In 1997, Les Wallace became the first left-handed dart player to win the World Dart Championship. I have met Les a couple of times since then.
How I met Les Wallace.
He won the final against Welshman Marshall James after knocking out Bob Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Paul Williams and Mervyn King on his way to the Final. After winning the title, he appeared at the Hill Park Memorial Working Men's Club in Hampshire, where I was a member.
In those days, Les lived near Southampton, but when he played darts, he sometimes wore the rugby shirt of his beloved country of birth, Scotland. When I met Les, he had been booked to give a darts demonstration, talk about his World Cup win and play against members of the Hill Park Memorial Working Men's Club dart teams. I guessed he would be wearing his Scotland Rugby shirt or a tartan kilt, which he sometimes wore in matches. Because of this and for a laugh, I went along wearing my Welsh rugby shirt, and as it happened, he was wearing his Scotland Rugby shirt.
Les had been playing demo matches and showing us trick shots before taking a break. He walked past where I stood at the bar, and he noticed the Wales rugby shirt I had on. On his way back, I stopped him and told him that I loved watching him play darts. He thanked me and kept walking back towards the stage until I shouted at him and said, 'You are a great dart player; it's a shame you know nothing about rugby, though. ' At this point, he turned around and walked back to me and challenged me to a game. I made my excuses, telling him that I used to be a pretty good dart player and that, in 1990, I had been invited to play for the Hampshire dart team. Unfortunately, the week before my trial, I had a serious car accident and lost sight in one eye and never again threw darts well enough to continue playing.
I told him I would give him a pool game when he finished playing darts. Straight away, he arranged to take a more extended break and challenged me to play pool for a pint. I agreed that the loser had to pay for the next round of beer. The pool table was cleared and set up, and everybody was now watching me take on the World Dart Champion, Les Wallace, in a pool match.
Les won the toss and broke, potting several balls off of the break. As he walked back towards me, he leaned nearer to me and informed me that dart players used to play pool before and after big competitions to unwind and that he was the dart player pool champion. I didn't tell him that I was the club pool captain. After I potted a few, he potted a few more, and then I cleared up and doubled the black in to finish the game. He congratulated me, telling me I was a good player, and he bought the beer. My friend Derek then danced around the table, telling Les Wallace he had just lost to a bloke with one eye.
Les Wallace was polite to me and a gallant loser. I can't remember how he got on in his remaining games of darts, but I never forgot my game against him on the pool table. Many years later, the Hampshire Dart team started playing their home dart matches in the Hill Park Memorial Men's Club, and he came to the club to support them. I had been watching the darts from the bar, and he came and stood next to me and started chatting. We were talking about Hampshire darts, and I asked him if he played anymore. He told me that he only played in his local pub but did go to watch Hampshire play now and then. Without me saying anything, he did say that he remembered playing pool against me and again bought me a beer for beating him all those years before.
Les Wallace was a great dart player and a gentleman to me. He would have beaten me quickly if I had played him at darts, even before I lost my eyesight, but I can always say that I beat him at pool and won the bet I had with him for doing it.