The LAST TIME All the Greatest Darters Were Under One Roof...

The Lakeside - 1993



As we currently have the BDO Darts tournament at Lakeside on the box right now, here's a blast from the past highlight reel of the 1993 tournament. Been watching the Lakeside Darts over the recent years? Noticed it's just not somehow got that same magic feeling? No Phil Taylor, no Eric Bristow and no Raymond Van Barneveld? Well, the 1993 Embassy tournament at Lakeside was probably the last undisputed World Darts championship, before, an unprecented split occured, as an army of some of the most well-known players including an impressive embargo of all previous active Embassy champions, who left to join the PDC. This was in reflection that the BDO (British Darts Organisation), was not doing enough to modernise the pub sport into an international professional sport, and we're not talking about forcing darter's to downsize their beer bellies. Also ratings were down, and the image of the beer drinking/smoking Darts "athlete", was thought to be perhaps the cause.

By the time of this 1993 tournament, the 16 unsettled professional Dart players were refused to wear the logo of their newly formed inner-faction the "World Darts Council" on their shirts. The BDO, rather bullish and old-fashioned, banned the players from BDO competition, as they complained of their Council not being recognised. The 16 players were Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, Rod Harrington, Alan Warriner, Peter Evison, Richie Gardner, Jocky Wilson, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Bob Anderson, Cliff Lazarenko, Kevin Spiolek, Jamie Harvey, Mike Gregory and Chris Johns.

So they set up their own Darts organisation called the PDC, and their first World Championship would be televised on Sky Sports in 1994. Since then, the PDC have risen from peak to peak, now over-taking the BDO in talent. However, the BDO are still regarded by all, that it is the Government body of UK Darts.

The song in this compliation is the appropiately title of Queen's "The Show Must Go On". I know for fact, this is not a fan-made compiliation, but it featured in the BBC's 1996 Embassy coverage, as a historical montage, rather random though.