MIDDLESEX
Superleague Player
Peter Green
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First
may I just take this opportunity to Congratulate Father Ted’s A in their
successful campaign in winning the 2006/2007 Middlesex Men’s Super-League.
This season saw me join my new side The Royal Oak A and without the “Taxi”
service provided by Gary Long I would have undoubtedly missed half of the games
due to work commitments. Although as a team we under-performed, particularly in
the pairs, I am sure we will be back fighting for the next season.
My
personal performances this year have pleased me, because over the last couple of
years, politics, seemed to overtake performance and at times I had thoughts of
packing in altogether. It just shows how things change in a relatively short
time. I decided to forget the politics and start enjoying the game again, and
results started to come back.
Playing
18 games and winning 18 games in the Middlesex Super-League is something that I
have never done before and might never do again, so it is a moment to savour and
it was fitting to play the last game against Bill Duffy because, he has always
given me encouragement and advise at events even when I was playing for Suffolk.
The most valuable being “CONCENTRATION” during the game, as my mind does
tend to wander, and I get distracted with other things going on around me during
matches.
Some
people might say it depends on the luck of the draw but believe me, it makes no
difference, it’s all about your own attitude as everyone playing in
Super-League games has the ability to win any game.
Darts
didn’t come into my life until 1974 when I started playing in a local
tournament at the Ely Valley Miner’s Workingman’s Club in Tonyrefail , Mid
Glamorgan, South Wales on a Sunday Night and became a great “Chalker” week
after week. This then progressed to playing in The Tonyrefail & District
Sunday Night League and the journey began. My personal performances started to
improve although I would say I was still of a low pub standard, but persevered
and my old brass darts with feathered flights slowly started to become
consistent. After moving teams a couple of times I finally found “Home” in
the Gilfach Goch Rugby Football Club where the team was captained by Michael
Moore, who took me under his wing and slowly started to improve my game. I also
got involved in a group of players that started to travel around to various
tournaments in Glamorgan . Gwilym Jones, Dennis Price, Ritchie Griffiths and
myself became regular competitors and started to widen our horizon across the
Severn Bridge to other competitions, where some good performances were achieved,
but out of the 4 of us it was Gwilym who enjoyed the most success.
I
started playing Super-League in the Glamorgan Super-League, which, in those days
you had a trial to see if you were up to the standard, luckily I was selected
and soon found out my real
standard, as in those days Glamorgan boasted a league full of Internationals and
County Players who were so far in front of me. Players such as The Great
Leighton Rees, David “Rocky” Jones, Dyfri “The Rabi” Jones, Ceri Morgan,
Tony Skuse, Brian Cairns, Little Dai Furnish, Malcolm Davies, John Assiratti,
Peter Locke, just to name a few. However playing these players can work in two
directions, you either fold up or take up the challenge and I would like to
think I took the latter, and although I never got selected for Glamorgan I know
I must have been close.
During
the late 70’s I also started a monthly Pairs tournament in Gilfach Goch which
I limited to 64 pairs. The 1st prize was £100 and many
International’s and County Players entered, in fact I had a reserve list if
anyone didn’t show, and this was played on a Wednesday Evening.
The
Great Alan Evans was a regular visitor to the area performing Darts Exhibitions
playing 16 players over 1001 each game. Having been lucky enough to play Alan on
many occasions at these exhibitions I decided to arrange Exhibitions for players
outside Wales. Although Alan and I didn’t see eye to eye about this
arrangement at first we finally sat down and sorted it out so there would be no
clashing of engagements, if he was appearing in the near vicinity, and we got on
very well afterwards. In my opinion Alan was outstanding on exhibition nights,
always producing masses of 180’s and exhibition finishes, and I would say if
not the Best Exhibition Player, he
was certainly up there with the Best.
The
first Player I brought down to Gilfach Goch was a very young Eric Bristow. His
first game of 1001 was against a local miner John Davies and Eric just missed a
170 finish by hitting the 25. A typical Eric comment straight after was “If
that had gone in we could have all gone home”
I
started getting work for players on a weekly basis and soon I was booking
Players on a monthly basis. Eric was a regular visitor, Jocky Wilson, Tony
Brown, Rab Smith, Cliff Lazerenko, Bobby George, Alan Glazier were all
frequently booked and they all produced magic moments.
My
darts came to an end during the 1984 Miners Strike when I was involved in the
year long strike and on return to work was offered redundancy as the great pit
closures started. Finished work for the National Coal board on the Thursday and
drove a coach to Spain on the Friday. Coach driving took me away from the sport
until 1991.
After
moving back to Hayes, Middlesex in
November 1989 I joined a local Bus Company in Southall as a bus driver, and in
1990 spent my time at work and with my Mother. At the end of 1990 I bumped into
Vic Coleman who lived across the road from me and was asked if I was interested
in playing again. I started playing at Hayes Football Club and The Six Bells in
Brentford. Shortly afterwards I was asked to play in the London Super-League for
The Six Bells and struggled with so many great players in the team. I then
started to play in the Middlesex Super-League with Feltham and then Hayes
Football Club.
My
County Career started in 1992 with London for whom I played 2 seasons in the B
side in the premier division. I was quite pleased particularly in the 2nd
year with my performances but was finding it hard to break into a star packed
London A side. I parted company with London and joined Middlesex for the 1994/95
season. Once again I struggled at first, but slowly started to win games in the
B and got promoted into the A side. What a way to make a debut, playing 11th
and Middlesex A winning 10-0 at the time, no pressure or what. Well, we went on
to win 12-0 that day so that tells the story. The Middlesex County side gained
Promotion to the Premier League that season and, if my memory serves me right,
we won all sections, Men’s A, Women’s A, Men’s B and Women’s B. A
fantastic achievement. In the 1995/96 season for reason’s that don’t need to
be highlighted I decided not to play, which proved to be the end of my short
Middlesex career.
In
1995 I continued playing in The London Super-League and Middlesex Super-League
and made my debut in the Surrey Super-League. It was at this time by playing in
three very competitive leagues I believe my darts really started to get better.
It was in 1995 I met my Partner Ann Daniel who was playing for Suffolk . My
County Weekends free, I started to travel with Suffolk to their matches and in
1996 at the game away to Merseyside I was asked to play in the B side. Although
hitting a 12 dart leg I missed doubles and lost the game 3-2. Retaining my place
in the B for the last game of the season once again missed doubles and lost 3-2
again. However in both games I had recorded 26+ averages. The 1996/97 season saw
me placed into the A side and at last a win which started a great run for me. My
County Performances became very consistent during the next 5 seasons, which saw
me record my highest County Average of 34-95 against Cumbria, achieve my first
170 Game Shot in a match and in 60+ appearances record 64 x 180’s. The saddest
moment came in 1999 when I lost my Mother in March through Cancer.
During
this period I teamed up with first Kelvin Self and then Kevin Harris both from
Suffolk. Kevin and myself have managed to win several JR weekend pairs events
and the pairing is still on going today.
It
was the death of my Mother that in 2001 I decided to approach The Welsh Darts
Organisation to see if they would accept me as a player if selected through my
Mother’s Welsh Nationality. After sending the proof, I was accepted, and
received a phone call from Malcolm Hawkins ( Welsh Team Manager) congratulating
me on my selection. I was very proud to be selected and felt I had honoured my
mother and know she would have been so proud.
On
April 13th 2002 at Bridlington I made my debut against England. Steve
Beaton was my opponent and although I would be the first to say He didn’t play
that well a 3-0 win for me was very welcomed. My average was not important, the
win for me, certainly was. Unfortunately we lost the match. On the Sunday we
played Scotland and I was drawn last against Mike Fidler. With the match already
decided we fought out a 5 leg struggle which I was pleased to have won. So
played 2 won 2 was the perfect start to my International Career.
My
next International appearance was at The Nations K.O. Cup when I was selected
for the Welsh Short Team. With a 1 leg round robin format I struggled to perform
at my best, but the rest of the lads did a great job in getting us to the final
against Scotland. I was drawn first and came back smiling however the smile
didn’t last long as I lost my remaining games, before Scotland took the title
convincingly. It was a tremendous experience and I was made so welcome.
On
March 29th at Merthyr
Tydfil my second Home International on home soil. On arrival at the venue it was
good to see some old friends from Gilfach Goch, Ken Swain and Gary Ackerman, and
also Terry Cavanagh who used to MC for Glamorgan and Wales. With our opening
match against Scotland once again I managed an excellent win over Paul Hanvidge
in a very close encounter 3-2. On the Sunday against England, I was drawn
against James Wade and produced another fighting display to win 3-2 again. With
4 Home International appearances to my credit I had managed a played 4 won 4
record. I was short listed for the World Cup Squad but narrowly missed out in
being selected. What a fantastic 2 years I
had and selection would have been the icing on the cake.
The
2003/04 County Season started and our 1st game away to Cumbria proved
such a disappointment to me. There was unrest over a selection issue on the day
of the B side and for some reason it really unsettled me. I lost on the Sunday
to Scotland’s Paul Mc Gimpsey 3-2 and it was the start of a very disappointing
season that saw me relegated to the B side and performances slid lower and
lower. It was in November 2003 I joined the PDC and played in my first event in
December, The World Championship Qualifiers in Hull. Both Kevin Harris and
Myself joined on the same day and guess what, 1st game draw Kevin
Harris who won 5-2. Although I was informed by a Welsh official that provided I
showed my loyalty to Super-League and County Darts my membership to the PDC
should not have any effect, unfortunately it did and Politics took over my game.
At the end of the County season an issue between my Suffolk Super-League side
The Kings Head B and Suffolk County took place and the side was refused entry
into the Super-League. All the players that were in that team were able to sign
for other teams but Kevin Harris and Myself’s registrations were refused. I
cant think why !!! and have never been given a true explanation. This refusal
still continues to this day.
With
the situation in Suffolk being so, I was not available to play County Darts for
them and I must state that my partner Ann Daniel
who had played 147 games for Suffolk, has not thrown another dart in
County Matches from the moment I was refused, and in fact only went back to
Super-League darts in the 2006/07 season.
Without
sponsorship and continuous Politics my love for the sport started to dwindle as
did my form. Performances in the few PDC events I attended were not good and I
was very low. A good run in the 2004 World Championships Qualifier in Hull saw
me lose in the final game against Mark Holden to qualify for The World
Championships proper. I had played probably the best I had done since joining
the PDC but after leading 3-1 lost the plot, and ended up a 5-3 loser. With this
performance out the way I thought I had turned the corner and was bouncing back
but soon went back into my old ways, surrounded by Politics.
The
2005 World Championship Qualifier in Hull once again saw me perform well,
beating an on form Barry Bates in the semi-final of the board only to lose yet
again in the board final for the 2nd consecutive year, this time to
Dale Newton 5-2. I must admit I was very disappointed to lose that match but I
believe the concentration wasn’t there after beating Barry in the Semi-Final,
and probably thought I had done enough and was there. Ouch !!!!
In
2006 work commitments and costs prevented me from entering PDC events and I was
beginning to lose interest again. It was in the March/April period that I
finally snapped out of the Politics stuff and decided if I was going to play
then I was going to enjoy playing and forget all the crap that has gone on over
the last few years.
I
entered the 2006 World Championship Qualifiers hoping to better the last 2 years
but failed in my second game against Adrian Gray 5-1. Didn’t give him a game
really.
It
was back in 2002 I had started a Summer Grand Prix Tournament in Suffolk on
Tuesday Nights. This was after running a Grand Prix for a couple of years on
Thursday Nights at the Hayes Football Club, which proved very successful and
enjoyable. Once again I was back doing something I enjoyed in promoting and
organising an event. After 3 very successful years at the Kings Head in Ipswich
the Pub was bought out and knocked down, I was now looking for a new venue.
Another Ipswich Pub showed interest The Smock and the governor Neil altered the
Pub to accommodate us, and also sponsored the event with Mark Stennett and
Darren Goodchild who are 2 Suffolk
business men. The event went very well and I am happy to say things are geared
up for the start this year on 22nd May 2007. After losing out in last
years’ Final I hope to go 1 better this year.
Through
the help from Danny at The Royal Oak I managed to enter a few UK Open tournament
qualifiers in 2007 and at Newcastle in January managed to win £75
which has qualified me into the UK Open in Bolton on June 7th
albeit in the 1st round. Hopefully I will start to justify my
commitment in the PDC and have a good run. I know I am due one, and I know my
mind is now on my game, so it’s down to me and lady luck of the draw.
I
am sure I have missed many points out but I hope this gives readers a small
insight to the Darting Life of Peter Green.
Thank
You and I hope you enjoyed the article
Regards
Peter
Green