UKDA CEO Colin Savage on new era of county darts: "As each team moved and more and more declared for UKDA, there was always going to be a tipping point"
Darts News
The United Kingdom Darts Association took over the running
of the county system after all former BDO counties were announced as joining
their setup, which effectively brings down the curtain on 47 years of the BDO
running county.
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A new era has seemingly been ushered in at the grassroots
level and Colin Savage, CEO of the UKDA spoke recently with Live Darts about the
end of the BDO system including comments he made about it being a sad day for
darts.
“On a personal level, it’s been pressurised at times. There
have certainly been a lot of conversations with teams and counties and you can’t
say it wasn’t a sad day for the game of darts. There has been a hell of a lot
of history there, I’m not going to get into what has happened recently; it’s
not my job to," he said to Live Darts.
“We have all dedicated time into the BDO system, we’ve all
spent money travelling to tournaments. The main thing is that history will
always be there but as with everything in life, sometimes there has to be
something happen to it to move it forward and I believe that’s what we’re
about.”
“We thought if we could get 30 over in the first year, we’d
be doing really well. We are new, we haven’t done badly for a group of
volunteers in the last few months. As each team moved and more and more
declared for UKDA, there was always going to be a tipping point.”
For Savage, he admits that while due to split loyalties it
will take people a while to trust them – they are looking to add to the county
system with further developments including tournaments.
“Social media when used right can be a real positive and
informative thing. We’ve got the support behind us, there is a wave of positivity
at the minute – that will only carry us so far but we deliver everything in our
proposal. You’re talking about expanded leagues, more prize money. The county
system in Britain is unique and it offers such a conveyer belt,” he added.
“We have plans up our sleeves to bring a few new tournaments
in, like an end of season county weekend. There are plans for that at the
minute, it’s just modernising the system a bit.”
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“We’re starting from the bottom, it’ll take a while for some
to trust us. Some have trusted us straight away, some maybe have through no
fault of their own, they were used to a certain system. They believed in that,
all we can do is act as professionally, honest and be open about things. At
times, we will make mistakes.”
The BDO have failed to make a statement as of yet and for
Savage, he says he only had pleasant dealings with chairman, Des Jacklin since
the announcement: “I have spoke to Des in the past week or so. I have actually
found him really pleasant to deal with, it certainly wasn’t an easy conversation
he had with me. It’s not my job to comment on why it didn’t work.”
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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