Russ Bray

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Russ Bray
Russ Bray 2022 (cropped).jpg
Bray in 2022
Born (1957-06-22) 22 June 1957 (age 67)
South Ockendon, Essex, England
Other names"The Voice"
OccupationRetired darts referee
Years active1996–present (became semi-retired in 2024)
Known forRefereeing Professional Darts Corporation events

Russ Bray (born 22 June 1957) is an English darts referee who works for the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) as an ambassador. Known as "The Voice", due to his unique style of calling and his raspy voice, he was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame in 2024. Russ previously worked as a police traffic officer. Bray stepped down from being a full-time referee following the 2023-24 PDC World Darts Championship final following a 28 year career.

Contents

Darts career (1996–)

According to Bray himself, his calling career began one night when the regular caller failed to show for a county match. Bray was then contracted to call for the PDC in 1996 and was given his debut at the World Matchplay in Blackpool. He was the caller when Phil Taylor hit the PDC's first-ever televised nine-darter and the world's second ever live televised nine-darter in 2002 at the same event. He has called eight more nine-darters live on TV since then including the first televised nine-darter outside of Europe by Mervyn King in Johannesburg, South Africa. [1]

Bray was a county player for Hertfordshire and subsequently played on the pro circuit. [2] He teamed up with Eric Bristow to win the Norway and Finland pairs.

Bray also hit the bullseye on a standard dartboard from 10 feet, outdoors, on Blackpool's North Pier, thus achieving a Guinness World Record in the process. [3] Bray beat the day's previous best of 9' 6" which was achieved by fellow PDC official Scott Gibling.

In November 2023, Bray announced that he would retire from full-time refereeing at the end of the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship, but would continue to work with the PDC as an ambassador. [4] His last televised ranking match was the 2024 world final, in which Luke Humphries defeated Luke Littler to win his first world title. On the occasion of his retirement, Bray was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame by PDC chief executive Matt Porter. [5]

Bray calling a 2022 Premier League match 2022-06-13 Play-offs (2022 Premier League Darts) by Sandro Halank-019.jpg
Bray calling a 2022 Premier League match

Other work

Bray has made use of his raspy voice in various other forms of media. He was the referee in the PDC's first ever video game, PDC World Championship Darts and also became the voice of Feasters, a microwave food chain. He has also provided voiceover work for advertising from Coral, Ladbrokes, Cash Converters & McCoy's Crisps. Additionally, he has also provided his voice and his name to Russ Bray Darts, a mobile app. [6] Bray has since made an appearance in boxing as the voice on Sky Sports Fight Night in October.[ when? ]

Personal life

Bray currently resides in Soham, Cambridgeshire with his wife, Sue. [7]

He is a lifelong supporter of football club West Ham United. [8]

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References

  1. ↑ "Russ Bray". Mastercaller.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  2. ↑ "Premier League Darts: We spoke to Russ Bray, the man behind that growl at the oche". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  3. ↑ "Unicorn Darts – News – RUSS BRAY ENTERS RECORD BOOKS". www.unicorn-darts.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  4. ↑ Gorton, Josh (23 November 2023). "Russ Bray to bring full-time refereeing career to a close at PDC World Darts Championship". Sky Sports. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Russ Bray inducted into PDC Hall of Fame". PDC. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Russ Bray Darts Scorer Pro – Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  7. ↑ Mansfield, Daniel (12 August 2013). "Soham darts ace Russ in a spin for charity draw". Ely Standard.
  8. ↑ "The Six Factor – Darts referee Russ Bray on Bobby Moore, the Hammer he played alongside at school and breaking a world record!". West Ham United F.C. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
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