whicker (2 August 1921 – 12 July 2013) was a British journalist and television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary television programme ''Whicker ...
's producer on ''Whicker's Women'' in 1972. He worked on the ''
Russell Harty Frederic Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows. Early life Harty was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the son of greengrocer Fred Harty, who ran a fruit-and-veget ...
Show'', and in 1993 did a series for
Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stud ...
called ''Waddell's World'' in which he was a butler to a posh Tweeddale family, a caravanner and on the dole. He made one performance as the "Voice of the Balls" on the ''National Lottery Red Alert'' on BBC in 1999. He said he was sacked for being "too
Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitut ...
".


Sky Sports

From 1994, Waddell became an independently employed commentator, but mainly associated with his work with
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
. The first darts tournament he commentated on for Sky Sports was the 1994 World Matchplay at the
Winter Gardens, Blackpool The Winter Gardens is a large entertainment complex in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which includes a theatre, ballroom and conference facilities. Opened in 1878, it is a Listed building, Grade II* listed building, operated by Blackpool Enter ...
, in August 1994. For the next 17 years, he worked continuously as a commentator on all darts tournaments televised by Sky Sports. In September 2011, Waddell was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Despite this diagnosis and undergoing treatment, he managed to come back to the darts commentary box in the spring of 2012 during some
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
nights. After commentating on a sporadic basis during the 2012 Premier League, Waddell did not commentate at either the 2012 UK Open nor the 2012 World Matchplay prior to his death on 11 August 2012. Waddell's last darts commentary came in the 2012
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
final between Phil Taylor and
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 ...
on 17 May, where Phil Taylor won the match 10-7 to take the 2012 Premier League title, although Waddell only commentated on the first part of the match; his last commentary contributing to a full match came in the same evening in the semi final match between Phil Taylor and
James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...
, Taylor won the match 8–6. The World championship trophy has been renamed eponymously in his honour, in recognition of his contribution to darts. Waddell's last interview came in June 2012, where he discussed his life, darts commentary, pool commentary and his bowel cancer. This interview was aired on Sky Sports on 16 August 2012, five days after his death, as a tribute entitled: ''Sid Waddell – A Life in His Own Words''.


Pool commentary and other works

Besides darts, Waddell commentated on numerous other sporting events produced by
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
and/or
Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool (cue sports), ...
over the years. He regularly commentated on the four annual
nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle of e ...
pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...
events on which the two companies collaborated ( World Pool Championship;
World Pool Masters The World Pool Masters is an annual international nine-ball tournament. Formerly, it was called the European Pool Masters (until 1995) until players from other parts of the globe were invited. History Throughout much of its history, the tournament ...
; World Pool League; and
Mosconi Cup The Mosconi Cup is an annual nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1994 between teams representing Europe and the United States. Named after American pool player Willie Mosconi, the event is comparable to the Ryder Cup in golf and the Weber ...
), particularly between the years of 1999–2003. However, as these events began to be hosted further away from the UK, Waddell gradually withdrew from the sport. He is remembered for coining the term "Golden Break", meaning when the 9-ball is pocketed directly from the break, giving the breaking player an immediate win. In 2004, he was the commentator for the British game show ''House of Games'' in which two families competed in various household based challenges. In 2006, he began to host ''Sid Waddell's Wrestling Show'' on
ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally l ...
. This show featured edited versions of matches from the days of ''
World of Sport Wrestling ''World of Sport Wrestling'' (frequently shortened to ''WOS Wrestling'') was a British professional wrestling television series and occasional promotion. It was promoted as a re-launch of the popular wrestling segment of the '' World of Sport'' ...
''. In 2007, Waddell and
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 ...
recorded a series of ''Bellies and Bullseyes'' darts programmes about the World Darts Championship from 1978 until 1990 for ESPN Classic, which were later broadcast on the channel in December 2007.


Awards

Waddell was twice nominated for TV awards. He was up for BAFTA best director in 1992 for a documentary in the ''Ipso Facto'' series, and in 1994 he was nominated for best scriptwriter in the
Writers' Guild of Great Britain The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG). History The un ...
awards for his children's cricket series ''Sloggers''.


Publications

He wrote eleven published books, including biographies of
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 ...
, Jocky Wilson and Phil Taylor. His book ''Bellies and Bullseyes'' was short listed for the British Sports Book Award for 2008. His racy 1973 novel ''Bedroll Bella'', about a Geordie groupie, was banned by
WH Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...
and
John Menzies John Menzies plc ( , ) is the holding company of Menzies Aviation plc, an aviation services business providing ground handling, cargo handling, cargo forwarding and into-plane (ITP) fuelling, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History The compa ...
. In 2009 he published a memoir of his boyhood in a Geordie pit village, ''The Road Back Home''.


Personal life

Waddell was married to Irene. Waddell was a fervent
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
supporter, and lived in
Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford, Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of ...
. In September 2011, it was announced that Waddell had been diagnosed with
bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...
. He succumbed to bowel cancer on 11 August 2012, the day after his 72nd birthday, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Following his death, the decision was made to rename the
PDC World Darts Championship The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the Cazoo World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championship held annually in the sport of darts. The PD ...
trophy the Sid Waddell trophy from 2013. Waddell's funeral was held in Leeds on 22 August 2012. Before Waddell's funeral he was cremated earlier in the day in a private ceremony.


Quotes

*"It's the greatest comeback since Lazarus" *"When Alexander of Macedonia was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer... Bristow's only 27." *"He's burning the midnight oil at both ends!" *"They'll be rattling their clogs in
Cleckheaton Cleckheaton is a town in the Metropolitan borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Bradford, east of Brighouse, west of Batley and south-west of Leeds. It ...
!" *"Even Hypotenuse would have trouble working out these angles!" *"There's only one word for that – magic darts!" *"It's like trying to pin down a kangaroo on a trampoline." *"The atmosphere is so tense, if Elvis walked in with a portion of chips, you could hear the vinegar sizzle on them" *"He's as happy as a penguin in a microwave." *"His eyes are bulging like the belly of a hungry chaffinch." *"That could have landed on the pupil of a fly's eyeball"" *"
William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...
could take an apple off your head,
Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Pl ...
could take out a processed pea." *"He's moving round that pool table like
Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...
after a couple of body slams." *"In the space of three darts, he has gone from being
Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, partic ...
to the Laughing Cavalier."


References

* *


Notes


External links


Classic Waddell Commentary
from Waddell's Official web site. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waddell, Sid Darts commentators English sports broadcasters BBC sports presenters and reporters 1940 births 2012 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from colorectal cancer People from Alnwick Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Professional Darts Corporation Hall of Fame