Dennis Priestley

Dennis Priestley
Personal information
Nickname	The Menace
Born	16 July 1950 (1950-07-16) (age 61) Mexborough, England
Home town	Mexborough England
Darts information
Playing darts since	1989
Darts	17g Winmau
Laterality	right-handed
Walk-on music	Hell Raiser - The Sweet
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1990 - 1993
PDC	Founder member (1992/93)
Current world ranking	34
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner 1991
World Masters	Winner 1992
World Darts Trophy	Round 2 2007
Int. Darts League	Second Round Group Stage 2008
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner 1994
World Matchplay	Runner Up (3) 1994, 1995, 1996
World Grand Prix	Semi Finalist (3) 2000, 2005, 2006
Grand Slam	Group stage 2007
Premier League	Semi Finalist 2007
Ch'ship League	Initial groups, Runner-up 2008
Desert Classic	Quarter Finalist 2006
European Ch'ship	Second round 2008
UK Open	Last 16 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009
US Open/WSoD	Winner 2009
Players Ch'ship Finals	Quarter Finalist 2009
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
Gold Cup British Matchplay Australian Masters British Pentathlon Champions Challenge Dallas Open Welsh Open Pacific Masters Los Angeles Open British Open WDC Skol Matchplay WDC UK Matchplay Canadian Open WDC Samson Darts Classic Antwerp Open World Team Championship GH North American Cup Gem City Open (Daytona) Battle of the Champions BDO British Classic Nations Cup (Eng capt.) Le Skratch-Sarantos Memorial Stan James.com PC JR & Vauxhall 128 Plus Classic UK Open SW Regional Bristol T.C. Players Championship Kitchener Open PC Irish Players Championship North-West Players Ch'ship Canadian Players Championship US-Open Australian Open Players Championship	1991, 1992 1991 1992 1992 1992 1992 1992 1992 1992 1993 1993 1993, 1994 1993, 1994 1994 1994, 1995 1995 1996 1996 1997 1997 2001, 2002 2005 2006 2006 2007 2008 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2010
Other achievements
November 1994 to April 1995 WDC World Ranked 1
Updated on 17 February 2008.

Dennis Priestley (born 16 July 1950) is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC (now PDC) world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively. He is nicknamed "The Menace", after the cartoon character Dennis the Menace, and reflects this by wearing red and black, and using red and black flights.

Early career

Born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, Priestley was originally a coal merchant by trade, and did not enter professional darts until he was almost 40 years old. He first caught the eye in 1989 when he reached the final of the News of the World Darts Championship where he was beaten by the experienced Dave Whitcombe. He then reached the semi-finals of the 1990 Winmau World Masters, losing to eventual champion Phil Taylor.

Rising to the top

Shortly after becoming a newsagent, Priestley won the 1991 Embassy World Championship, after beating Eric Bristow 6-0 in the final. He had defeated defending champion Taylor in his quarter-finals and 1988 champion Bob Anderson in his semi-final. He won the 1992 Winmau World Masters and also picked up many BDO Open events between 1991 and 1993.

Priestley was a founder member of the World Darts Council (WDC) which split from the British Darts Organisation in 1993, see main article: Split in darts. As a consequence, Priestley was precluded from assuming the role of England captain which he had been awarded shortly beforehand.

Priestley won the inaugural WDC World Darts Championship in 1994. This high point was surrounded by several wins on the WDC's new professional circuit (including the Skol Matchplay, UK Matchplay, Antwerp Open, and Samson Darts Classic) in 1993 and 1994. Since then, he has been a PDC World Championship runner-up four times, in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000, losing to Taylor on all four occasions. Priestley has also been a three-times World Matchplay runner-up, losing to American Larry Butler in 1994, Taylor in 1995 and Peter Evison in 1996.

Between 1991 and 1994 Priestley was the only player to win more than one grand slam/major title (he won 3), while he also claimed more top professional events on either circuit than any other player and attained the number-one ranking.

Priestley's ascendancy was forcefully ended by Taylor's World Championship and World Matchplay triumphs in 1995. He did, however, notch up a further major televised title later that year - the inaugural PDC World Team Championship partnering Bristow.

His 1996 World Championship Final with Taylor is often seen as one of the best matches in the history of the PDC.^{[citation needed]} Although Priestley hit 15 180s and averaged 102 in the match, he was edged out 4-6 by the ruthless brilliance of Taylor. Priestley struck 14 180s and a 10-dart leg in the following year's final. Again, however, it was to no avail as Taylor won 6-3. Perhaps for matches such as these, Taylor stated in his autobiography that Priestley is the "best player [he has] ever faced". Taylor makes a similar reference to Priestley on the biography section of his website.

Other achievements

Despite living in the shadow of Taylor for much of his career, Priestley nonetheless has accomplished some unique achievements.

He is the only man to date to win both the BDO and PDC World Championships at his first attempt;^{[citation needed]} Priestley won the 1991 BDO title in his first appearance in the main draw of the Lakeside event, while he won the inaugural PDC World Professional Darts Championship in 1994.

He is the first man to average over 100 in a World Championship final.^{[citation needed]} His average of 102 in the 1996 WDC World Championship Final came in a 4-6 loss to Taylor. It remains the highest average of a losing World Championship finalist and has only since been bettered in a World final by Taylor himself.^{[citation needed]}

In 1992, Priestley entered the 1993 Embassy World Championship as the number-one seed. In his first-round tie against Jocky Wilson, he set a new record for the highest match average (102.6) at the championship, which stood until 2004. In his autobiography, Bobby Dazzler, Bobby George recalled that, during the same championship, he played Priestley in a best of nine-leg practice match. Priestley had a dart for a perfect 9-dart finish in every leg en-route to recording a 5-0 win using a total of only 49 darts (10, 10, 10, 10, and 9). George stated that, although it was only a practice match, this was the greatest Lakeside performance he has ever seen and was disappointed that Priestley's surprise 2nd-round defeat to Steve Beaton cost him a substantial wager that he had understandably placed on Priestley winning his second Embassy title.^{[citation needed]}

In his World Championship debut in 1991 he set a new tournament record for 180s (25). That record was broken by Mike Gregory in 1992.

Priestley held the number-one spot in the PDC world rankings between November 1994 and April 1995 and was seeded number-one for the WDC World Championships of 1995 and 1997.

In 1997 Priestley won the British Classic in Blackpool, notable for being the first BDO event which PDC players were allowed to enter - as a result of the Tomlin Order - since the 1993 split. Priestley also took the pairs title with Taylor. At around this time, Priestley also took part in a 'Battle of the Champions' contest to mark the resolution of the dispute between the governing bodies. In a match-up of 1994 World Champions, Priestley comfortably defeated Part 3-0 in sets.

Setbacks and bouncebacks

The World Matchplay is perennially considered as Priestley's 'bogey' event, as he has never won it despite reaching the first three finals of the tournament. In the 1994 final, he held a 6-1 in legs lead over Butler when the American alerted Priestley's attention to a distraction in the arena; Butler's wily intervention had a noticeable effect on Priestley and the American won 15 of the next 21 legs to seal victory.

The following year, Priestley suffered the first of five final defeats to Taylor 11-16 in legs. The Matchplay appeared to be Priestley's for the taking in 1996 when hot-favourite Taylor was knocked out by Peter Evison, but Evison in turn edged Priestley 16-14 in a dramatic final. Priestley also reached the semi-finals of the event in 1999 but lost to eventual winner Rod Harrington. In recent years, Priestley has contested some thrilling Blackpool encounters with Taylor. His 13-15 loss to Taylor in the 2nd round of the 2005 event was followed by a 13-16 defeat in the Quarter-Finals the following year, and his 2008 campaign came to an end courtesy of an 8-17 semi-final exit.

Priestley's failure to win the World Matchplay is all the more surprising given that he has won several other Matchplay titles including the British Matchplay, the Skol Matchplay, and the UK Matchplay.

Though he has won a number of non-televised ranking events over the years, Priestley has underachieved and on some occasions underperformed on the big stage; his perennial struggle to turn great performances into World titles shows this. Indeed, Priestley was close to quitting darts in 2004, unhappy with his form and had problems with his sight, but in typically determined style he returned to top form in 2005. That year he reached his first major semi-final in 5 years at the World Grand Prix in Dublin. Priestley repeated that feat the following year and ended 2006 with a top-three ranking.

Friendship/Rivalry with Phil Taylor

Priestley is good friends with Taylor, who describes Priestley as a darting "soul-mate" in his autobiography. During the early years of the PDC, Priestley and Taylor had an agreement where they would share prize money won at events. The arrangement lasted between 1994 and 2000 and made sound financial sense given that, in Taylor's words, they "cherry-picked most tournaments" (contesting 5 of the 7 World Championship Finals in that time) and also struggled for exhibition work due to the dispute with the BDO. The agreement eventually ended when the prize money grew to a level where the players could individually sustain a better living and this ironically coincided with Priestley's sharp dip in form.

Taylor and Priestley first met in major competition in the 1990 World Masters. Taylor won that semi-final encounter en route to the title. Priestley quickly assumed the upper hand in their rivalry, however, with victories over Taylor in the 1991 World Championship and British Matchplay final later that year. Their early meetings in the WDC were also won by Priestley, who defeated Taylor in the finals of the 1993 UK Matchplay and 1994 World Championship.

The turning point (and peak) in the Taylor/Priestley rivalry arguably came in the 1996 World Championship Final. Although Taylor was, at 1/6, an excessively hot favourite, the match was very evenly poised: Taylor was the defending champion and reigning World Matchplay champion, while Priestley was the former champion and reigning World Team champion. Both players had conceded only a handful of sets between them en route to the final and produced (statistically) the greatest World Final ever at the time: not only was Priestley's average of 102 a landmark, Taylor's average of 99 was also higher than any previous World Finalist.

The 1997 WDC World Final was of a similarly high standard. Like the previous year, a barrage of 180s took Priestley to an early lead before Taylor's brutal scoring and ruthless finishing put him in command. Trailing 2-4 in sets and 0-2 in legs, Priestley recovered to 2-2 in legs before clinching the set with a 160 checkout against the throw. Priestley found himself 0-2 down in the following set. Again he recovered to 2-2 before fractionally missing a 140 checkout for a similar escape. Taylor won that set and the next for a 6-3 win. Ironically, in the 1996 final, Priestley had similarly trailed 3-4 0-2, recovered to 2-2 and just missed a 132 checkout (bull, bull, double 16) before losing the set.

Although only one set 'against the throw' proved decisive in both the 1996 and 1997 WDC/PDC World Finals, the 1998 final proved much more one-sided. Becoming the only duo to contest three successive World Finals, Taylor and Priestley failed to produce another epic contest. Taylor's 6-0 win evidenced a cross-roads in their respective careers. While Priestley struggled to remain at the top of the PDC ranks, Taylor entered an era of unprecedented domination and consistent 100+ averages.

Despite this setback, however, Priestley bounced back to reach his sixth World Final in 2000. An average of 98 gave him a 5-2 semi-final win over top seed Peter Manley, while Taylor blitzed into the final without losing a set. The form of both players subsequently dipped in the final, where - from 3-2 2-2 - Taylor pulled away to a 7-3 win.

In somewhat nostalgic fashion, the pair provided another epic contest in the early rounds of the 2004 World Championship. After Taylor took the opening 2 sets, Priestley won 7 of the next 10 legs before a relieved Taylor wrapped up a 4-1 win.

Priestley's last win against Taylor came in a non-televised ranking event in 2006. Although his last major victory over Taylor came in 1994, Darts commentators such as John Gwynne have noted that a vast number of their subsequent encounters have been close and exciting affairs - something not always reflected by the scorelines.

Perhaps for this reason, Priestley is highly regarded by Sid Waddell who, in the documentary "the Power and the Glory" commented that "Priestley was the only one (in Darts) who could do anything with [Taylor]" between 1994 and 1998, while Bristow endorsed the 1996 |PDC World Final because "Priestley didn't drop from the 100 average he played against other players" when faced with Taylor.

In the same documentary, Waddell stated that - at the start of the WDC/PDC in 1993 - he thought that "Priestley would have a few years all to himself" on the circuit. Although Taylor's relentless domination of the circuit from 1995-onwards did not allow this to be, Priestley's superiority over Taylor between 1991 and 1994 gives requisite justification for such a view.

The continuing closeness between the two legends was evident when Taylor was close to tears after comfortably beating Priestley 7-0 in the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic.

Recent years

In January 2007, Priestley made his debut in the Premier League Darts, the respected darts competition in which eight of the best players from the PDC circuit compete against each other in a league format, with matches held across Great Britain at different venues. Priestley took the tournament by storm in the opening weeks, complementing hammerings of Roland Scholten and Adrian Lewis with a draw against Taylor and hard fought wins over Terry Jenkins, Colin Lloyd, and van Barneveld. Although he failed to maintain that form, Priestley's good start proved sufficient to earn him a semi-final place. Once again, however, he went down to a brave (6-11 in legs) loss to eventual winner Taylor.

In February 2007, he won the UK Open South-West Regional tournament, beating James Wade in the final. Priestley's form dipped later in 2007, although this was greatly overshadowed by his battle with prostate cancer.

Priestley failed to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts in 2009, but he did win his first major event since his 1994 World Championship, at the US Open. Taylor chose not to participate in the event.

Priestley exited the 2010 PDC World Championship in the first round after losing 3-2 to Kevin McDine. He exited the 2011 PDC World Championships in the second round of the tournament after losing 4-2 to Gary Anderson.

Cancer battle

In November 2007, Priestley was diagnosed with prostate cancer and issued a statement through the PDC regarding his health.^[1] He was forced to withdraw from the John McEvoy Darts Classic in Ireland with pains in his abdomen having been diagnosed with the disease in the run up to the event. He had stated his thoughts were to undergo surgery at some point in early 2008, however, after losing 5-2 to van Barneveld in the second round of the Grand Slam of Darts (despite averaging 103.5), he announced that he would be making arrangements to undergo surgery in the days following the event. This, however, did not prevent him taking his place in the 2008 World Championship where, understandably jaded, he lost in the 1st round to Steve Maish.

After an extended period of treatment and recuperation, Priestley returned to the PDC circuit in May 2008. Much to the delight of darts fans, he quickly regained his form and reached the semi-finals of the US Open where he was beaten, once again, by Taylor. He also lost to Taylor again after a terrific run to the semis of the 2008 World Matchplay.

Outside Darts

Away from darts, Priestley is married to Jenny and has 4 children, Michael (37), Kerry (35), Wayne (31) and Adam (23). He also has a granddaughter, Keeley (14). Dennis is also a massive football fan. He supports Barnsley and Manchester United.^[2] He also enjoys other sports including Horse Racing and Golf.

World Title achievements

BDO Lakeside World Professional Championship Final

• 1991: Dennis Priestley beat Eric Bristow 6-0

WDC/PDC World Professional Darts Championship Finals

• 1994: Dennis Priestley beat Phil Taylor 6-1
• 1996: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 6-4
• 1997: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 6-3
• 1998: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 6-0
• 2000: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 7-3

Other "World" finals

BDO Winmau World Masters Final

• 1992: Dennis Priestley beat Mike Gregory

WDC/PDC World Team Championship Winners (this event preceded the World Grand Prix)

• 1995: Eric Bristow and Dennis Priestley

WDC/PDC World Matchplay Finals

• 1994: Larry Butler beat Dennis Priestley 16-12
• 1995: Phil Taylor beat Dennis Priestley 16-11
• 1996: Peter Evison beat Dennis Priestley 16-14

Semi-Finalist

• 1999: lost 10-17 to Rod Harrington
• 2008: lost 8-17 to Phil Taylor

PDC World Grand Prix Semi-Finalist

• 2000: lost 1-6 to Phil Taylor
• 2005: lost 4-6 to Colin Lloyd
• 2006: lost 3-6 to Phil Taylor

References

1. ^ Dennis Priestley health statement planetdarts.tv
2. ^ Profile Dennis "the menace" Priestley

External links

• Dennis Priestley's website
• Stats Page

Preceded by Phil Taylor	BDO World Champion 1991	Succeeded by Phil Taylor
Preceded by inaugural winner	PDC World Champion 1994	Succeeded by Phil Taylor

Persondata
Name	Priestley, Dennis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 July 1950
Place of birth	Mexborough, England
Date of death
Place of death