WE continue the countdown to the 2018/2019 William Hill World Championship as PDC founder member Rod Harrington shares his World Championship memories.
Here, former World Championship finalist Rod Harrington looks back at the start of the PDC World Championship and how the tournament has grown over the last 25 years…
In the first PDC World Championship (then WDC) in 1994 my role was not only as a player but also as one of the people who was heavily involved in the court case between the BDO and WDC as it was then.
Off the stage I felt pressure to make it work but on stage as a player that was a very different kind of pressure, but I never made any excuses.
The Circus Tavern was a great venue with a terrific atmosphere and the Stones family looked after us really well. Back in those days I used to go around pubs giving tickets away to landlords for the chance to meet Eric Bristow.
The sport grew and in the last few years there we outgrew the venue. When we moved to Ally Pally we didn’t know how that was going to go but everything came right at the same time – Barry Hearn came in and used his expertise to get darts on TV more and more.
I feel proud to now look around a full Alexandra Palace but more than that I feel proud when I see the youngsters playing on that stage.
It's been a great story, I’ve had an incredible life both in and out of darts and I’ve loved being part of the PDC World Championship journey.
Hear more of Harrington's fondest memories of darts' biggest event in the book 'Twenty-five Years of the PDC World Championship' which is available to PRE-ORDER NOW.