Kingdom lad who took the oche crown

Born in Kirkcaldy in 1950, Jocky Wilson’s early life did little to suggest he was to one day become a household name.

Having grown up in an orphanage, he would spend time in the army, before working in a fish processing plant and as a miner before unemployment gave him the impetus to become a professional darts player in 1979.

After entering a darts competition at Butlin’s in Ayr, he won a first prize of £500 and decided to focus his attention on the game.

Within months he was taking part in the World Championships and three years later won the tournament, a triumph he was to repeat in 1989.

His career at the oche would make him a national star, at a time when the sport was widely televised and featured such luminaries as Eric Bristow and Bobby George.

A heavy smoker and drinker, Wilson lost his teeth by the age of 28, claiming never to have brushed them because his gran had told him “the English poison the water”.

After retiring he returned to his home town and retreated from public life before dying in 2012 at the age of 62.