24/11/2023

Russ Bray quits active refereeing after World Darts Championship and continues as PDC ambassador

Darts legend Russ Bray will serve as referee at a major for the last time during the World Darts Championship. The iconic referee will be credited with the World Championship final and then will wind down his illustrious career.

The 66-year-old Bray, whose distinctive voice earned him the nickname "The Voice of Darts," has played an important role in the sport's global growth over the past four decades, and he will begin a new role as PDC ambassador in 2024. In this role, Bray will still be active as an umpire at World Series tournaments.

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Bray represented Hertfordshire as a player at County level and joined the PDC as a referee in July 1996. This year's spectacle at Alexandra Palace will be his 28th and final World Darts Championship as a referee.

The 66-year-old referee has witnessed a number of iconic moments in the sport, including the historic 2007 World Championship final between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld at the Circus Tavern.

He also refereed John Part's remarkable victory over Taylor in 2003, and the first world titles for Adrian Lewis, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2020, respectively.

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Bray has refereed seventeen nine-darts, including Michael van Gerwen's 17 perfect darts at the 2013/14 World Championship and Phil Taylor's historic nine-darter in 2002 - the first televised perfect leg in PDC history.

“I've had a magnificent career so far, and this game has given me so many opportunities and memories,” said 'The Voice,' on the PDC website. “When you're part of the game, you’re going with the flow, with the rollercoaster, but when you look at the development of the sport since I joined the PDC in 1996, the difference is incredible."

“It’s a global game now. When you're refereeing on the PDC Asian Tour in Mongolia, and on the World Series [stage] in Australia, you do have to pinch yourself sometimes. I'm an old age pensioner now. We have some cracking youngsters [referees] coming through, so for me personally, I think it's the right time.”