The Crafty Cockney — five World Championship titles and the man who made professional darts a television spectacle. Bristow's supreme confidence, confrontational personality and extraordinary ability under pressure made him the dominant player of the 1980s and the architect of darts as a professional sport.
Eric Bristow was born in Hackney, London on 25 April 1957. He won five BDO World Championships between 1980 and 1986, including the first five-title run in the history of the Embassy World Championship. His personality — brash, supremely confident, the Crafty Cockney persona played to the television cameras with obvious relish — made him the face of a sport that was experiencing its first mass-market television audience. He was the player who gave Phil Taylor his first set of darts and his early financial backing — a decision that arguably cost him his own legacy while guaranteeing his protégé's dominance. He suffered from dartitis from 1987 onwards — an involuntary flinching movement during release that effectively ended his championship-winning career at 30. He became a Sky Sports punditry regular for many years. He died from a heart attack in April 2018 aged 60.
BDO World Champion 5x (1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986)
Bristow gave Phil Taylor his first professional set of darts and financed his early career — effectively creating the player who would surpass every one of his records.
Did You Know?Career Honours
- BDO World Champion 5x (1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986)
- World Masters 5x
- News of the World Champion
- Mentor to Phil Taylor