WDF World Cup Men Teams 1977

Eighteen countries participated in the first WDF World Cup Darts held in London from 2 to 4 December at the Wembley Conference Centre, often with the Olympic spirit to win the WDF WORLD CUP DARTS. The organization was in the hands of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) under the supervision of the World Darts Federation (WDF), formed in 1976 and consisting of 15 countries.

The host country was regarded as a favourite with reigning Winmau World Master John Lowe in their team. Each team consisted of four players. Wales was seen as the main opponent since they had Alan Evans, the 1975 World Master in their team. Also Leighton Rees, losing finalist of the News of the World tournament in 1976 played for Wales. Scotland with Rab Smith and the USA with Nicky Virachkul were considered outsiders. The youngest player was, only 16 years old, Belgian Arnold Vandepoele. The oldest, Joe Goldwin 52 years, came from Gibraltar.

The first WDF World Cup was played over three events; teams of three players (it was only played in teams of four from 1979 onwards), pairs and singles. Points and medals were awarded for each event. The total of the points determines who will eventually go home with the WDF World Cup.

In the team England and Wales reached the semi-finals as expected. The Republic of Ireland and Sweden completed the semi-final line-up. The Swedes saw off Scotland 5-4 earlier. England defeated Sweden (Stefan Lord, Douglas Melander and Kent Ohlsson) in the semi-finals 5-2. But the match between Wales and Rep. Ireland (Charles Byrne, Patrick Clifford and Seamus O'Brien) was a gem of excitement. Wales (L. Rees, A. Evans & David "Rocky" Jones) was up 4-1, but the Irish did not give in and drew the score level at 4-4. The final leg was played between Pat Clifford and Alan Evans. With the Welshman on tops, Clifford threw from 111; he hit the triple 20 and the single 19, but just missed the double 16. Then both players had their chance to clinch the match but both missed eight arrows at the double. Ultimately, it was Evans who hit double one and gave Wales a place in the final.

In the final, England (Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Tony Brown) took a 4-1 lead, but it was Wales’ turn to come back to four all. Again it was Alan Evans who got the job done by beating John Lowe and thus Wales won the first event.

WDF World Cup Men Teams

About WDF World Cup Men Teams 1977

Competitors Of WDF World Cup Men Teams 1977

Barry Atkinson

Matt Banovich

Omer Bauwens

George Borg

Cecil Boyland

John Boyle

Eric Bristow-MBE

Hans Bronsgeest

Tim Brown

Tony Brown

Felix Buhagiar

Charles Byrne

Patrick Clifford

Willy Delaere

Barry Delbridge

Freddie Duarte

Billy Duo

Bjørn Enqvist

Alan Evans

Takeyasu Ezaki

Donald Fox

Perti Friman

Bill Gill

Joe Goldwin

Jose Perez

Ian Hastie

Allan Hogg

David-Rocky Jones

Kunio Kato

Ray Kippari

Jukka Kiuiniemi

Jan Larsen

Cliff Lazarenko

Paavo Lehto

Stefan Lord

John Lowe

Eric MacLean

Boerge Madsen

Phillippe Marchand

Tom Marks

Jim McQuillan

Douglas Melander

Masashi Mikasa

Kaj Mortensen

Mike Morton

Seamus O'Brien

Phil Obbard

Kenth Ohlsson

Kari Paasikallio

Bob Parker

Niels Petersen

Alfred Picco

Donnie Pidcock

Jimmy Pratt

Leighton Rees

Alan Reid

Peter Robbins

Martial Rondel

Bill Rose

Arthur Russell

Grezzju Scicluna

Rab Smith

John Tadej

Arnold Vandepoele

Frank Varley

Jilles Vermaat

Nicky Virachkul

John Wilkie

Jocky Wilson

Johnny Wood

Louis van Iseghem

Evert van Zanten

Callers Of WDF World Cup Men Teams 1977

Tony Green

Brian Jones-MC

Fred Castle

Sid Dowson