This is insane 😂. It's like the whole of the uk is there 😂 😂 😂 What an atmosphere honestly I had no idea it was that good back then and I thought the 90's were the coming out decade for darts. I was way wrong 😂
@markalexander7652 I see what you’re trying to say, but “coming out” *really* isn’t the phrase to use, as that refers to something altogether different. The boom, the halcyon days, the explosion, when darts took off, something along those lines. The tournament pre-dates the World Championships (which started in 1978) by many years, starting in 1927. 280,000 players signed up to contest the 1938 contests. There were regional NOTW tournaments (as opposed to one national tournament, which only started after World War 2). ITV were the first to televise it, starting in 1972 until 1988 (except 1986 when it wasn’t held due to technician’s strike action). So as people only had 3 TV channels (until 1981 when Channel 4 was launched), then as a mixture of beer & sport was obviously going to appeal to millions (depending on what the BBC were showing at the same time). Sorry, I digressed there. The 90’s were the split in darts & the very gentle attempts to transmit a little more. It was the 70’s when darts had a massive growth in popularity. Ironically, another British passion (comedy) featured a ‘Not the 9 ‘o Clock News’ sketch where Smith & Jones starred in a parody darts match, mocking the heavy drinking, the chain smoking, and how generally overweight & unhealthy these so-called sportsmen were. The sketch was so popular that it struck a cord with people who were realising how unhealthy it was as a pastime, so viewers shrank, advertisers shrank, and the game essentially died off by the late 80’s (except the ‘Embassy’ World Championship). The players lobbied the BDO to clean up the image of the game, ban smoking & drinking alcohol on stage. Whilst that did happen, it was the Embassy tobacco/cigarette company sponsoring the only televised tournament. Players wanted to commit to darts & be able to make a living out of it, as their day jobs restricted the amount of practice they did & where they could travel to for tournaments. That’s when in the early 90’s, people like Eric Bristow, John Lowe et al suggested to the BDO that they hire a PR person, to help them get fans, sponsors & broadcasters to fall back in love with the game & create jobs for people. Olly Croft (the ignoramus) thought it was all nonsense & that the BDO “didn’t owe anybody a living.” That wasn’t the point, the fans, TV broadcasters, and advertisers/sponsors money would put the money in, not the BDO. But the stubborn fool dug his heels in, told them that if they left the BDO & formed their own organisation that they would be fought in court. Years of pathetic behaviour began, virtually bankrupting both sides, until the Tomlin Order was decided & agreed on in 1997. If the football Premier League suddenly had hardly any TV coverage, sponsorship dried up, players had other jobs & were only part time etc, if football was dying on its arse, you can guarantee that someone with the expertise in PR & media relations would immediately try to get a product that was playable, watchable, and which sponsors & broadcasters would be interested in. Olly Croft & his wife were responsible for the split in darts, which still exists today, even though they are both dead. If everything in darts was all under the same umbrella organisation, there would be no dispute about whose world championship was worth more/was harder/better to win. Kids could see the ladder from league to county, all the way up to the pinnacle (PDC). But instead, the WDF is now just a stepping stone/training pond where as soon as they start getting big, they can leap out & into the much bigger PDC pool.
doubles and trebles are clearly smaller on this board (than modern ones) adding to that a 8Ft throw and a very short format makes this a very tense final
1976 one of the hottest summer in the UK. Leighton Rees first world champion 1978, Bill Lennard. If these men were playing now I believe they would be hitting more 180's, like John Lowe who later in his career got more 180's than what he did in the 70's.
Hello my name is Rhonda Pengelly ( maiden name Green). I'm trying to find a film footage of my dad Tim Green he was at the top of the dart game from 1970s he won the golden games in March of 1976 and he won against Eric Bristow. It was televised oon westward TV in the south west of England (plymouth). I would be very grateful if anyone has any information this as I have 8 grandchildren and it would be amazing if they could see their great granddad for there history. Thank you
@padmavathipadmavathi1914 Meet your Grandad down in Stoke many years ago a true gentleman,and silky smooth throw loved watching him,and no one can ever take away the achievement of being the 1st World champ.
I remember Bill great guy, Regarding Leighton rees I played Leighton 2 weeks after he won embassy professional, shortly after news world We played one leg 1001,exhibition match Leighton hit 7×140 back to back
I was at Ally Pally to watch this.The atmosphere was 'electric'.After the game,Alan Evans the great welsh dart player offered his hand to Leighton-i grabbed his hand and shook it until his teeth rattled! Good old days.I used to play Tommy O' Regan for 3 pounds a game in those days-didn't win many!
+Kevin Clark I met Tommy o Regan in chicago around 1989 a pure gentleman and great dart player . He fell in to bad health and returned to Ireland and i never heard of him again until i read your post . ( good darts ,good darts )
+Jadi Peperzak-please don't disrespect these players.The 'throw' in the NOW competition was from 8'-at a time when 99% of 'throws' in super league and normal darts leagues were from 7' 6''.Leighton found it very hard to adjust to the extra couple of inches.I played Leighton several times,he was a true gent-played Bill in the Jersey Open--'Mister Consistency'. Jadi,everyone is a world champ in their own front room!
I went to Ally Pally in 70-71 seeing Filkins and in 71-72 seeing Netherton both win the trophy. The atmosphere was fantastic. A group of us bought a couple of cases of beer and watched from the side. The toilets were overflowing and the outside toilet troughs just flowed down the back of the place, disgusting really but with all those drinkers what else could they do? Differences... they threw from 8 ft... it was only best of three 501.{no time to get warmed up}. The throw line was called a Hockey. and winning a leg was called a game shot or a finish not a checkout. I still insist on calling it a finish. I believe it was the late Sid Waddell who started the "checkout" call. Whatever your views it was a great afternoon out.
Didn't know they used to throw from 8'. For some reason I thought it was 7'6". I remember Reece/s game went downhill when they changed it to 7'9 3/4 as he never did manage to switch to the new distance effectively. Thanks for sharing your memories
They stopped playing there because the Ally Pally burnt down! There were BDO tournaments there as well years ago. Where they play now is a newer building.
went there for Bristow v Flatt maybe 81 incredible that next door the FA vase final was on so the footy fans even came in cos this started at 1 pm ,insane crowds
This is even more lively than the pdc crowds....awesome stuff.
and its a much bigger crowd at the big stage in ally pally.
Electric atmosphere! Truly a vintage piece of film. What fun the crowd was having!
Thank you very much for sharing this. Bill was my grandad so its lovely to see videos like this being shared x x
You're welcome Kelly. Bill is a legend in the game of darts. Thanks for the comment.
Bill Lennard is a legend always loved watching him on tv Kelly such a marvelous player
Massive thank you for posting this! Bill Lennard had a great year in 1976. Fabulous memories.
Glad you enjoyed it mate.
Marvellous, lovely to see. I played it once, got through the local area.
That crowd is immense
I’ve never seen anything like this for a darts match. Fully agree with you Nathan. Bonkers 👍👍👍.
i never thought darts is this popular for such a long time. it is a great game that´s for sure.
really enjoyed this, good to see sportsmanship and the first world champ leighton rees
This has to be the best atmosphere ever in any sport!!!!!! 😂 love it
This is insane 😂.
It's like the whole of the uk is there 😂 😂 😂
What an atmosphere honestly I had no idea it was that good back then and I thought the 90's were the coming out decade for darts.
I was way wrong 😂
@markalexander7652 I see what you’re trying to say, but “coming out” *really* isn’t the phrase to use, as that refers to something altogether different.
The boom, the halcyon days, the explosion, when darts took off, something along those lines.
The tournament pre-dates the World Championships (which started in 1978) by many years, starting in 1927.
280,000 players signed up to contest the 1938 contests.
There were regional NOTW tournaments (as opposed to one national tournament, which only started after World War 2).
ITV were the first to televise it, starting in 1972 until 1988 (except 1986 when it wasn’t held due to technician’s strike action).
So as people only had 3 TV channels (until 1981 when Channel 4 was launched), then as a mixture of beer & sport was obviously going to appeal to millions (depending on what the BBC were showing at the same time).
Sorry, I digressed there. The 90’s were the split in darts & the very gentle attempts to transmit a little more. It was the 70’s when darts had a massive growth in popularity.
Ironically, another British passion (comedy) featured a ‘Not the 9 ‘o Clock News’ sketch where Smith & Jones starred in a parody darts match, mocking the heavy drinking, the chain smoking, and how generally overweight & unhealthy these so-called sportsmen were. The sketch was so popular that it struck a cord with people who were realising how unhealthy it was as a pastime, so viewers shrank, advertisers shrank, and the game essentially died off by the late 80’s (except the ‘Embassy’ World Championship).
The players lobbied the BDO to clean up the image of the game, ban smoking & drinking alcohol on stage. Whilst that did happen, it was the Embassy tobacco/cigarette company sponsoring the only televised tournament.
Players wanted to commit to darts & be able to make a living out of it, as their day jobs restricted the amount of practice they did & where they could travel to for tournaments.
That’s when in the early 90’s, people like Eric Bristow, John Lowe et al suggested to the BDO that they hire a PR person, to help them get fans, sponsors & broadcasters to fall back in love with the game & create jobs for people. Olly Croft (the ignoramus) thought it was all nonsense & that the BDO “didn’t owe anybody a living.” That wasn’t the point, the fans, TV broadcasters, and advertisers/sponsors money would put the money in, not the BDO. But the stubborn fool dug his heels in, told them that if they left the BDO & formed their own organisation that they would be fought in court.
Years of pathetic behaviour began, virtually bankrupting both sides, until the Tomlin Order was decided & agreed on in 1997.
If the football Premier League suddenly had hardly any TV coverage, sponsorship dried up, players had other jobs & were only part time etc, if football was dying on its arse, you can guarantee that someone with the expertise in PR & media relations would immediately try to get a product that was playable, watchable, and which sponsors & broadcasters would be interested in.
Olly Croft & his wife were responsible for the split in darts, which still exists today, even though they are both dead.
If everything in darts was all under the same umbrella organisation, there would be no dispute about whose world championship was worth more/was harder/better to win. Kids could see the ladder from league to county, all the way up to the pinnacle (PDC). But instead, the WDF is now just a stepping stone/training pond where as soon as they start getting big, they can leap out & into the much bigger PDC pool.
RIP to both of these players-and the commentator as well
Steve Copping gay
So basically you're telling us that they're all dead
Thanks for that
Thanks for posting this. Brilliant.
Them the days! packed to the rafters (literally)😂, drinking, smoking, and no one cares!
doubles and trebles are clearly smaller on this board (than modern ones) adding to that a 8Ft throw and a very short format makes this a very tense final
7:17 A programme in Windows generated an alert while this screen recording was in motion 😉
Takes me back.
GREAT VIDEO!!!!!
1976 one of the hottest summer in the UK. Leighton Rees first world champion 1978, Bill Lennard. If these men were playing now I believe they would be hitting more 180's, like John Lowe who later in his career got more 180's than what he did in the 70's.
Hello my name is Rhonda Pengelly ( maiden name Green). I'm trying to find a film footage of my dad Tim Green he was at the top of the dart game from 1970s he won the golden games in March of 1976 and he won against Eric Bristow. It was televised oon westward TV in the south west of England (plymouth). I would be very grateful if anyone has any information this as I have 8 grandchildren and it would be amazing if they could see their great granddad for there history. Thank you
Leighton Rees looks just like Roger Mellie from Viz comic
..The Bitter was flowing in there .....
Aye , no lager louts in them days just mild and bitter .
Have you got the news of the world darts championship 1979 match? Thanks
Sorry, I do not. I found this match on a Japanese site years ago.
@WorldwideDarts did youtube remove it im sure ive seen it on your channel before ? Cheers mate
@@harrymonk6 Yeah, I ran into some trouble a long time ago and had to remove 2 million views worth of videos.
@WorldwideDarts damn :( hopefully u can repost it one day 👍
@@WorldwideDarts how come u had to delete all of that?
All the other tournaments u had to be quiet this is so much better
any beers in the crowd?
Ya think? Quite a few I'd say LOL
A few thousand maybe...
I was there, we bought beer in packs of 24 cans to save going back...what a day that was...
That dartboard looks like one you find in the attic after 20 years. Imagine today's players being asked to throw on that.
I believe they stand 4-5 inches further away in the NOTW tourney.
You're correct. The oche was at 8 feet instead of today's normal 7'9 1/4
I think its more like 2.75 inches - NOTW tournament I believe was 8 feet, whereas those as we see on TV I believe is 7 feet 9.25 inches
this is it
Shame they didn't show Bill getting presented with the famous trophy
👍👍👍
before my time but both Leighton rees and billy lennard were great players
Bill was my Grandad, brilliant to see him, thanks for taking the time to put this on
Rees was my Granddad, Legend
I think "Mr Consistency" was one of the first players to reach the 301 Charity target on bullseye.
@padmavathipadmavathi1914 Meet your Grandad down in Stoke many years ago a true gentleman,and silky smooth throw loved watching him,and no one can ever take away the achievement of being the 1st World champ.
@@johngreenhorn8853 great dars player. Do you know why did he die relatively young?
@@gavalaff8322 hey dad😂 been watching great grandad today xxx
Small crowd for this one, just everyone in the country
And he won 20 Benson & Hedges and 4 cans of Bitter.
I remember Bill great guy,
Regarding Leighton rees
I played Leighton 2 weeks after he won embassy professional, shortly after news world
We played one leg 1001,exhibition match
Leighton hit 7×140 back to back
"60 !"...crowd.. "Yeeeeeesssss"... love it
Easily pleased thats why
Nowadays its
Been there
Seen that
Had that
BORED now!!
Modern times are so ungrateful, selfish and greedy
1976-The Year of the British Heatwave
I was at Ally Pally to watch this.The atmosphere was 'electric'.After the game,Alan Evans the great welsh dart player offered his hand to Leighton-i grabbed his hand and shook it until his teeth rattled! Good old days.I used to play Tommy O' Regan for 3 pounds a game in those days-didn't win many!
+Kevin Clark I met Tommy o Regan in chicago around 1989 a pure gentleman and great dart player . He fell in to bad health and returned to Ireland and i never heard of him again until i read your post . ( good darts ,good darts )
An eight feet throw an elm board and the best of three format
+Jadi Peperzak-please don't disrespect these players.The 'throw' in the NOW competition was from 8'-at a time when 99% of 'throws' in super league and normal darts leagues were from 7' 6''.Leighton found it very hard to adjust to the extra couple of inches.I played Leighton several times,he was a true gent-played Bill in the Jersey Open--'Mister Consistency'. Jadi,everyone is a world champ in their own front room!
Wow! More punters than a Coldplay gig!
Well Coldplay's audiences all use wheelchairs.
@@Djarra more like beds !
l played both these legends at today's throwing length they never missed that news of the world throw was so long
Bill lenard was My dads captain for lancashire and they Won the first Inter county title in 1972/3 season, Great old footage,
I went to Ally Pally in 70-71 seeing Filkins and in 71-72 seeing Netherton both win the trophy. The atmosphere was fantastic.
A group of us bought a couple of cases of beer and watched from the side.
The toilets were overflowing and the outside toilet troughs just flowed down the back of the place, disgusting really but with all those drinkers what else could they do?
Differences... they threw from 8 ft... it was only best of three 501.{no time to get warmed up}.
The throw line was called a Hockey. and winning a leg was called a game shot or a finish not a checkout.
I still insist on calling it a finish. I believe it was the late Sid Waddell who started the "checkout" call.
Whatever your views it was a great afternoon out.
Didn't know they used to throw from 8'. For some reason I thought it was 7'6". I remember Reece/s game went downhill when they changed it to 7'9 3/4 as he never did manage to switch to the new distance effectively. Thanks for sharing your memories
@@Wally-H 7f 9 & 1/4'
@@markperryman1797 yes thanks for the correction, sorry. My basic point holds true though
@@Wally-H I understand your point, just thought I would let you know....
Oche, not hockey
What an atmosphere wow
REAL pressure ... 12,000 crowd ... the DB level must be off the scale ... makes todays crowd look and sound like kindergarten.
I can remember watching these events on World of Sport 😁
Iv'e seen many pitch invasions but never an oche invasion the crowd was magnificent don't know why they stopped playing there for so long.
They stopped playing there because the Ally Pally burnt down! There were BDO tournaments there as well years ago. Where they play now is a newer building.
@@stevebrown3559 I appreciate your words thank you.
Bring back the News of the World tournament ! (with a different sponsor obviously)
..how about ffyfes bananas ..?
The great dave lanning.r I p.🙏🙏
Jeeeezzzz! Is that a real crowd or special effects? 😳😂😂
stand up if you love the darts!!!!
Billy Lennard was my grandad..super proud x
Rees was my Granddad , proud of him . Once a Legend always Legend
A lovely man.r I p.🙏🙏
This is brilliant.
Was there.remember the heat..and the mountains of empty best cans.....There was a lady sitting 2 rows infront of us wearing a fur coat........
Das war wirklich in den 70er Jahren?, schaut nicht so aus. hm..
Legends !
Poor Leighton a three time loser. But his day would come two years later when he became the first champion of the world.
Should be classed as a world title
Great to see these classic matches , but best of three tho 🤨
Weird to watch darts without the split screen 😱
I have my grandads news of the world medal he won in the late 1950s as bobby george wants to buy it but its definitely not for sale
How u know he wants to buy it, ? He won it twice
Leighton Rees looks like Jay out the Inbetweeners old man. Classic footage.
I wonder what these averages were compared with today.
Most crowd probably pissed up
crowd is huge :)
Wow nice!
Alles zu schwach 70er dart...da kann ich sogar mithalten.:-)
Dieser Kommentar zeigt, dass du kaum Ahnung von Darts hast. Sorry aber das ist wirklich so!
Du kannst den beiden Spielern im Video nicht mal das Bier halten.
awful darts for a final
The first world championships !
This is the international tournament, not world tournament!
@@FanBoyStudio369 its the same thing lol the news of the world was also considered the world championship of darts back then
Excellent fantastic atmosphere, probably better than the ally pally? 🤔
went there for Bristow v Flatt maybe 81
incredible that next door the FA vase final was on so the footy fans even came in cos this started at 1 pm ,insane crowds