Originally posted by Andy on old forum:
Anybody of a certain age will remember Jocky Wilson , He was a real character in the game and also fond of a pint .
Jocky was born on 22nd March 1950 in Kirkaldy , Fife , His early employment was in the coal industry , He worked as a miner and also as a coal delivery driver
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During a time while he was un employed Jocky entered a darts competition at Butlins at Ayr (scotland) which he went on to win , The winners prize was £500 which was a good bit of money back then .
His greatest successes i suppose were in 1982 when he won the world championships beating John Lowe 5-3 and in 1989 when he beat Eric Bristow 6-4 . This was to be his last major tournament win tho he had won many other less well know tournaments in the previous years.
His record at the world championship from his first appearance in 1979 up to 1991 was very consistent reaching no less than 8 quarter finals and the semi finals 3 times.
In 1993 Jocky joined other top pros who had split from the B.D.O to form what is now the P.D.C , He competed twice in the P.D.C world championship but couldnt match his form of previous years .
However in 1993 he was a losing finalist to Mike Gregory in the Lada classic and in 1994 he reached the quarter final of the world matchplay .
Jockys final televised event appearance was in the 1995 world matchplay , He lost in the second round .
Jocky now lives a very private life in his beloved Kirkaldy , Jocky Wilson Was a troubled soul i believe but the public really took him to there hearts , I am not very good at this sort of thing so please forgive any mistakes .
My personal opinion of Jocky Wilson ? Every game or sport has its characters and i Believe Jocky to be one of darts greatest !
Andy
Replies from old forum:
chrisbamb
Jocky Wilson was and still is one of my all time favourites. Back then were characters galore in the Darting World and he was one of the biggest. He always looked as though he'd had way too many to drink and this seem to exaggerate the Jocky Jerk on his last dart.
He does seem to live a rather hermit existence now which is a shame for someone who as Andy said was much loved throughout his life.
Getagrip
I think they have tried many times to get the guy on tv but he prefers to be left alone, he is not in the best of health so guess he just wants peace and quiet now.
Was certainly a character though.
Andy
Well im fairly certain if Phill Taylor walked out onto the stage followed 2 minutes later By Jockey the wee scotsman would get the bigger round of applause ! He was and always will be one of darts greatest characters and i for one would love to shake that mans hand !
old dart
I was lucky enough when Jocky came to Perth WA to be chosen along with my mother to play against him at the time he was playing players from various associations .Unlike some people we had to play him on scratch so the fact that I got under 200 both legs was a good achievement as I was so nervous I could hardly stand up. He was very pleasant to us afterwards and signed a photo for me which I still have to this day, this was in the mid 80s I think
Getagrip
Thats great to hear, can you post the pic on here?
Jocky was a great character and player
Shafted
Jocky was a character, and the game needs characters, he used to wear his heart on his sleeve which helped endear the public to him. I have two memories of him showing his displeasure during televised tournaments in the 80s, the first one being a game where Big Cliff Lazerenko pipped him in the final leg, Cliff went to shake his hand but Jocky refused, finished up with Cliff giving him the middle finger, but where as some players would have got berated for this there was just an acceptance of well its Jocky.
The second incident. and I would love to know if anyone on here can remember this, was during a tournament 80s again. Im sure it was sponsored by Blackthorne Dry Cider, and played up the road from me in Oldham he drew a qualifier who threw county darts for somerset or somewhere down that way, by the name of Terry Downs never seen or heard of him before this tourament nor since, but without exaggeration it took him something one minute or so to throw three darts. never seen anyone as slow in my life, Jocky got beat in an appalling standard of scoring, he just couldn't get going, he didn't half go mad on stage at the end,
RIP John Thomas Wilson.
Taffy
Jocky was one hell of a character and I would have loved to have met him. He loved his pint, and Sid Waddell once said: "Jocky could play darts when most people would be in intensive care". Brissy stated: "Jocky was a character, darts needs characters, because if they were all like John Lowe the game would be boring"
I don't think anyone could say a bad word about Jocky???
Anybody of a certain age will remember Jocky Wilson , He was a real character in the game and also fond of a pint .
Jocky was born on 22nd March 1950 in Kirkaldy , Fife , His early employment was in the coal industry , He worked as a miner and also as a coal delivery driver
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
During a time while he was un employed Jocky entered a darts competition at Butlins at Ayr (scotland) which he went on to win , The winners prize was £500 which was a good bit of money back then .
His greatest successes i suppose were in 1982 when he won the world championships beating John Lowe 5-3 and in 1989 when he beat Eric Bristow 6-4 . This was to be his last major tournament win tho he had won many other less well know tournaments in the previous years.
His record at the world championship from his first appearance in 1979 up to 1991 was very consistent reaching no less than 8 quarter finals and the semi finals 3 times.
In 1993 Jocky joined other top pros who had split from the B.D.O to form what is now the P.D.C , He competed twice in the P.D.C world championship but couldnt match his form of previous years .
However in 1993 he was a losing finalist to Mike Gregory in the Lada classic and in 1994 he reached the quarter final of the world matchplay .
Jockys final televised event appearance was in the 1995 world matchplay , He lost in the second round .
Jocky now lives a very private life in his beloved Kirkaldy , Jocky Wilson Was a troubled soul i believe but the public really took him to there hearts , I am not very good at this sort of thing so please forgive any mistakes .
My personal opinion of Jocky Wilson ? Every game or sport has its characters and i Believe Jocky to be one of darts greatest !
Andy
Replies from old forum:
chrisbamb
Jocky Wilson was and still is one of my all time favourites. Back then were characters galore in the Darting World and he was one of the biggest. He always looked as though he'd had way too many to drink and this seem to exaggerate the Jocky Jerk on his last dart.
He does seem to live a rather hermit existence now which is a shame for someone who as Andy said was much loved throughout his life.
Getagrip
I think they have tried many times to get the guy on tv but he prefers to be left alone, he is not in the best of health so guess he just wants peace and quiet now.
Was certainly a character though.
Andy
Well im fairly certain if Phill Taylor walked out onto the stage followed 2 minutes later By Jockey the wee scotsman would get the bigger round of applause ! He was and always will be one of darts greatest characters and i for one would love to shake that mans hand !
old dart
I was lucky enough when Jocky came to Perth WA to be chosen along with my mother to play against him at the time he was playing players from various associations .Unlike some people we had to play him on scratch so the fact that I got under 200 both legs was a good achievement as I was so nervous I could hardly stand up. He was very pleasant to us afterwards and signed a photo for me which I still have to this day, this was in the mid 80s I think
Getagrip
Thats great to hear, can you post the pic on here?
Jocky was a great character and player
Shafted
Jocky was a character, and the game needs characters, he used to wear his heart on his sleeve which helped endear the public to him. I have two memories of him showing his displeasure during televised tournaments in the 80s, the first one being a game where Big Cliff Lazerenko pipped him in the final leg, Cliff went to shake his hand but Jocky refused, finished up with Cliff giving him the middle finger, but where as some players would have got berated for this there was just an acceptance of well its Jocky.
The second incident. and I would love to know if anyone on here can remember this, was during a tournament 80s again. Im sure it was sponsored by Blackthorne Dry Cider, and played up the road from me in Oldham he drew a qualifier who threw county darts for somerset or somewhere down that way, by the name of Terry Downs never seen or heard of him before this tourament nor since, but without exaggeration it took him something one minute or so to throw three darts. never seen anyone as slow in my life, Jocky got beat in an appalling standard of scoring, he just couldn't get going, he didn't half go mad on stage at the end,
RIP John Thomas Wilson.
Taffy
Jocky was one hell of a character and I would have loved to have met him. He loved his pint, and Sid Waddell once said: "Jocky could play darts when most people would be in intensive care". Brissy stated: "Jocky was a character, darts needs characters, because if they were all like John Lowe the game would be boring"
I don't think anyone could say a bad word about Jocky???
