ππ»ππΆπ±π² 'πππ πππ§π§ππ© ππ€πͺπ£ππ' π΄σ §σ ’σ ·σ ¬σ ³σ Ώ We visited Jonny Clayton in his hometown of Pontyberem as he gave us a tour of where it all started and how his local rugby club have honoured him with his own lounge...
Clayton showcases 'The Ferret Lounge' at local rugby club: "You can't beat that"
PDCThursday, 17 March 2022 at 12:30
Jonny Clayton is now one of the best darts players in the world but his first love is rugby and in the small village of Pontyberem where he is initially from, he still goes down to watch the local team when he's at home.
"Obviously with darts being so busy, I don't get much of a chance but I came down last week and I enjoyed it. I was thinking to myself, I'm sure I could still do this but the reality is no I couldn't tie my laces so those days are long gone," he said on The Darts Show.
A team he used to play for and one that spawned 'The Ferret' nickname for him and also a club that celebrates his success with 'The Ferret Lounge' spawned in his honour.
"The nickname came a big thing of rugby, I was 9 stone soaking wet, it was one of those nicknames that kind of stuck. But around the corner is the Ferret Lounge so you can't beat that. It's my club, the Jonny Clayton club. I feel quite important walking into this part of the rugby club.
"A few photos of me and trophies but probably this is the favourite so far with the Premier League and hopefully there will be one more with the World Championship pretty soon."
It has been a whirlwind story for the 47-year-old who began his sporting life in rugby like his World Cup teammate, Gerwyn Price before finding out he had a talent for tungsten.
"Rugby was everything to me. Darts was a Thursday night thing, I got to play super league, county and I got my first Welsh cap and as I got better, my attitude towards darts became a bit more serious. Let's give it a go.
"I thought I'm going to give Q-School a go and I got through on my last day and that's where the story began. Who would have thought I could have been World Number Eight."
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