Andy Fordham
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| Andy Fordham | ||
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| Personal information | ||
| Nickname | The Viking | |
| Date of birth | February 2, 1962 | |
| Place of birth | London, England | |
| Home town | Dartford, England | |
| Organisation | ||
| BDO | 1995 | |
| Current World Ranking | 167 | |
| BDO Grand Slam Events - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | Winner 2004 | |
| World Masters | Winner 1999 | |
| World Darts Trophy | Semi Finalist 2002 | |
| Int. Darts League | Semi Finalist 2003 | |
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Infobox last updated on: February 22, 2007. |
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Andy Fordham (born February 2, 1962 in London) is an English darts player, also known by his nickname, The Viking. He won the 2004 World Professional Darts Championship, beating Mervyn King in the final. He is also a four-time Semi-Finalist at the Lakeside, and the 1999 Winmau World Masters champion.
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[edit] Darts career
Fordham made his first appearance on the stage at Lakeside in 1995 and made it to the semi-finals before losing to Richie Burnett. Another semi-final defeat followed in 1996, this time to Steve Beaton. On both occasions, his victor went on to claim the title.
Second round defeats followed in 1997 (to Marshall James) and 1998 (to Raymond van Barneveld) before he made it a hat-trick of semi-final defeats in 1999, this time to Ronnie Baxter.
His 2000 campaign ended in the quarter-finals at the hands of Chris Mason and his fourth semi-final loss in 2001 was to Ted Hankey. In 2002 and 2003 he went out in the first and second rounds respectively, before he finally managed to end his jinx in the 2004 World Championship.
His run in the 2004 World Championship saw him win his first match 3-1 against unknown Brian Derbyshire. He then beat former Masters champion Tony West 3-0, and teased a 9-dart leg in the third set. He defeated newcomer Darryl Fitton in the quarter-finals 5-4, and then stunned Raymond van Barneveld, the defending champion, by recovering from 3-0 and 4-2 down to win 5-4 in what is considered one of the most dramatic matches in BDO history.
Fordham deafeated Mervyn King in the final, hitting a 139 checkout to take the eighth set 3-2 when Mervyn had reached a double-18, and then recovering from 2-0 down in the next set to take it 3-2 with double-8, and win the match by 6 sets to 3.
He has failed to win a single match at Lakeside in the three years since his title victory. The BDO World Champion receives an exemption from qualifying for a three-year period but that has now expired. His world ranking has slipped dramatically and major concerns about his health have meant that the chance of him returning to the heights of that 2004 success have receded.
[edit] Health concerns
In 2004, he was forced to withdraw from a best-of-13-sets match at Purfleet's Circus Tavern which pitted the two world darts champions of that time (Andy Fordham representing the BDO and Phil Taylor representing the PDC) due to heat intensity. England's Phil Taylor was subsequently declared the victor having been leading the contest by 5 sets to 2.
Fordham's health has long been a concern. At one point he weighed 30 stone (190.5 kilograms) and was in the habit of consuming 25 bottles of lager before going on stage to play. The scare during the head-to-head game led Fordham to seek help via the television programme Celebrity Fit Club, where he became friends with the journalist and TV presenter Paul Ross. While getting a regime underway to try to lose some weight, he was defeated in the first round of the 2005 Lakeside World championship by Dutchman Vincent van der Voort. Fordham made another Lakeside appearance in 2006 but again suffered a first round exit, this time losing to Australia's Simon Whitlock.
Fordham was due to face Whitlock again in the first round of the 2007 BDO World Darts Championship, but was once again hospitalised after complaining of chest pains and breathing difficulties. He was forced to pull out of the tournament as a result and Whitlock received a walkover and went through to the second round without throwing a single dart.
Weeks after pulling out of the BDO World Championship, Fordham suffered a stroke. The incident was described as "minor" by his agent, he is expected to make a full recovery. [1]
[edit] Outside darts
Andy is the eldest of four children and has a brother and two sisters. He grew up in Charlton, south-east London and attended Charlton Manor Primary School and Eaglesfield Secondary School. He was a keen track-and-field athlete in his younger days and was nicknamed 'The Whippet' at school.
Andy is a huge fan of Scottish football club Rangers, and even paraded his World Darts trophy before a game at Ibrox Stadium in 2004. A keen footballer himself, Andy played for the Angerstein Hotel in east Greenwich after leaving school and this was where his love of darts was sparked. The Angerstein Hotel football team made up most of the resident darts team and after a training night the lads were a man short and asked 'The Whippet' to join them.
Andy is married to long-term partner Jenny and they have two children, Raymond and Emily. Andy and Jenny run the The Rose public house in Dartford, Kent, having previously run The Queen's Arms in Woolwich.
Andy was asked to appear in pantomime at Mansfield Palace Theatre alongside Su Pollard in the 2006/07 production of Snow White as Cut-Throat Jake but declined.[citation needed]
