Former world darts champion John ‘Jocky’ Wilson was hailed as the ‘Braveheart’ of the game yesterday following his death at the age of 62.
A star of the golden era of darts, famed for downing lager with vodka chasers during matches, he died at his home in Kirkcaldy, Fife, after a battle with lung disease. Tommy Cox, who managed Wilson from 1988-1996, paid tribute to the man who helped lay the foundations of the modern game. Darts legend Jocky Wilson, pictured here at the World Professional Darts Championship in 1983, died after losing his battle with a lung disorder He said: ‘In the 1980s there wasn’t a person in the country who didn’t know who Jocky Wilson was. ‘Jocky transcended the whole spectrum of life in the UK. It’s a very sad day because Jocky was loved by so many people for the great character he was.’
English player and former rival Bobby George said Wilson was ‘the Braveheart of darts’.
He added: ‘He was Scottish through and through. When he played against England, it was great for the Scots.’ Wilson, who retired in 1996, leaves behind a wife and three children. Wilson, who won world titles in 1982 and 1989, founded a breakaway professional darts championship in the 1990s which helped the sport shed its working-class image and attract a new generation of fans.
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, the 15-time world champion, said: ‘With the likes of Eric Bristow and John Lowe, Jocky made the game what it is today.’
Wilson, born in Kirkcaldy, was to many, the quintessential darts player, playing with a cigarette in one hand and drinking. He earned £500 for winning his first major competition when he was 29 and unemployed. By the end of that year he was in the top eight in the world. Such was his cult status that he famously made a ‘guest appearance’ on Top of the Pops in 1982 when Dexys Midnight Runners performed Jackie Wilson Said in front of an image of the rotund darts player instead of the American soul singer of the song’s title.
Wilson retired suddenly from darts when he was 45. Leaving his home in Newcastle, he moved back to Kirkcaldy and into a one-bedroom council flat. He was declared bankrupt in 1998.
He died two days after his 62nd birthday at the home he shared with his Argentinian wife Malvina. They had three children. Darts commentator Sid Waddell said yesterday: ‘What can one say about the larger than life character that was John Thomas Wilson? Darts legend, working class hero and honorary Geordie.’
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and who can forget;