Jeff Stelling has admitted he's still haunted by a blunder he made while presenting the darts in 1993.
The 68-year-old introduced the opening coverage of the breakaway World Darts Championship for the first time 30 years ago.
24 players competed for the price at the Circus Tavern, with Dennis Priestly hammering Phil Taylor 6-1 in the final to scoop the prize.
The creation of the WDC came amid a split from the BDO [British Darts Organisation].
Jeff Stelling has opened up on his coverage of darts in 1993
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And Stelling has now opened up on a 'clanger' he dropped while presenting the tournament for the very first time.
“Of course it was incredibly controversial at the time," he said.
“These upstarts breaking away from the BDO were the equivalent of Kerry Packer’s circus in cricket or, more recently, LIV Golf.
"In the early days, everyone probably expected the PDC — or the WDC, as it was originally called — to shrivel and die.
“And it didn’t help when the bloke presenting the very first show dropped an absolute clanger with one of his opening lines!
“I said: ‘Make no mistake — the sport’s heavyweights are here this week.’
“Make no mistake? I then proceeded to say: ‘Joining me are two legends of darts, Eric Bristow and Jocky Brown . . . ’
“Jocky Brown? Who the hell is Jocky Brown? Of course, I meant Jocky Wilson — what a start.
“The PDC must have wondered: ‘What sort of numpty have we got here?’
“It was a right cock-up on my very first day, no excuses.
“But little did I know, or anyone else know, what a commercial monster was born that day.
"Sky gave it the full treatment, with dancing girls and walk-on music, and I absolutely loved it.”
While Stelling is haunted by his mistake, he remembers the Circus Tavern fondly.
“The Circus Tavern was one of those venues where it was hard to pick your feet off the carpet because they were stuck as you walked across the floor," he added.
“I was involved with brilliant people from Bristow, John Lowe, Priestley, all great characters.
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Dennis Pristely won the 1993 World Darts Championship amid controversy over breakaway tournament
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“And then waiting in the wings was the greatest of all time, Phil Taylor, who I struck up a good relationship with.
“They were wonderful, wonderful times.
“The darts players and the TV production team and me would be up until 3am or 4am most nights.
“You needed to have a bit of training for that! Because of those days, and what he went on to achieve, I still regard Taylor as one of the all-time great sportsmen.
“When he appeared on Soccer AM one weekend, he found a marker pen somewhere as he was getting changed by a locker.
Jeff Stelling has opened up on the popularity of darts
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“He signed a shirt: ‘To Jeff, the best in the business, from Phil, the best in the business.’
“In that first final in 1994, when Dennis Priestley beat Phil 6-1, the winner’s prize money was £16,000.
“It’s gone up to £500,000 now and there’s talk of it reaching £1million, which just shows how much darts has taken off in the last 30 years.
“I’m glad the boys are making such a decent living out of it now.
“But when we started out on Boxing Day 1993, I guess that generation came too early to catch the gravy train.”
