Jocky Wilson
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This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (April 2012) |
| Jocky Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | John Thomas Wilson |
| Nickname | Jocky |
| Born | 22 March 1950 Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland |
| Died | 24 March 2012 (aged 62)[1] Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland |
| Home town | Kirkcaldy, Fife Scotland |
| Darts information | |
| Playing darts since | 1979 |
| Darts | 21g datadart |
| Laterality | Right-handed |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| BDO | 1979-1993 |
| PDC | 1993-1995 (Founding Member) |
| BDO majors - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Winner 1982, 1989 |
| World Masters | Runner Up: 1982, 1990 |
| PDC premier events - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Group Stages: 1994, 1995 |
| World Matchplay | Quarter Final: 1994 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| British Professional British Open |
1981, 1983, 1986, 1988 |
| Other achievements | |
| Denmark Open Pairs Winner 1981, 1983, 1984 | |
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Updated on 17 January 2007. |
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John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson (22 March 1950 – 24 March 2012) was a professional darts player from Fife, Scotland. After turning pro in 1979 he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, then again in 1989.[2] A contemporary and rival of Eric Bristow, Bob Anderson and John Lowe, Wilson won many titles in his career including the British Professional Championship a record four times between 1981 and 1988, as well as the prestigious British Open and Matchplay titles. He suddenly retired from the game on 23 December 1995, withdrew from public life, and was rarely seen in public or gave interviews before his death in March 2012.
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Early life [edit]
As a child, Wilson's parents were deemed unfit to raise him and Wilson spent much of his childhood in an orphanage.[3] Wilson served in the British Army from 1966 to 1968.[3]
He had been a coal delivery man and also a miner at Kirkcaldy's Seafield Colliery. However, it was a spell of unemployment which was to prove the catalyst to Jocky achieving darting greatness. During this period of unemployment, Jocky entered a darts competition at Butlins, Ayrshire in 1979, which he went on to win, claiming the top prize of £500.[4] His success at this tournament convinced him that he should turn professional as darts was beginning to become popular on television and the World Championship was in its infancy.
Greatest achievements [edit]
His greatest achievements came in the World Championships, first in 1982 where he beat Lowe 5-3 in the final, and then seven years later, when he beat his other great rival Bristow 6-4 in a classic match, where Bristow had recovered from 5-0 down to find himself at 5-4 and 2-2 in the tenth set. This was to be the Scot's last taste of success in a major event although the odd final appearance still came over the next few years.
His record at the World Championship was one of great consistency. From his debut in 1979 until 1991 he managed to reach at least the quarter-finals on every single occasion. He was quarter-finalist eight times (1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991) and three-times a losing semi-finalist (1983, 1984, 1987) in addition to his two World titles. In 1992 and 1993 he suffered first round defeats for the only time at the Lakeside Country Club.[4]
Darts split [edit]
Wilson joined the other top professionals who split away from the ruling British Darts Organisation in 1993 to form the WDC (now Professional Darts Corporation). He was not able to recapture the form that took him to two world championships however and only participated in two PDC World Championships, failing to win a single match. He lost both group games in 1994 (to Dennis Priestley and Graeme Stoddart) and again in 1995 (to Priestley and Lowe).
He did reach the final of the WDC Lada Classic in 1993, one of the very early tournaments during the acrimonious split. He lost that final to Mike Gregory. Wilson also reached the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Matchplay, losing to eventual champion Larry Butler.
His final appearance in a televised tournament came in the 1995 World Matchplay. He beat Rod Harrington 8-7 in the first round, but lost to Nigel Justice in the second round. Wilson never appeared in a major televised event again.
Personal life [edit]
Wilson was sometimes controversial, occasionally outspoken, but always extremely popular with darts fans who loved his honest approach and natural talent.
In 1982, Wilson was banned from competing in darts tournaments after he allegedly threw a punch at an official during a championship. This was taken as a reaction to Jocky's being under intense pressure at the time of the Falklands War, as he was married to an Argentine woman named Malvina (the Argentine name for the Falkland Islands is "Islas Malvinas"). He was soon allowed back into professional competitions again.
Jocky and Malvina had two sons, John and William, and one daughter, Anne Marie.
Wilson was a constant sweet-eater and generally refused to brush his teeth ("My Gran told me the English poison the water"); he had lost his last tooth by the age of 28. Following his 1982 World title win, he paid £1,200 for dentures, but never took to them. They made him belch when drinking, he complained.[4]
After retirement [edit]
Wilson never formally announced his retirement from darts; he just departed from darts suddenly on 23 December 1995. It is believed that he left after being diagnosed with diabetes, which stopped him drinking during games.[5]
For ten years during his darts career he had a house in Wallsend to cut down on travel expenses, but he left that to return to his home town of Kirkcaldy. In 1996 he said, "I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me. There's only one person to blame for the situation I'm in, and that's me." He was declared bankrupt in 1998, and then survived on a disability allowance, living as a recluse in a one-bedroom flat back on the council estate where he grew up.[4] Wilson also suffered from arthritis in his hands.
He ceased giving interviews to the press and television. An Observer reporter tried to interview Jocky in January 2007 on the 25th anniversary of his first title win to be told by his wife, "He never has (given an interview) since stopping and never will. He thinks it's all in the past, it's over with."[4] However, he did give an interview to The Scotsman in 2001. Despite Jocky's withdrawal from the game, in August 2009 the PDC announced a new tournament called 'The Jocky Wilson Cup' in which Scotland's best played England's best. England beat Scotland 6-0 in the inaugural Jocky Wilson Cup in December 2009.
A heavy smoker for forty years, in November 2009 it was announced that he had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.[6] Reports stated that Wilson had smoked up to 50 cigarettes a day for most of his life. He died just after 9 p.m. on 24 March 2012 at his home in Kirkcaldy, at the age of 62.[7] His funeral was held on Monday 2 April at the crematorium in his home town:[8] his great rival Eric Bristow and sports presenter Helen Chamberlain were amongst the estimated 400 mourners.
World Championship results [edit]
BDO [edit]
- 1979: Quarter Final (lost to John Lowe 1-3)
- 1980: Quarter Final (lost to Eric Bristow 0-3)
- 1981: Quarter Final (lost to Tony Brown 2-4)
- 1982: Winner (beat John Lowe 5-3)
- 1983: 3rd place (beat Tony Brown 2-0; lost in Semi Final to Keith Deller 3-5)
- 1984: Semi Final (lost to Dave Whitcombe 5-6)
- 1985: Quarter Final (lost to Dave Whitcombe 3-4)
- 1986: Quarter Final (lost to Dave Whitcombe 2-4)
- 1987: Semi Final (lost to John Lowe 0-5)
- 1988: Quarter Final (lost to Eric Bristow 2-4)
- 1989: Winner (beat Eric Bristow 6-4)
- 1990: Quarter Final (lost to Mike Gregory 3-4)
- 1991: Quarter Final (lost to Kevin Kenny 3-4)
- 1992: First round (lost to Kevin Kenny 1-3)
- 1993: First round (lost to Dennis Priestley 0-3)
PDC [edit]
- 1994: Group Stage (lost both group games to Dennis Priestley and Graeme Stoddart)
- 1995: Group Stage (lost both group games to Dennis Priestley and John Lowe)
In popular culture [edit]
- In 1982 his picture was displayed on Top of the Pops during a performance of "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" by Dexys Midnight Runners, apparently an in-joke on the part of the production staff.[4][9]
- He was amongst the first sports people to have a computer game created after him. Published by Zeppelin Games, Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge (1988) and later Jocky Wilson's Darts Compendium (1991) were created for several different home computer systems.
- One of the suites in the fictional Phoenix Club (as seen in Phoenix Nights) was named after Wilson.
References [edit]
- ^ Yahoo News
- ^ Telegraph Obituary
- ^ a b Waddell, Sid (25 March 2012). "Jocky Wilson obituary". Guardian (London). Retrieved 26 March 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f The sad story of Jocky Wilson, Jamie Jackson, The Observer, 14 January 2007
- ^ Daily Mail (London) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120041/Jocky-Wilson-dead-62-Darts-legend-dies-battle-lung-disorder
|url=missing title (help). - ^ "Jocky is told to quit the fags or die | The Sun |Home Scotland|Scottish News". Thescottishsun.co.uk. 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
- ^ Jocky Wilson dies two days after turning 62
- ^ Daily Mail
- ^ Top of the Pops picture
External links [edit]
- "A Sporting Nation" - article from bbc.co.uk
- Jocky's dart out of the shadows The Scotsman, 17 March 2001
- DartsDatabase profile and stats
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