Which Darts Match Started It All

I'm often asked how I became such an avid fan of all things darts. Like most kids back in the day, there was always a dartboard up in my room that I shared with my older brother. We would go through spells of having little games against each other then not touch the things for a good few months. Then the old Embassy World Championship would start on the BBC over the festive period and we would once again pick up the arrows.

This carried on for a few good years until my parents got SKY TV. Now by this point the split in darts had occurred and SKY were starting to show WDC darts (Later to become the PDC) which featured all of the famous faces from the Embassy event I watched every new year.

The first time I ever sat down and watched every single live match of a tournament was the 1996 World Matchplay from the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

I wasn't really fussed who won it going into the event but when it got under way, I remember watching Peter Evison play Larry Butler, the 1994 champ. I remembered Evison from the Embassy for having a lovely throw. He made short work of the American.

In the next round, Evison was up against Phil Taylor, the defending champ and at that time only 3 times World Champion. (He's won it about 125 times now haha). During the walk-on, Evison came out to Love Spreads by The Stone Roses. My brother was a massive Stone Roses fan at the time and said straight away, Evison will win......Win he did, 8 - 1 and should have been 8 zip.

Evison went on to reach the final and play the legend that is Dennis "The Menace" Priestley who had been runner up the previous 2 years running.

Even though Priestley is a very slow player, I still loved watching him and his final turned into a great match for me, still one of my favourites and I still have it an old Scotch VHS tape. In the summer, when the matchplay is on this year, it'll be 20 years..........time does go too quickly.

Here is the full final of that match.....hope you enjoy it as much as I did and still do.