Former world champion Bob Anderson has seen it all during his lengthy time in the sport. The now 76-year-old Englishman was active with the seniors until last year, but is now enjoying a well-deserved retirement.
Anderson especially remembers a rivalry he had with Eric Bristow. "Back in my day there was a fair amount of confrontation. Certainly with Eric in the early days," Anderson recalls in conversation with MDA Events. "He and I were no exactly like cat and dog, but we came pretty close on one or two occasions. I didn't necessarily agree with everything he said and did, but I respected him as a dart player. I had several different opinions of him as a person in the early days, but I have to say in latter years we both grew up and he was my best man 15 years ago. I miss him."
"It's sometimes said that things are tougher these days than they used to be, but that's not quite true," Anderson continued. "Eric and Jocky Wilson, that was fun! I remember once at the World Cup, Erick played Jocky in the singles and it was in Scotland. As Eric walked up the steps to go on stage, Jocky kicked him from behind, flat out straight in the back! Jocky would do things like that bless him."
In terms of modern darts, Anderson has seen one man in particular, Gerwyn Price perform with a similar level of aggresion as the players from yesteryear. "Gerwyn is a fabulous darts player," says Anderson. "He started his sporting career as a rugby player, so he's used to having your face aggresion. I think he's learning slowly to turn that aggression to the board, rather than to the man and he is becoming a better player for it. But I don't want him to lose that aggresion, just channel it in the right direction as it is good to watch as well."