"I thought sod off. It’s got nothing to do with you": Jonny Clayton recalls ironic clash with Ross Montgomery on swapping from BDO to PDC

Jonny Clayton’s journey from local Welsh tournaments to becoming one of the most respected players in the PDC didn’t come without obstacles — and a few heated moments along the way. Looking back on his move from the BDO to the PDC, Clayton recalls the uncertainty of the time, the stick he received from fellow players, and the crucial moment at Q-School that changed everything.

Reflecting on the past, Clayton wonders how different things might have been had today’s PDC been around three decades earlier.

“It’s funny, isn’t it? If you could put this time now back 30 years, it’d be interesting to see how many of the BDO players would have made that step to the PDC, knowing what darts has become today. Because it was a massive split, wasn’t it? The BDO and the PDC — you didn’t cross that line if you were a BDO player," he said on Tops and Tales, the podcast hosted by PDC referee Huw Ware.

At the time, Clayton was representing Wales internationally but wasn’t heavily involved in the BDO circuit. “I remember playing an international. I wasn’t out in Romania — I could have been in Romania, but I think that was my last game for Wales. Like you said earlier on, I’d only done a few tournaments. I’d started in the Welsh Open, I think I did the English down in Green Sands, I’d done one in Selsey. I didn’t follow BDO darts at all. It was just the closer ones — we’d go and do those.”

One of the standout memories from that time was an exchange with Ross Montgomery. “I remember Ross Montgomery turning around and saying, ‘I heard you’re trying Q-School.’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ The s*** he gave me by saying, ‘You’re swapping codes’ and stuff — I thought, well, I’ve never played Lakeside in the World Championships, I’ve never done anything like that. Me personally, I thought, ‘Well, sod off. It’s got nothing to do with you, mate. I really don’t care what your opinion is.’”

Clayton admits he didn’t take kindly to the criticism, especially given what happened later. Montgomery was always well known for shirking the PDC and staying loyal to the BDO but in a later life and since the demise of the organisation, he jumped.

Montgomery became a PDC Tour Card holder for a number of years and also played on the ill-fated World Seniors winning the World title and Champion of Champions. But Clayton did not take too kindly to it. “Yeah, I didn’t like it. Considering that he’s jumped over to the PDC now anyway… whatever he told me back in the day — sorry Ross boy, but you should eat your words. But, you know, we were there because I’m big friends with Alan Soutar, and it was just a decision that I made.”

That decision quickly paid off. On the fourth day of Q-School, Clayton secured his breakthrough. “I was lucky enough to win my card on the fourth day. I think I had to get a semi-final to get a one-year card, if I remember right, but I won the day — so it gave me a two-year card. And I’ve never looked back from there.”

Despite making the leap to the PDC and finding success there, Clayton has never disrespected the BDO or his roots in the game.

“No, I’ve never slagged the BDO off. That’s where most of us as players started, and I really enjoyed my time there. I’d never, ever slag it off because we had good fun. They were a great bunch of people. But it was getting to that time where, if I was going to give it a go, I had to do it. I think I was Welsh number one on averages at the time, so I thought, right — give it a go.”