Les Wallace
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Les Wallace (born 1962) is a Scottish-born, former World Champion darts player. He currently lives in Midanbury Broadway, Southampton, England. He adopted the nickname, McDanger - coming out for his matches dressed in a traditional kilt. He won the 1997 Embassy World Championship, which is one of the two versions of the World Professional Championship.
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[edit] World Championship performances
Wallace made his first appearance at the World Championship in 1995, losing a first round match to Raymond van Barneveld. His assault on the 1996 Championship ended at the hands of the defending world champion, Richie Burnett in the semi-finals.
Wallace avenged his defeat by Barneveld in 1997, beating him 3-2 in the second round. He went on to win the World Championship with a 6-3 victory over Welshman, Marshall James. Wallace became the first left-handed player to win a World Championship (either PDC or BDO).[1]
He never consolidated his position after winning the World Championship in 1997. He managed only two more match victories at Lakeside, the venue of the BDO Worlds. The defence of his title ended with a second round loss to Steve Beaton (another former World Champion). Barneveld beat him again in 1998, and Wallace went out to Richie Davies in the first round in 1999 - he hasn't qualified to play at the World Championship since.
Wallace reached the final of the 1993 Winmau World Masters, losing to Steve Beaton. He won the title five years later, beating Alan Warriner in the final.
[edit] End of career
Wallace's private life was a major contributor to his withdrawal from the full-time darts circuit. At one of his court cases, his solicitor Charles Thomas told the court that Wallace's life dramatically changed in 1999 when his partner lost premature twins who were four days old. That led to the collapse of the relationship and his alcohol consumption became greater. [2]
He effectively withdrew from the circuit in 1999 and his only televised appearance since came in an exhibition match before the World Darts Trophy final - when he played in a Legends match against Bobby George.
[edit] Outside darts
Les Wallace has flirted with the law on several occasions. After a 1996 court appearance, he was fined £210 and banned for 12 months for driving with excess alcohol, having no insurance and failing to stop. [3]
Wallace, a father of four, was given a two-week suspended prison sentence for failing to pay £778.73 of council tax in February 2001. He owed the money to Southampton City Council for failing to pay for the period April 1, 1997 (the year in which he won £38,000 for winning the World Championship) to May 31, 2000.
He admitted non-payment of council tax and was warned that he will be jailed unless he keeps up his repayments. The magistrates were told that he had financial problems and could not afford to pay the debts.
Later in 2001, he received a four month jail sentence after admitting dangerous driving.[4] He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one count of drink-driving and dangerous driving.
Police reported Wallace was driving his red Ford Sierra through the city's streets too fast and ignored the police car's blue flashing lights. Wallace drove the wrong way up a one-way street, and several other roads, to try and get away. Wallace then abandoned the car and ran off chased by a police officer who caught him when he fell over. A breath test found he was nearly twice the legal alcohol limit of 35mg.
He received a three-year ban from driving in addition to the custodial sentence.
