Bobby George

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For the philosopher, bioethicist, and Roman Catholic apologist, see Robert P. George.

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For other people named Robert George, see Robert George (disambiguation).

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Bobby George
File:On film set 2014-04-24 10-35.jpg
On London Fields film set
Personal information
Full name Robert Francis George
Nickname King of Bling
Born (1945-12-16) 16 December 1945 (age 78)
Manor Park, Essex, England
Darts information
Playing darts since 1976
Darts Winmau 23g
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music "We Are the Champions" by Queen
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 1977-2009
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship Runner Up: 1980, 1994
World Masters Semi Final: 1979
World Darts Trophy Last 32: 2002
Int. Darts League Last 32 Group: 2005
Other tournament wins
Tournament Years
Essex Masters
North American Open
News of the World Darts Championship
Hainault Super League Singles
WDF Europe Cup Singles
Best Old Major Results
Butlins Grand Masters		 1976 1977 1978
1978
1979 1986
1976
1982
1979 1980
Updated on 7 January 2008.

Robert Francis George (born 16 December 1945) is an English darts player and presenter. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King of Darts" makes his way to the stage bedecked in jewellery, wearing a crown and cloak and holding a candelabra to the sound of Queen's "We Are the Champions".[1][2][3]

George won several leading darts tournaments, appeared in two World Championship finals and was the first full-time exhibition player. Since 1998, he has also worked for the BBC as a co-presenter and promoter of the sport during their coverage of various darts tournaments.[4]

Career

George only took up darts at the age of 30, but quickly improved, winning the first tournament he entered,[5] and then making his first appearance at the World Masters less than a year later.[2] He has won several tournaments around the world, including the prestigious News of the World Championship in 1979 and 1986, the Butlins Grand Masters in 1979 and 1980, and the Nations Cup in 1980, as part of an England triples team with Tony Brown and John Lowe. George's News of the World victory in 1979 came without dropping a single leg, the only player to do so.

George has reached the final of the World Professional Darts Championship twice. His first final in 1980 was his first appearance in a World Darts Championship but after beating Dave Whitcombe, Leighton Rees and Cliff Lazarenko he lost at the last hurdle to Eric Bristow.[6] George reached his second world final in 1994. After beating Russell Stewart and Martin Phillips, he broke his back when celebrating winning a set during his quarter final match against Kevin Kenny. George got through that match against Kenny by 4-2 in sets, having damaged his back when celebrating going 3-0 up. In his semi final match against Magnus Caris, George went 2 sets up, but then lost the next 4 sets and the opening 2 legs of the seventh set. When Caris missed a dart at double 18 to win the match, George responded by winning 9 legs in a row to win the match 5-4 in sets. Competing in the final against doctor's advice, George lost 0-6 to John Part.[7]

Since 1998, George has been a co-presenter and pundit on the BBC darts coverage, primarily of the BDO World Championship. He has also made several other television appearances, not all relating to darts. In 2004 he starred in the British comedy film One Man and His Dog [8] and later he followed in the footsteps of fellow professional darts player Andy Fordham by taking part in the ITV programme Celebrity Fit Club. In 2006, he appeared in a regular segment of Brainiac: Science Abuse series 4, in which he played darts in order to explode caravans. He was also a team captain in Showbiz Darts again alongside Fordham. In 2010 Bobby performed Run DMC's 'walk this way' on Lets Dance for Sport Relief with Tony O'Shea, Willie Thorne, and Dennis Taylor.

His colourful character has enabled George to also be successful on the darts exhibition circuit. He became the game's first full-time exhibition player when he stopped playing regular tournaments in 1986. In 2009 he teamed up with Bristow and John Lowe to tour theatres around the UK and Ireland, appearing in a show named Legends of the Oche which was presented and hosted by comedian Duncan Norvelle. [9] He also appeared in a 2009 episode of BBC's Cash in the Attic.[10]

Personal life

George was born in Manor Park, London. After leaving school, he had various jobs including as a nightclub bouncer and floor layer before taking up darts.

George lives with his wife and manager Marie (born 1960) and their sons Robert George (born 1987) and Richie George (born 1989), at George Hall, an 18-bedroom self-built mansion he jokingly refers to as "the house that Bobby built". The Hall is located on 12 acres (49,000 m2) of land once owned by William the Conqueror in Ardleigh near Colchester on the borders of Essex and Suffolk.[2] The layout of the rooms have been designed to look like a dartboard. George is a keen fisherman, and within the George Hall grounds are well-stocked fishing lakes. George also has two grandsons, Robert Jr (son of Robert) and Edward (son of Richie), who were born with 23 hours of each other in July 2013.

His son Richie is also a professional darts player. He reached the semi-final of the 2013 BDO World Darts Championship, losing to eventual champion Scott Waites.

George has worked as an ambassador for basic arithmetic, touring schools teaching children how darts can help with counting skills. A well-known animal lover, Bobby has a pet beagle called 'Jimbob' and seven retired polo ponies named after the planets of the solar system. [11]

Quotes

  • "Ton-eighties (or scores or trebles) for show and doubles for dough."
  • "Throw where you're looking and look where you're throwing."
  • "That's the way to do it, Luvverly jubberly."
  • "May the darts be with you."
  • "Putting the 'art' in 'darts'."
  • (after being asked about a player's chances in a match) "It's like a computer, innit. If you press D, you play darts. If you press something else, you play like" (corpsing) "something else..."

Tournament wins

  • Essex Masters: 1976, 1977, 1978
  • North American Open: 1978
  • News of the World Darts Championship: 1979, 1986
  • Butlins Grand Masters: 1979, 1980
  • WDF Europe Cup Singles: 1982
  • Hainault Super League Singles: 1976

World Championship Results

BDO

Career finals

BDO major finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
World Championship (0–2)
Grand Masters (2–0)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 1979 Butlins Grand Masters England Bill Lennard unknown
Runner-up 1. 1980 World Championship England Eric Bristow 5–6 (s)
Winner 2. 1980 Butlins Grand Masters Wales Leighton Rees unknown
Runner-up 2. 1994 World Championship Canada John Part 0–6 (s)

WDF major finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 1982 Europe Cup Singles England Eric Bristow 4–0 (s)

Independent major finals: 2 (2 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 1979 News of the World Championship England Alan Glazier 2–0 (l)
Winner 2. 1986 News of the World Championship United States Rick Ney 2–0 (l)
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline

Tournament 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988–1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
BDO World Championship NYF DNP RU QF SF L32 L32 L16 L32 L32 DNP SF RU L32 DNQ L16 L16 DNQ L16 DNQ L32 DNQ
Winmau World Masters QF DNP SF L16 L32 QF DNP L32 L32 DNP L32 DNP L32 DNP L16 L128 DNP L128 L128 L64 L16 Prelim L136 DNP L136
British Professional Not held L16 L16 QF L32 L16 DNP DNP/NH Not held
MFI World Matchplay Not held L16 L16 DNP DNP/NH Not held
News of the World ??? W ??? W ???/NH Not held DNP Not held
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded L# lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals RU lost in the final W won the tournament

References

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External links

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