Leighton Thomas Rees was a Welsh professional darts player. He was the first BDO World Professional Darts Champion, having won the inaugural 1978 BDO World Darts Championship, and was a former World No. 1 player. He was one of the sport's most successful players throughout the 1970s, and retired from the game in 1991.
Robert Francis George is an English television presenter and former professional darts player. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King of Darts" makes his way to the stage bedecked in jewellery, wearing a crown and cloak and holding a candelabra to the Queen song "We Are the Champions".
The 1985 Embassy World Darts Championship was the 8th World Professional Championships. The tournament was held between 5 and 12 January. It was the seventh and final time that the tournament was held at the Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent, as the tournament organisers, the British Darts Organisation, decided to move the event to the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, from 1986. The Jollees Cabaret Club closed in 1992, due to losing money, not reopening until 2016.
The 1986 Embassy World Darts Championship was held between 4–11 January 1986. For the first time, the tournament was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, having been held at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent for the previous seven years. The Lakeside became the third venue in the history of the World Championship.
The 1987 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey between 9 and 17 January 1987. John Lowe, the 1979 champion and four-time runner-up in the event, beat three-time defending champion Eric Bristow in a repeat of the 1981 and 1985 finals. This marked something of a turning point in darts; Bristow had won the title for the three consecutive years prior to this. His defeat by Lowe was his first in the World Championship since 1983. Despite reaching the final of this event three more times he would never again win the world title.
The 1988 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey between 9 and 17 January 1988. The tournament was won by the number 1 seed, Bob Anderson, who played to a high level throughout the week, averaging over 90 in all of his games and over 97 in all but one.
The 1989 Embassy World Darts Championship was the 12th World Professional Championships, and was staged at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey, England for the fourth successive year. The tournament was organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO).
The 1984 Embassy World Darts Championship was held from 31 December 1983 to 7 January 1984 at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.
Cliff Lazarenko is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "Big Cliff" due to his height and weight, he is known for being a colourful character on and off the stage.
The 1983 Embassy World Darts Championship was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent from 1–8 January 1983.
The 1990 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey from 5–13 January 1990. It saw then-unknown Phil Taylor win the first of sixteen world titles, beating his mentor Eric Bristow 6–1 in sets in the final, with Taylor playing in his first ever World Championship at the age of 29. Taylor beat Russell Stewart, Dennis Hickling, Ronnie Sharp and Cliff Lazarenko en route to the final. Defending champion Jocky Wilson fell at the quarter-final stage, losing to Mike Gregory. The event also saw America's Paul Lim hit the first nine-dart finish at the World Championship in his second round match with Ireland's Jack McKenna, receiving £52,000 for his efforts. It was the only nine-dart finish ever thrown in the BDO World Championship.
The 1994 Embassy World Darts Championship was held following two years of controversy within the sport of darts. After the 1993 Championships, several players decided it was time to part company with the British Darts Organisation and form their own organisation, the World Darts Council. By the start of this tournament, the WDC were in the closing days of their own 1994 World Championship, with Dennis Priestley going on to beat Phil Taylor in the final.
The 1991 Embassy World Darts Championship was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey from 4–12 January 1991. Phil Taylor was the reigning World Champion and started off well in the early rounds, before losing in the quarter-finals to Dennis Priestley who took the title. Priestley defeated Eric Bristow by a scoreline of 6-0 in the final. It was the tenth and last of Bristow's world final appearances and the only one in which he failed to win a single set.
The 1982 Embassy World Darts Championship was the fifth year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. For the fourth successive year, the tournament was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.
The 1980 Embassy World Darts Championship was the third year that the British Darts Organisation had staged a world championship. Again the field was 24 players, with the top seeds receiving a bye to the last 16 stage. For the second successive year the tournament was staged at Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.
The 1979 Embassy World Darts Championship was the second World Professional Championships. Having been held the previous year at the Heart of the Midlands Club in Nottingham, the event moved to Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent where it was to remain until 1985.
The 1978 Embassy World Darts Championship was the first BDO World Darts Championship. The tournament was organised by the British Darts Organisation who had already set up the WDF World Cup and Winmau World Masters in its five years since formation. This was the only year that the tournament was played in a matchplay format of legs, rather than sets which came into operation from 1979 onwards. BBC Television covered the event and began a long broadcasting partnership with the BDO. Sid Waddell was the lead commentator on the tournament which he would cover for the BBC until 1994.
Anthony Brown was an English professional darts player. He came close to winning the world championship on a number of occasions, reaching the World Professional Darts Championships semi-finals four times, losing twice to Eric Bristow and twice to John Lowe.
The 2006 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was held from 7 to 15 January 2006 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. Defending champion Raymond van Barneveld was aiming to win a fifth BDO world title, equalling the record set by Eric Bristow. However, he was beaten 7–5 in the final by Dutch qualifier Jelle Klaasen; the final was the first and only World Darts Championship final to not feature a British player. Klaasen became the youngest World Champion at age 21 and became the first qualifier to win the World Championship since Keith Deller in 1983, who became the youngest World Champion himself, aged 23. This would eventually be Van Barneveld's last appearance at the Lakeside as he would switch to the rival Professional Darts Corporation the next month.
RobertSmith is a Scottish former professional darts player. He won numerous tournaments in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was also twice a World Championship quarter-finalist. After a particularly successful 1977, his highest world ranking was No. 4 in early 1978. Smith retired from professional darts at a relatively young age in 1983 to spend more time with his children.
England 
