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The Crowds at Alexandra Palace in 1974.
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History of the Championship
The News of the World Championship commenced in the 1927/28 season in the Metropolitan Area of London and as the popularity of the game of darts grew throughout the 30īs the competition was enlarged and additional areas were added.
By the 1938/39 season it had spread to the North of England and across to Wales.
The competition was suspended on the outbreak of World War Two but the News of the World maintained the high profile of the game of darts by setting up their īTeam of Championsī who toured around the country raising money for charity, particularly the Red Cross. The team was captained by the legendary Jim Pike.
The competition re-emerged after the war in the 1947/48 season as a National Championship and it attracted a massive entry of almost 300,000 players from all parts of the United Kingdom. It had not lost itīs popularity.
It continued itīs growth throughout the 50īs and 60īs and regularly had audiences in excess of 12,000 at the Grand Finals.
When it was televised nationally in the early 70īs it attracted up to eight million viewers.
Tom Barrett, the first winner of back to back titles in 1964 and 1965, described the News of the World as the ´highlight of each darts season´. This sentiment was echoed by almost every player that ever threw a dart in the competition.
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House Winners Certificate |
At the start of each season ´House´ competitions were organised in pubs, clubs and works canteens and the winners eagerly looked forward to receiving their News of the World ´House Champion´ Certificates.
Certificates were also issued to players who threw maximum 180´s in the competition and Sets of Silver Darts were awarded for the Best Weekly Performance throughout the Championship.
When the ´house´ competitions were completed the winners played in sub-area and area sections with the winners together with the pub landlords and partners were invited to London each year for the Grand Finals of the ´Greatest Show on Earth´ and they were joined by the hundreds of secretaries who had worked tirelessly with the News of the World staff in running the competition.
