One month after the Grand Finals in the London Arena a letter was received by all of the secretaries with the terrible news that the News of the World would no longer be organising the most popular darts tournament in the world.
Unfortunately, the great ´Pioneer of Irish Darts´, Louis Donohoe, was not around to see the last competition - he had passed away in late 1989.
Some say that he had heard of the pending demise of the ´News of the World´ and had died of a broken heart - others say that he was called ´on high´ to organise the ultimate darts tournament in the Garden of Paradise.
One thing is certain - with no disrespect to the other secretaries - the News of the World was not the same without him.
At each post-match banquet Louis was always called upon to reply to the sponsors on behalf of all of the players and secretaries. The banter between himself and the veteran Master of Ceremonies, Bob Evans, was always the highlight of the after-dinner speeches.
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One of Louis´ after-dinner speeches. |
In comparison to other years the 1990 banquet was like a wake !
Everybody present seemed to be mourning the death of Louis.
