BEER-THROWING SHOCKS WOLFIE

EXCLUSIVE

MATT BOZEAT

BY

MARTIN ‘WOLFIE’ ADAMS has slammed the darts fans who chuck away their booze.

World Championship darts returns to the Lakeside in April when the WDF stage its tournament at the Frimley Green venue.

Adams (right) has lifted the BDO World Championship trophy three times – and has resisted a switch to the more lucrative PDC.

The 65-year-old is looking forward to a tournament that brings together “old gits and new faces”.

He said: “The Lakeside is an iconic venue and the crowd are brilliant.

“They are very respectful. There’s none of this singing and dancing and throwing beer around.

“I can’t believe anyone would throw beer in the air. That’s madness, if you ask me.

“The crowds they get at Alexandra Palace (for the PDC World Championship) are so big they are uncontrollable, so they can turn up and do whatever they want.

“But I suppose, as long as people are watching darts, that is the main thing.”

The late Eric Bristow won the last of his five world titles at the Lakeside in 1986 and Adams rates ‘The Crafty Cockney’ as the greatest.

He said: “Phil (Taylor) was a great player, you don’t win 16 world titles without being a great player.

“The reason I say Eric is the greatest is because he reached two world finals while suffering with dartitis and that’s unbelievable.

“Eric was a pioneer. He made people watch darts.”

Adams says he has health problems of his own, as a result of spending three decades as a darts professional.

He said: “I’ve got arthritis in my right shoulder, problems with my right calf and I’ve got what they call policeman’s heel in both feet.

“The bones are creaking. I’ve thrown a lot of darts in my time.

“I’m playing OK, but every now and then I need to click my shoulder back into place.”