The Darts Forum

Dead at 90.






Ah well.

Olly gone then, RIP

RIP

The prospect of witnessing the upcoming debacle at the O2 finished him off I guess

Whatever we think of the current BDO Olly Croft has had a massive impact on darts, it's a shame the BDO has fallen so far as they are still important for a lot of young players to get started in darts, he won't be missed by everyone but Croft's legacy shouldn't be understated.

Bazza speaks: https://www.pdc.tv/news/2019/11/23/olly ... asses-away

"Whilst our views may not have always aligned, you cannot overlook his influence on the sport," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn. "The BDO played a huge role in darts' development and Olly was at the heart of that."

His bastard child outlived him, that's all you ask for, other than consistency.

phil the great wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 3:51 pm Whatever we think of the current BDO Olly Croft has had a massive impact on darts, it's a shame the BDO has fallen so far as they are still important for a lot of young players to get started in darts, he won't be missed by everyone but Croft's legacy shouldn't be understated.

Spot on there fella

Mabbsy wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:08 pm

phil the great wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 3:51 pm Whatever we think of the current BDO Olly Croft has had a massive impact on darts, it's a shame the BDO has fallen so far as they are still important for a lot of young players to get started in darts, he won't be missed by everyone but Croft's legacy shouldn't be understated.

Spot on there fella

Cannot be disputed he played a massive part in the first incarnation of professional darts but could also be said his part in the current incarnation was even more influential. For the wrong reasons of course.

Also this was and still is the only forum to get a recorded interview with him whilst he was chairman of the BDO

M H wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:53 pm

Mabbsy wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:08 pm

phil the great wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 3:51 pm Whatever we think of the current BDO Olly Croft has had a massive impact on darts, it's a shame the BDO has fallen so far as they are still important for a lot of young players to get started in darts, he won't be missed by everyone but Croft's legacy shouldn't be understated.

Spot on there fella

Cannot be disputed he played a massive part in the first incarnation of professional darts but could also be said his part in the current incarnation was even more influential. For the wrong reasons of course.

Also this was and still is the only forum to get a recorded interview with him whilst he was chairman of the BDO

It's the important things you remember.

sennafan24 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 5:29 pm

M H wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:53 pm

Mabbsy wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:08 pm

phil the great wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 3:51 pm Whatever we think of the current BDO Olly Croft has had a massive impact on darts, it's a shame the BDO has fallen so far as they are still important for a lot of young players to get started in darts, he won't be missed by everyone but Croft's legacy shouldn't be understated.

Spot on there fella

Cannot be disputed he played a massive part in the first incarnation of professional darts but could also be said his part in the current incarnation was even more influential. For the wrong reasons of course.

Also this was and still is the only forum to get a recorded interview with him whilst he was chairman of the BDO

It's the important things you remember.

Was a real scoop mate. The meltdown elsewhere was very amusing

RIP Olly. Genius in comparison with the current leadership!

RIP sir

RIP to a darting legend

It's hard to know what to say about Olly, really. On one hand, he helped make darts more popular and widespread in the 1970s, getting tobacco sponsors and getting TV slots for tournaments even as his organization the BDO was ruthlessly monopolizing darts to the annoyance of other bodies like the UKDF, but that annoyance among players was just minor at the time because the players had opportunities that they had never had before. Olly's actions in those days helped make darts very popular with the public, although the players were also there doing their stuff to win that support obviously.

We know what happened afterwards, when Olly saw darts as his personal possession and family heirloom as sponsors fell away and the professional players and agents grew restless, culminating what John Lowe called "The five-year war" from 1992-1997. It caused deep anger that lasted decades in some cases. Even now it's not 100% gone.

Yet, even post-split, the BDO was better when Croft was still running it than after he was removed in August 2011. He slowed the BDO's decline down as much as possible after the split, even with a mini Dutch boom with Raymond van Barneveld, without (in his mind) selling out to the PDC. His successors at the head of the BDO have just accelerated the decline.

Raymond van Barneveld moving to the PDC was the end game really.

RIP Great Character And he loved darts despite his flaws,but then again who does not have flaws.

PT13 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 25, 2019 10:19 pm Yet, even post-split, the BDO was better when Croft was still running it than after he was removed in August 2011. He slowed the BDO's decline down as much as possible after the split, even with a mini Dutch boom with Raymond van Barneveld, without (in his mind) selling out to the PDC. His successors at the head of the BDO have just accelerated the decline.

Probably so.

But the BDO lost the war for the professional game while Croft was still in power. By 2010, the PDC had a near-monopoly of the top players. Between 2006 and 2009, the BDO lost RVB, Whitlock, MVG, Klassen, King, Webster and others.

The final Lakeside that Croft presided over was also an utter shambles. There wasn't a single average over 95 in the entire tournament. Adams and Winstanley breezed to the final averaging between 89-92.

RIP - Rest in Pub
Great figure.

sennafan24 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:39 am

PT13 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 25, 2019 10:19 pm Yet, even post-split, the BDO was better when Croft was still running it than after he was removed in August 2011. He slowed the BDO's decline down as much as possible after the split, even with a mini Dutch boom with Raymond van Barneveld, without (in his mind) selling out to the PDC. His successors at the head of the BDO have just accelerated the decline.

Probably so.

But the BDO lost the war for the professional game while Croft was still in power. By 2010, the PDC had a near-monopoly of the top players. Between 2006 and 2009, the BDO lost RVB, Whitlock, MVG, Klassen, King, Webster and others.

The final Lakeshite that Croft presided over was also an utter shambles. There wasn't a single average over 95 in the entire tournament. Adams and Winstanley breezed to the final averaging between 89-92.

I don't think Croft saw it in terms of fighting for the professional game. He made that clear in the years before the split. He saw himself as the owner of darts, i.e. darts was his personal possession and a family heirloom. The PDC (WDC then) threatened that, so he wanted them crushed. After the Tomlin order, he ignored them as much as possible. He wasn't going toe-to-toe with the PDC for professional supremacy at all. The attitude was more like "Our BDO tournaments are true darts. The PDC are just exhibition-like tournaments played by old timers and those who foolishly left our family of darts". The BDO's attitude was more like the divine right of kings rather than a business competition between rivals searching for professional supremacy.