''The Indoor League'' was a

pub game A pub game is one which is traditionally played inside or outside a pub or bar. Most pub games date back many years and are rooted in village culture. Many derive from older outdoor sports. Pub games can be loosely grouped into throwing games, d ...

s competition series that was produced by

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 ...

and aired from 1973 until 1977. The programme was hosted by former England cricketer

Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

(1931–2006).

Background

The first series of ''The Indoor League'' began transmission, by

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 ...

, on 5 April 1973 at 1 pm and ran for the following six weeks. The ''

TV Times ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which ...

'' magazine dated 31 March 1973 contains a one-and-a-half-page editorial on it, featuring noted

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 Tom Barrett. Most of the competitions were filmed the year before transmission. From series 2 onwards, ''The Indoor League'' made its various competitions open to international competitors, and they played for the Indoor League World Championships. Presenter

often wore a cardigan and smoked a pipe throughout his links. He always ended the show with the

Yorkshire dialect The Yorkshire dialect (also known as Broad Yorkshire, Tyke, Yorkie or Yorkshire English) is a dialect of English, or continuum of dialects, spoken in the Yorkshire region of Northern England. The dialect has roots in Old English and is influen ...

phrase, "ah'll see thee". The programme's theme tune was ''Waiting For You'' by

André Brasseur André Emile Ghislain Brasseur (born ) is a Belgian keyboard player and organist. His most successful recording was "Early Bird" released in 1965. Career Brasseur was playing in bars when he was signed in 1964, and started releasing albums and si ...

. The show featured many indoor games, the majority of which were

pub games A pub game is one which is traditionally played inside or outside a pub or bar. Most pub games date back many years and are rooted in village culture. Many derive from older outdoor sports. Pub games can be loosely grouped into throwing games, d ...

, each of which had a prize of £100 for the competition winners. The sports included

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 pool ...

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 ...

( 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 ...

amongst others. Among the commentators were

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 ...

and

Keith Macklin Keith Macklin (19 January 1931 – 1 August 2009) was a British journalist, author, broadcaster and sports commentator. He began his career with the BBC in the north of England, where he commentated on rugby league for the North of England Home ...

. The programme was broadcast from The Leeds Irish Centre, which was later recognised as the 'birthplace of television darts' ''The Indoor League'' was created by

Sid Waddell Sid Waddell (10 August 1940 – 11 August 2012) was an English sports commentator and television personality. He was nicknamed the 'Voice of Darts' due to his fame as a darts commentator, and worked for Granada, Yorkshire, BBC and Sky Sports. Du ...

, who also produced the series from 1972 to 1976. Darts coverage on television was in its infancy, with 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 ...

having just begun to be broadcast on ITV in 1972. Waddell would later go on to become one of the voices of darts on television when the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

was created in 1978. In the first series, all darts matches were played on a Northern England " doubles dartboard" that does not have any treble scoring segments. The competition was restricted to players from within the

region but, due to the programme's success, from the second series onwards the men's and womwns' darts competitions were open to all players from around the globe, and they played for the Indoor League World Darts Championships. In the final series there was also an international mixed darts tournament. The winner of the first competition received £100, with the runner-up getting £50. From the 1974 Season onwards, the winner of the men's darts tournament qualified for the BDO World Masters the following year. The first two series of ''The Indoor League'' have been released on DVD, remastered by Network on Air, and all available episodes were shown on UK TV on the FrontRunner TV channel.

Series air dates

According to the ITV listing magazine ''

'', programmes were shown by the different ITV regions on different days of the week and at different times across their schedules. Some ITV regions showed an episode of the programme one or more weeks later than other ITV regions. The details above are taken from ''TV Times''.

Tournament winners

The Indoor League Men's Darts Championships

* 1972

Colin Minton Colin Minton (2 October 1945 – 12 December 1998) was an English professional darts player who competed in the British Darts Organisation on 1970s, 1980s, & 1990s. Minton was best known for winning the first series of The Indoor League, the T ...

beat Charles Ellis 2–0 (Played on a Yorkshire dartboard) * 1973

Tommy O'Regan Thomas "Tommy" O'Regan (28 February 1939 - 8 October 2000) was a professional Irish darts player who captained both the Ireland and England darts teams. From Limerick in the south west of Ireland, he was one of the pioneers of the modern era of ...

beat

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 the ...

2–0 * 1974

Leighton Rees Leighton Thomas Rees (17 January 1940 – 8 June 2003) was a Welsh professional darts player. He is best known as the first British Darts Organisation, BDO World Professional Darts Champion, having won the inaugural 1978 BDO World Darts Champion ...

beat

* 1975

Conrad Daniels Conrad Edward Daniels (born September 11, 1941 from New Jersey) is a former American professional darts player who was active from the 1970s to the 1980s. Darts career Daniels was an elite competitor who won or finished near the top of dozens of ...

beat

Cliff Inglis Cliff Inglis (1 January 1935 – 1 January 2001) was an English professional darts player. His prime years were in the mid-1970s and 1980s. Inglis was the winner of the first World Masters tournament, still considered by many as the most prest ...

(Championship of Champions) * 1976

beat

Charlie Ellix Charlie Ellix (18 October 1941 – 18 March 2002) was an English professional darts player. Career Ellix reached the final in the 1976 Indoor League, losing to Leighton Rees. He then reached the quarter finals of the 1977 Winmau World Masters ...

3–0 (Indoor League World Championship) * 1977 Tony Brown beat David "Rocky" Jones (Indoor League World Championship)

The Indoor League Ladies' Darts Championships

* 1973 Loveday King beat Jessie Catterick 2–0 * 1974 Greta Hallgren beat Millie Bergeson 2–1 * 1975 Jean Dickinson beat Brenda Simpson 2–1 (Championship of Champions) * 1976 Jean Dickinson beat

Margaret Lally Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Indo-Iranian languages, Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and r ...

2–0 (Indoor League World Championship) * 1977 Sandra Gibb vs

(Indoor League World Championship)

The Indoor League Mixed Pairs' Darts World Championship

* 1977 Ken Brown & Sandra Gibb beat Kevin White & Lynn Stewart (Indoor League World Championship)

Indoor League Bar Billiards Championships

* 1972 "Taffy" John 2,820–1,450 Malcolm Rider * 1973 John Baker 2,400–1,440 Peter Wells * 1974 John Peters 4,200–3,050 John Baker * 1975 Roy Buckle 900–? Alan Sales * 1976 Stan Pratt beat Gerry Lambert * 1977 Not held After the second series, The Indoor League Bar Billards added the unusual rule of a 45-second maximum break limit. This was to allow full games to be shown during the 18-minute TV as breaks in bar billiards can go on for long periods of time.

Indoor League Arm Wrestling Championships

* 1972 Not held * 1973 Donald "Buster" Witney beat "King" Ben Boothman 1–0 (Ben Boothman went on to have a successful wrestling career as King Ben with ITV's ''

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'' ...

'') * 1974 Clive Myers beat Tony Lees 2–1 * 1975 Right-handed – Tony Fitton beat Tony Lees (Tony Fitton left the UK shortly after this season to work in the USA. He was exposed in a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' exclusive in 2008 as being the so called "Godfather of

Steroids A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...

", contributing to the major steroid problem in American Sports during the 80s and 90s) * 1975 Left-handed – Bill Richardson beat Paul Jordan (Bill only entered the left handed competition because all the spots in the right handed competition was taken. He later won

Universe Championships The Universe Championships are annual worldwide bodybuilding events organised by the National Amateur Body-Builders' Association (NABBA). Originally promoted as the contest, the event was expanded to include women's classes in 1968. Notable previ ...

Mr Universe in 1980) * 1976 Under 200 lb – Clive Myers beat Joe Graham 2–0 * 1976 Left-handed – Mike Winch beat Alan Jackson * 1976 Super heavyweight – Bill Richardson beat Donald "Buster" Witney 2–0 * 1977 Under 200 lb – Clive Myers vs ? * 1977 Left-handed – Mike Winch vs ? * 1977 Super Heavyweight – Bill Richardson vs ?

Indoor League American Pool Championships

* 1972 Not held * 1973 John Ashcroft 1–0

Ray Edmonds Ray Edmonds (born 25 April 1936 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire) is a former English professional player of English billiards and snooker. He twice won the World Amateur Snooker title, and won the World Professional Billiards Championship in 1985. Pla ...

* 1974

Willie Thorne William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020) was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13–8 ...

3–0

* 1975

2–1

* 1976 Not held * 1977 Phil Tyas vs Dean Emmott

Indoor League Table Skittles Championships

* 1972 Philip Senior beat Dennis Jones * 1973 John Chell beat William Woolwich * 1974–1977 Not held

Indoor League Table Football Championships

* 1972 John Kropacz & Frank Bowett 6–0 Eric Crane & Stephen Kelly * 1973 Speedy Campbell & Bervis Harris 6–3 John Kropacz & Frank Bowett * 1974 Nelly Nelson & John McKrith 6–5 John Kropacz & Frank Bowett * 1975–1977 Not held

Indoor League Shove Ha'Penny Championships

* 1972 Alan Brown beat Barry Stones * 1973 Bryn Turner beat Alan Brown * 1974–1977 Not held

1972 Indoor League Men's Darts Results

All matches were played on a Northern England dartboard that does not have any treble scoring segments. The 1972 darts tournament was limited to players within the Yorkshire TV region. The winner received £100 and the runner up £50. There was no women's darts tournament in 1972. Only the final, two semi-finals and two of the quarter finals were transmitted during the 1972 series of six episodes.

1973 Indoor League Men's Darts Results

Alan Evans, in his semi-final match against Tony Ridler became the first ever male player to score a 180 on Television. In the same game, Ridler also scored a 180 in the second leg. The current

winner Ivor Hodgkinson entered the tournament but was beaten in the first round by Frank Crolla. The tournament featured several internationally capped darts players. Winner

O'Regan O'Regan can refer to: Places *O'Regan's, Newfoundland and Labrador, a village in Newfoundland, Canada People *Brian O'Regan (disambiguation), several people *Daniel O'Regan, New Zealand rugby league player *Danny O'Regan, American ice hockey playe ...

played for both England and Ireland before becoming captain of Ireland. Willie Etherington, Ron Church and Des Stabb represented England, Bob Whyte represented Scotland,

and Tony Ridler played for Wales, George Foster represented Australia and

Al Lippman AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

represented United States of America.

1974 Indoor League Men's Darts Championship Results

Doug Priestner, hit a 180 with his first three darts in the competition.

1975 Indoor League Men's Darts Championship Results

For the second year running Doug Priestner, hit a 180 with his first three darts in the competition. Cliff Inglis, hit back-to-back 180s in one of his matches.

1976 Indoor League Men's Darts World Championship Results

In the 1976 Indoor League men's darts World Championship players were redrawn after each round. And the draw above reflects this.

1976 Indoor League Ladies Darts World Championship Results

1977 Indoor League Men's Darts World Championship Results

Reigning champion Leighton Rees was unbelievably at the time of filming the competition due to him touring Australasia doing dart exhibitions. In the 1977 Indoor League men's darts World Championship players were redrawn after each round. And the draw above reflects this.

1977 Indoor League Mixed Pairs Darts World Championship Results

During the second semi-final, Peter Chapman become the first player to a televised 180 in a mixed pairs game, and Sandra Gibb scored the first ever televised 180 scored by a female player. The semi-finals and final in this mixed pairs competition were the best of five legs of 701.

References

External links

*
Indoor League at UK Gameshows web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indoor League Darts tournaments British sports television series 1973 British television series debuts 1978 British television series endings 1970s British game shows 1970s British sports television series ITV game shows Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Yorkshire Television English-language television shows