Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

player. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the

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) and 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 Wor ...

(PDC). He reached the quarter-finals of the

BDO World Darts Championship The WDF World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the World Darts Federation. It would previously organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO), who held it 43 times from 1978 to 2020. The champion ...

twice and is a former winner of the Dutch Open, British Open and British Pentathlon.

Career

BDO career

He made his debut in the World Championship in 2002 but only won one match in his first five visits to Lakeside. Having lost to Wayne Jones (2002),

Erik Clarys Erik Clarys (born 18 October 1968) is a Belgian former professional darts player who competed in events of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed "The Sheriff", he was known for his unorthodox way ...

(2003) and John Walton (2004) he notched his first ever win at the World Championship against

Tony David Tony David (born 11 September 1967) is an Australian former professional darts player, who played under the nickname The Deadly Boomerang. He is the only Australian player to have been a senior singles world darts champion, having won the 200 ...

in 2005, before falling to

Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch professional darts player on the PDC circuit. As of the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship, his nickname is the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used to go by "Grease Lightning". He is bes ...

in the second round. A first round loss again followed to

Per Laursen Per Laursen (born 16 April 1966) is a Danish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments. BDO career Laursen reached the final of the WDF World Cup in both singl ...

in 2006, but his best run at the event came in 2007 when he progressed to the quarter finals before losing 4–5 to Mervyn King. Tony led King 3–0 but found himself 4–3 down before taking the match into the deciding set, which he lost. He has had some success in some

Open events away from the television cameras. In 2005, he won the Dutch Open, England Open and Sweden Open and in 2006 took the Norway Open and successfully defended his Sweden Open title. He has maintained a high world ranking as a result of these performances, which helped him to be seeded five for the World Championship in 2006 and four in 2007. In April 2007, he won the Norway Open for the second successive year.

PDC career

On the eve of the UK Open in June 2007, Eccles announced that he would be switching to compete on the PDC circuit. At the time of his switch he was ranked number 2 in the WDF and number 4 in the BDO world rankings and began his PDC career placed 151st in their Order of Merit. He made his debut to the World Championship in 2008, losing to

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

4–3 in the third round having led 2–0 and missing darts to lead 3–0. In the

2009 PDC World Darts Championship The 2009 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 16th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event took place at Alexandra Palace in London from 19 D ...

, Eccles, the number 30 seed, faced Dutchman

Remco van Eijden Remco van Eijden (born 12 September 1977) is a Dutch former darts player. Career Van Eijden previously played in the British Darts Organisation and he played in the 2008 BDO World Darts Championship, beating fellow Dutchman Mario Robbe in the ...

. Eccles took a 2–0 lead before van Eijden, who played in the

twelve months previously, came back to level at two sets all before Eccles eventually took the match with a 3–2 win to progress to the second round. He was then beaten by third seed

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 th ...

. Eccles was seeded 31 for the 2010 PDC World Championship but lost 3–1 in the first round to

Brendan Dolan Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...

BDO return

After an injury and average performances on the floor, Eccles returned to the BDO circuit in 2012. Eccles qualified for the 2013 BDO World Championship, winning the first five legs of his first round match against

Geert De Vos Geert De Vos (born 6 October 1981) is a Belgian darts player. His nickname is "Foxy". Career In 2012, De Vos qualified for the first time for BDO World Darts Championship; this performance led to a wildcard for the Zuiderduin Masters. During t ...

and missing three darts to win the second set before eventually losing 3–2. The following year, Eccles was drawn against fifth seed Darryl Fitton in the first round and won 3–1. He subsequently beat

Wesley Harms Wesley Harms (born 11 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional darts player. Career Harms won the BDO International Open in 2011, defeating Stephen Bunting in the final. Harms qualified for the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship as the 13t ...

4–3 after surviving a match dart in the sixth set and hitting back-to-back finishes of 80 and 122 to stay in the match before going on to win. Eccles was defeated 5–2 against Robbie Green in the quarter-finals. He announced his retirement from playing professional darts after the

2014 BDO World Darts Championship The 2014 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 37th World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 29th staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. Scott Waites was the defending men's champi ...

Child abuse trial

On 24 June 2014, Eccles was convicted at Teesside Crown Court of five counts of rape and five counts of indecent assault on a schoolgirl. On 26 June, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He was released from prison on license, on 1 July 2022, after eight years.

World Championship performances

BDO

* 2002: 1st round (lost to Wayne Jones 2–3) * 2003: 1st round (lost to

Eric Clarys Erik Clarys (born 18 October 1968) is a Belgian former professional darts player who competed in events of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed "The Sheriff", he was known for his unorthodox w ...

1–3) * 2004: 1st round (lost to John Walton 2–3) * 2005: 2nd round (lost to

1–3) * 2006: 1st round (lost to

2–3) * 2007: Quarter-final (lost to Mervyn King 4–5) * 2013: 1st round (lost to

2–3) * 2014: Quarter-final (lost to Robbie Green 2–5)

PDC

* 2008: 3rd round (lost to

3–4) * 2009: 2nd round (lost to

2–4) * 2010: 1st round (lost to

1–3) * 2011: 1st round (lost to

0–3)

Performance timeline

BDO

PDC

References

External links

Official websiteProfile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, Tony 1970 births British Darts Organisation players English people convicted of indecent assault English darts players English people convicted of rape Living people Sportspeople from Hartlepool Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales