For the first time since starting in 1978, there will be no
BDO World Darts Championship this year after the demise of the organisation. Known for his role as Master of Ceremonies for many years until it moved to the Indigo, 'Little'
Richard Ashdown sat down to discuss his experiences at the Lakeside and his journey from a fan to spotter to MC.
Ashdown came to the Lakeside for the first time in 1994 as a 15-year-old. "I pestered my parents for tickets. I still remember walking in on the first day because we were slightly late so that was frustrating. I remember walking in and there was a match already in play. So my first reaction was the Lakeside you see on TV," he said to the Inside the WDF podcast.
"The tickets we had were nearly the front row. I sat right in front of the stage for the couple of days I was there for the first time and naturally fell in love with it."
A little later he came into contact with Bobby George. "As teenagers do you're quite demanding with your parents and say you want to do this and that. They took me to an exhibition in Newmarket to see Bobby and from meeting him for the first time, we had a really good connection. He loved how passionate I was about it and how well I knew the numbers. It was the numbers that struck Bobby.
He knew very early on that I had the skills and the memory of the players and the numbers so he mentioned this thing called spotting. I didn't really know what it was, he said you'd be great doing the spotting. I didn't really think anything of it, I attended Lakeside for eight years as a fan. Very last time I was sat in the seat as a fan was the opening day of 2002, Bobby George ironically playing his ever match in the World Championship against Raymond van Barneveld. What wasn't amazing was the camera work, it was terrible.
"I walked up to Bobby to try and get a photo when he came back out to the audience. I can't repeat on the interview the words he said when he saw me but he was like I needed your phone number, we need help with the spotting. Suddenly I was plunged from fan the following day I was led up to the commentary box with Tony Green and John Part and was spotting the matches. So I literally went overnight from fan to spotter."
World Championship debut
From there, he made his World Championship debut succeeding the legendary Martin Fitzmaurice as Master of Ceremonies.
"Through Bobby I'd been given experience doing exhibitions, then working for England. From that 2002 year of spotting, 12 years I'd gained a lot of stage experience but nothing prepared me for Lakeside. I was fortunate to do the World Masters and the Zuiderduin Masters in the Autumn leading into the Lakeside, that did help me settle but there will never be a greater moment for me in my career."
"I can't even put into words how that felt because the fan in me is still the same."
