David "Alan" Evans (14 June 1949 – 12 April 1999) was a Welsh professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

player and former World No. 1 who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Evans was one of the early faces of television darts and had some tournament success in the 1970s, including scoring the first televised 180 in the 1973 Indoor League semi final. By the time that darts had gained major popularity in the early 1980s, Evans's form had faded and he wasn't in the limelight as much as

Eric Bristow Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was ...

, John Lowe and

Jocky Wilson John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson (22 March 1950 – 24 March 2012) was a Scottish professional darts player. After turning pro in 1979, he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, then agai ...

, all of whom found fame and success from the game.

Darts career

Evans was one of the first players to appear on televised darts in reaching the final of the 1972 News of the World Championship – the first event to be shown in the UK, which was broadcast on ITV. In 1973 and 1974, Evans reached the final of the darts event on Yorkshire Television's The Indoor League on ITV. Evans won the 1975 British Open, which was the first televised darts event on the BBC, and later in the year won his biggest singles tournament in winning the 1975 World Masters. At the time, the World Masters and the News of the World were the most prestigious titles in darts before the World Championship began in 1978. When the Darts World Cup began in 1977, the Welsh team of Evans, Leighton Rees and David "Rocky" Jones won the Team Championship and Overall Championship. Evans was a participant at the inaugural Embassy World Championship in Nottingham in 1978. He defeated

Alan Glazier Alan James Glazier (21 January 1939 – 12 November 2020) was an English professional darts player. He used the nickname "The Ton Machine" and was noted for his all-black outfits. Career Glazier was one of the first darts players who turned pr ...

before losing to eventual champion,

Leighton Rees Leighton Thomas Rees (17 January 1940 – 8 June 2003) was a Welsh professional darts player. He is best known as the first BDO World Professional Darts Champion, having won the inaugural 1978 BDO World Darts Championship and was a former Wor ...

in the quarter-finals. At the 1979 World Championship, at Jollees in Stoke-on-Trent, Evans won a very fiery quarter final match against

, by 3–1 in sets. In the semi finals, Rees defeated Evans at the World Championship for the second year in succession. In May 1979, Evans received a 12-month ban from the British Darts Organisation following an incident after an international match whilst playing for the Welsh team. After his suspension ended, Evans came back to rebuild his darts career, and made five more appearances in the World Championship, each time losing to a legend of the game – twice to Bristow in 1986 and 1987, twice to Wilson in 1982 and 1988 and also to Lowe in 1983. With the exception of the 1987 semi final loss to Bristow, these losses were all in the first or second rounds. On a tour of Scotland, it was reported that he finished on 3 bullseyes (150) 8 times. Evans holds the record for the highest score achieved in the charity round in the darts game show '' Bullseye'', scoring 401 (180, 180, 41) with nine darts, doubling up to £802 for charity. This, however, was prior to the introduction of the Bronze Bully prize. In July 1977, Evans faced boxer

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

in an exhibition match at the Gypsy Green Stadium (

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

), in England. Under the handicap rules of the match, Evans would only score points for hitting trebles – Ali was able to hit the bullseye to win the match and proclaim himself the Darts Champion of the World.

Retirement and death

Evans began to have health problems with his kidneys in the autumn of 1987, and left the darts circuit after the MFI World Pairs event in June 1988, which was broadcast on ITV. In June 1997, Evans played darts on TV for the first time in 9 years, when he participated against his old rival,

, in the Battle of the Champions event at the Circus Tavern in

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater Lon ...

, broadcast on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. Evans hit two 180s in the match, but Bristow ultimately won 3–0 in sets. Evans died on 12 April 1999, at the age of 49. He was constantly mentioned in televised events by commentator Sid Waddell and usually referred to the "Alan Evans Shot" (three bullseyes) when a player required a checkout of 150.

World Championship results

BDO

* 1978: Quarter Finals (lost to

3–6) (legs) * 1979: Semi Finals (lost to

1–3) (sets) * 1982: 2nd Round (lost to

1–2) * 1983: 1st Round (lost to John Lowe 0–2) * 1986: 1st Round (lost to

1–3) * 1987: Semi Finals (lost to

0–5) * 1988: 2nd Round (lost to

2–3)

Career finals

BDO major finals: 1 (1 title)

Performance timeline

References

External links

Alan Evans' profile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Alan 1949 births 1999 deaths Welsh darts players People from Rhondda British Darts Organisation players