HEIR TO THE CONE
Chris bid to run Taylor out of town
HIGHWAYMAN Chris Dobey could signal the end of the road for darts legend Phil Taylor tonight – and he makes no cones about it.
Former traffic management operative Dobey (above), who used to put the cones out on motorway roadworks, will send Phil Taylor’s career up a terminal dead end if the 500-1 outsider pulls off the biggest upset in tungsten history.
The Geordie underdog – nicknamed ‘Hollywood’ – is the first-round opponent for Taylor (right) in the William Hill PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace.
And he is in the mood to trash the 16-times champion’s fairytale Beverly Hills script and send him into retirement on Muswell Hill instead.
Unseeded Dobey said: “I am a full-time darts professional now but I used to work in traffic management, putting cones out on the motorway, mainly around the north-east. I worked away a lot of the time, 12-hour shifts from 6pm to six in the morning.
“People would give you grief about the cones when you were sitting on the closure point when the roads were closed.
“One of my friends got apples, cans of pop and even a Pot Noddle thrown at him – it was a tough job, very different to what I’m doing now.
“In the end I had to give it up because it was messing with my darts too much.”
Dobey only stumbled into a sporting career after accompanying his mum to a night out at the bingo hall and answering a mate’s SOS when he was a man short for the local darts league.
“I was 21 and I had never even played,” said Dobey. “One of my friends came in to grab us and said, ‘Would you mind standing in?’.
“So I played at the local club called the Ridge Farm and I couldn’t believe it. I think I only lost once for them in the whole season.”
Dobey, 27, got his nickname because pals used to marvel at his dress sense and one of them shouted: “Who do you think you are – some kind of Hollywood star?”
Now he has the chance to start the credits rolling on the end of 57-year-old Taylor’s career, and he admitted: “Phil is a legend – it’s the draw I wanted.
“It’s his last shot at the World Championship and I wanted to play him again before he retired, so to face him on the biggest stage of all is fantastic.
“Everyone will be expecting Phil to beat me, but as the underdog I’ve got nothing to lose. This might be the start of great things for me.”