Eric John Bristow (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player and one of the most recognisable and successful players of the 1980s. 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 twice winner of the News of the World Darts Championship. He won 22 WDF and BDO Major titles, 65 individual career titles and 15 titles in team events, a total of 80 overall. In The First Two Episodes Of Bullseye, Eric Bristow Hosted The Show. 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). He retired from competitive darts in 2007 and subsequently worked as a commentator and pundit on Sky Sports darts coverage.

Early career

In 1957, Bristow was born in the London Borough of Hackney, but brought up at 97 Milton Grove, Stoke Newington, when Stoke Newington was a borough in its own right, where his father was a plasterer and his mother worked as a telephone operator. He left school at age 14. Bristow won his first world championship in 1980, defeating fellow Londoner Bobby George. Bristow retained his title in 1981 and won it again in 1984, 1985 and 1986. He also suffered a shock defeat in a final during the 1980s, when the relatively unknown Keith Deller beat him in the 1983 final; he had also lost to Steve Brennan in the previous year's first round. As well as his five world titles, Bristow also finished as runner-up on five occasions, the last in 1991. 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.

Achievements

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. Television began showing increased interest in the sport in the late 1970s, with the first world championship occurring in 1978. 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 also reached the final in 1989, losing to Peter Evison. 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.

Dartitis

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. 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. 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.

Mentoring Phil Taylor

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

Later career and retirement

Bristow's form deteriorated in the early 1990s and he was dropped from the Merseyside team in 1992. 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. 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, after which, he stopped playing professionally after the event. 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. Bristow returned to TV screens as a player in 2008 on Setanta Sports to compete in the BetFred League of Legends tournament, beating Bobby George 7–5 in the opening match. Bristow failed to maintain his form, however, and did not win another match in the tournament, failing to qualify for the semi-finals and finishing bottom of the League of Legends table. In 2004, Bristow played John Lowe, with Bristow showing glimpses of his old form in winning the match 6 legs to 1.

Personal life

Bristow was educated at Newington Green JM School before leaving for Hackney Downs Grammar School from 1968 to 1971, having passed his eleven-plus exam. He left grammar school at the age of 14. From 1978 to 1987, Bristow was in a relationship with former darts player Maureen Flowers. In 1989, he married Jane Higginbotham (born 1962). They had two children, a daughter and a son. They divorced in 2005 after 16 years of marriage, and he was later in a relationship with Rebecca Gadd until his death. Bristow was awarded the MBE in 1989 for his services to sport. In 2005, Bristow was accused of assaulting his wife. North Staffordshire magistrates ordered him to stay away from the family home in Milltown Way, Leek, Staffordshire and he was remanded on conditional bail. Bristow was alleged to have punched her in the face during a drunken row in their bedroom on 29 April 2005. He was subsequently cleared of the charges. In 2012, Bristow participated in the reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! He was voted out on 29 November 2012, finishing fourth out of 12 celebrities. On 29 November 2016, Bristow was sacked by Sky Sports following a series of tweets in which he responded to the United Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal centred around the football coach and convicted child sex offender, Barry Bennell. Bristow suggested the victims should have "sorted out" the perpetrators when they were older. According to him, "Dart players tough guys footballers wimps". Bristow was condemned by some social media users, including alleged victims of Bennell, for his comments. Bristow apologised for his comments the following day. In a statement, he compared himself to a "bull in a China shop" and "appreciated my wording was wrong and offended many people".

Death

Bristow died on 5 April 2018 after a heart attack while attending a Premier League Darts event at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. Bristow had finished playing some VIPs at a promotional event and was walking back to his car when he collapsed and was rushed to hospital. Speaking to BBC Radio Two, Bobby George said: "In the afternoon, I was doing a show at a pub opposite the Premier League (darts) building, and he just came in, said 'hello' and had a pint, then said 'see ya'. I said 'see ya' because I was working... he went across the road, and two-and-a-half hours later, he was gone."

World Championship results

BDO

Bristow's World Championship results are as follows:

PDC

Bristow's PDC results are as follows:

Career finals

BDO and WDF

Bristow appeared in BDO and WDF major finals 31 times with a record of 22 wins and 9 runners-up.

WDF

Bristol appeared in WDF major finals 6 times with 4 titles and 2 runners-up.

Independent major finals

Bristow appeared in independent major finals 2 times and won 2 titles. Note

Performance timeline

Bristow's performance timeline is as follows:

High averages