John (Jocky) Wilson

1951 -

Darts player. Born in Kirkcaldy, Wilson worked as a miner in the nearby Seafield Colliery. While unemployed, he won the Butlin's Grand Masters competition (1979), which came with a prize of £500. Within a year he was one of the top eight in the world professional rankings. He reached the height of his career in 1982 when he defeated John Lowe to win the Embassy World Professional Championship Trophy, the first Scot to gain the title. After a drop in form, he fought back to become World Champion once again in 1989.

Wilson made some attempts to clean up the beer swilling image of the game, joining many of the top players to become a founder member of the break-away World Darts Council, intending to promote the professional game which had fallen in popularity. However, this brought a painful schism in British darts, banning players including Wilson and protracted legal action rumbled on through the 1990s.

More recently, Wilson's name has been associated with merchandising, including both sets of darts and a popular darts computer game. He still lives in a public housing estate in his native Kirkcaldy.

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