Celebrating the Career of Darts Legend Bobby George
Bobby George is a former professional darts player, pundit, and presenter. He has won several leading darts tournaments (including world championship events), commentated on televised darts, and made guest appearances on many successful programmes.
But what are Bobby George’s biggest achievements? Read on to learn more about the King of Darts and his career highlights, from his first darts experience to today.
How Bobby George Stormed Onto the Darts Scene
He may be widely regarded as one of the best darts players the UK has ever produced, but Bobby George only discovered his remarkable talent when he was 30 years old. He played his first game in a pub after stormy weather forced him to cancel a day’s fishing off the coast of Ireland. Amazingly, George found that he was a natural — and he beat everyone else in that pub who took him on.
George soon became a member of the Essex Super League and won his first singles event: the 1976 Hainault Super League Singles. He followed this up in tremendous style by winning three Essex Masters in a row. In 1979, George won the North American Open, the News of the World Darts Championship, and the Butlins Grand Masters.
George also competed in the 1980 Butlins Grand Masters — and won again. He won the Nations Cup in 1980 as an England triples team with John Lowe and Tony Brown. George played in the Winmau World Masters event that year too.
Later, George won his second News of the World Darts Championship in 1986, after proving himself a formidable force at the World Darts Federation (WDF) Europe Cup Singles and WDF Europe Cup Team darts tournaments in 1982. Bobby George became the first full-time exhibition darts player in 1986, when he stopped playing regular tournaments and entered the darts exhibition circuit instead.
Taking on the World’s Best at the British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Darts Championships
George took part in more than a dozen BDO World Darts Championship events across the 1980s and ‘90s. He often reached the quarter- and semi-finals, and was runner up at his first in 1980 (narrowly losing to Eric Bristow). He made it to the semi-final in 1982, where he was defeated by Lowe, then participated again between 1984 and ’87.
In 1993, George returned to the World Championship but lost to Lowe in the semi-finals again. He was runner-up in the following year’s championship, losing to John Part, and took part in five more BDO World Championships. The King of Darts famously broke his back during the 1994 BDO World Championship, when celebrating winning during a quarter-final match against Kevin Kenny.
While this may have put many players out of the game, George still played darts for the rest of the tournament. And he performed brilliantly: he beat Magnus Caris in the semi-final and took on John Part in the final.
Bobby George’s Post-Darts Career and TV Success
George’s charisma and incredible darts knowledge made him the ideal choice to commentate and present darts coverage. He worked as a commentator and pundit on many events, including BDO World Championships, between the late 1990s and 2014.
During that time, he took on an entirely new challenge: touring theatres across the UK and Ireland in 2009’s Legends of the Oche. This comedic stage show featured George and fellow darts icons Eric Bristow and John Lowe.
George has also taken part in dozens of television programmes in recent years. You may have seen him on The Real Marigold on Tour, in which he joined celebrities like Miriam Margolyes, Wayne Sleep, and Rosemary Shrager on international adventures. The team visited such far-flung countries as China, Japan, Cuba, and Russia.
George’s other television work includes appearances in the shows Gone to Pot: American Road Trip, Let’s Play Darts for Comic Relief, and The Real Marigold Hotel. He has been a guest on some of the UK’s top quiz shows, too, including Tipping Point: Lucky Stars, Pointless Celebrities, and Cash in the Celebrity Attic.
Bobby George was one of several celebrities in 2006’s Celebrity Fit Club, joining Anne Diamond, Russell Grant, and other stars hoping to lose weight. George was on the winning team, and had shed around three stones by the end of the series.
One of George’s most memorable guest appearances, though, was on Let’s Dance for Sport Relief in 2010. The darts ace took to the stage with fellow sporting heroes Willie Thorne, Dennis Taylor, and Tony O’Shea to perform a routine to Run DMC’s classic “Walk This Way”.
Where is Bobby Now?
Today, George lives in his self-built mansion, George Hall, with his wife and manager, Marie. He told the Express that he has his own workshop on the grounds, which he uses to design custom dartboards. His son Richie also plays darts professionally, and followed in his father’s footsteps to reach the 2013 BDO World Championship semi-final.