Tributes pour in for Scotland’s legend of darts Jocky Wilson

FUELLED by pints of lager and vodka chasers and wreathed in cigarette smoke, he was an unlikely sportsman who became a national hero.

Jocky Wilson, the former world darts champion, who was hailed as the “Braveheart” of a sport that once thrived on alcohol and nicotine, has died. He was 62 years old.

Wilson, who became a virtual recluse after retiring in 1995, died at his home in Kirkcaldy on Saturday evening. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary disease, which blocks the airflow to the lungs, and he needed a machine to help him to breathe.

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It is understood he was being cared for by his wife, Malvina, and his grandson. A former miner, Wilson won the World Darts Championship on two occasions, in 1982 and 1989, and helped to popularise the sport during the 1980s.

A statement on the official Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Twitter page read: “We are very saddened to hear of the death of former World Champion Jocky Wilson. Simply devastated.”

Yesterday, Bobby George, the flamboyant presenter and player, described Wilson as “the Braveheart of Darts”.

He said: “He hated the English and wanted to beat them. He probably only got on with me because my mum was Scottish. He really turned it on when he played against England. He fought for the Scotsman in him.”

As a proud Scot, Wilson’s fiercest rivalry was against the “Crafty Cockney”, Eric Bristow, who became a close friend. However, on one occasion he kicked Bristow in the shins seconds before the pair stepped on to the oche, forcing his opponent to shake hands in front of the television cameras while blood dripped down his leg. In one of his finest matches, in 1989 he beat Bristow 6-4 to win the World Championship, after Bristow came back from 5-0 down.

Wilson worked as a coal delivery man as well as a miner at the Seafield Colliery and first learned to play darts during breaks at the Lister Bar in Kirkcaldy. He turned professional just as the World Championship was televised during the 1980s, and he quickly became a favourite of its nine million viewers.

Wilson, resplendent in his blue and white or yellow and black shirts, was a regular fixture on television during the 1980s. He also had a fine line in self-deprecating patter: “I’m short and fat, so what? That’s life! Anyway, TV makes you look fatter.”

Yesterday, Martin Adams, three times a world champion, remembered Wilson when he was at the top. “Jocky was a great champion and a great player,” he said. “When he was on song, there was no stopping him. I remember watching the 1989 final and Jocky was flying that day, he was in the groove. It’s one of the best matches of all time.

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“There were some great matches in that era, and Jocky was involved in a lot of them.”

Bristow, George and Wilson took to the oche in an era before walk-on girls and music became commonplace at sold-out arenas. George insists times were better when he and Wilson were playing. “It was more fun when we played,” he added. “He didn’t have much money, so he didn’t travel much. I remember once we were playing in America and I picked him up. When I lifted his suitcase, I was braced for the weight, but nearly fell over because there was nothing in it.

“When I asked him what was inside, he replied: ‘A pair of socks’. I asked why he’d got a suitcase when he only had a pair of socks, he said: ‘It looks better when you check into a hotel if you’re carrying a suitcase’. What a boy!”