Eric Bristow

Eric John Bristow (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player.

In 1957, Bristow was born in the London Borough of Hackney, where his father was a plasterer and his mother worked as a telephone operator.

He left school at age 14.

Television began showing increased interest in the sport in the late 1970s, with the first world championship occurring in 1978.

This, allied to the fact that a governing body had been formed in January 1973 and that Bristow was vastly talented with an imposing personality and uncontained self belief, enabled him to make a very successful living.

Cocky and arrogant, he invariably irritated opponents before and during matches with his gamesmanship.

Crowds would often boo Bristow when he was on stage, no less so than in Scotland, an atmosphere in which he revelled.

The nickname Crafty Cockney was given to Bristow when he visited an English pub of that name in 1976 during a visit to Santa Monica, California.

Bristow wore a shirt (which he received from the same pub) depicting a uniformed British policeman, a Union Flag and the title Crafty Cockney whenever he took part in a tournament.

As well as his world championship exploits, Bristow also lifted the prestigious Winmau World Masters crown five times (1977 beating Paul Reynolds, 1979 beating Canadian Allan Hogg, 1981 beating defending champion John Lowe, 1983 beating Mike Gregory and 1984 beating Keith Deller).

He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985.

He was a five-time World Champion, a five-time World Masters Champion a four-time World Cup singles champion and 2-time champion of the News of the World Darts Championship.

He won 22 WDF and BDO Major titles, he won 62 individual career titles, added to 20 titles in team events, winning 82 overall.

In the 1980s, Bristow's skill and personality helped turn darts into a worldwide spectator sport.

Bristow won his first world championship in 1980, defeating fellow Londoner Bobby George.

Like his snooker contemporary Steve Davis, however, he also had to cope with a shock defeat in a final during the 1980s, when young unknown Keith Deller beat him in the 1983 final; he had also lost to Steve Brennan in the previous year's first round.

Bristow emerged as the most successful and consistent darts player of the 1980s, reigning as number one in the world rankings during most of the period from 1980 until 1987.

In the 1980s, Bristow came across Phil Taylor, then a raw young darts talent in Stoke-on-Trent.

He sponsored him with about £10,000 to fund his development in the game, on the understanding that the money would be repaid.

Taylor went on to usurp his mentor as the greatest darts player ever.

Bristow retained his title in 1981 and won it again in 1984, 1985 and 1986.

During the 1982 Arrows Chemicals British International Championship match in Scotland, Bristow was subject to what Darts World Magazine called "the most sustained barrage of jeering witnessed at a Darts match".

He played to the crowd during his game with Harry Patterson; following a treble 20, he turned to the crowd only to be greeted with boos; his next dart was a treble 20, after which he turned to the crowd who met him with even more boos and jeers; lastly, his third dart was only a single 20, but the crowd applauded and Bristow merely grinned.

Bristow was a winner of the World Cup Singles on four occasions (1983 beating Jocky Wilson, 1985 beating Tony Payne, 1987 beating Bob Sinnaeve and 1989 beating Jack McKenna) and won the News of the World Darts Championship in 1983 beating Ralph Flatt and 1984 beating Ian Robertson (becoming only the second man in 57 years to successfully defend that title) together with countless other major tournaments including the British Open and Swedish Open three times each and the North American Open on four occasions.

During the Swedish Open in November 1986, Bristow found himself unable to let go of his darts properly – a psychological condition known as dartitis, similar to the yips in golf.

Bristow had joined Merseyside, his third county, in 1988, after previously playing for London from 1976 to 1980 and for Staffordshire from 1980 to 1988.

With Merseyside, Bristow played with his international teammate Kevin Kenny, and after being dropped by Merseyside, he was dropped from the England national side later the same year.

The split within darts saw Bristow become a founding member of the Professional Darts Corporation.

At the World Matchplay event in Blackpool, Bristow made six appearances without winning a match.

He also reached the final in 1989, losing to Peter Evison.

He was never quite the same player again, but did regain the number-one ranking briefly in late 1989 and early 1990 before losing his form again.

Bristow's form deteriorated in the early 1990s and he was dropped from the Merseyside team in 1992.

As well as his five world titles, Bristow also finished as runner-up on five occasions, the last in 1991.

In 1993, Bristow was one of sixteen top players who broke away from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form their own organisation, which became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).

From late December 1993, until November 2016, when he was dismissed, he worked mainly as a spotter, a pundit and an occasional commentator for Sky Sports during televised PDC tournaments, while continuing to travel and play on the exhibition circuit.

He reached the semi-finals of the 1997 WDC World Darts Championship at the Circus Tavern, where he narrowly lost to Phil Taylor 4–5 in sets.

His swansong came in a classic semi-final at the 1997 PDC World Championship, which he lost to his protégé, Phil Taylor.

Bristow's last appearance came at the World Championships in 2000, ending his 23-year run of playing in a world championship.

He stopped playing professionally after the event.

He retired from competitive darts in 2007 and subsequently worked as a commentator and pundit on Sky Sports darts coverage.