Jocky Wilson

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John Thomas Wilson, better known as "Jocky" Wilson, is a Scottish darts champion.

Born (1951) in Kirkcaldy, Fife, "Jocky" Wilson was twice World professional Darts Champion in the 1980s. A contemporary and rival of Eric Bristow, Bob Anderson and John Lowe, Wilson won many titles in his career including the British Professional Championship a record four times between 1981 and 1988, as well as the prestigious British Open and Matchplay titles.

But his greatest achievements came in the World Championships, first in 1982 where he beat Lowe 5-3 in the final, and then seven years later, when he beat his other great rival Eric Bristow (who was by this time well past his best) 6-4 in a classic match. This was to be the Scot's last taste of success in a major event although the odd final appearance still came over the next few years.

Wilson joined the other top professionals who split away from the ruling British Darts Organisation in 1993 to form the WDC (now Professional Darts Corporation) and remained a competitor in televised events until the mid 1990s when he withdrew from the professional scene. His name still occasionally crops up in one of Sid Waddell's darts commentary pieces on Sky Sports.

Jocky was also one of the first sports people to have a computer game created after him. Published by Zeppelin Games, "Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge" (1988) and later "Jocky Wilson's Darts Compendium" (1991) were created for use on several different home computer systems.

He was sometimes controversial, occasionally outspoken, but always extremely popular with darts fans who loved his honest approach and natural talent. In one famous incident in 1982 his picture was displayed on Top of the Pops during a performance of "Jackie Wilson Said" by Dexys Midnight Runners, apparently an in-joke on the part of the production staff. During the same year, Wilson was banned from competing in darts tournaments after he allegedly threw a punch at an official during a championship he was taking part. Being married to an Argentine woman named Malvinas, this was during the Falklands War when the UK and Argentina were fighting over the Falkland Islands, and was taken as a reaction to Jocky being under intense pressure at that time. He was soon allowed back into professional competitions again, and there have been no such incidents of this nature since.