“Eric put the fear of God into you. But that was great , playing for your country was probably the best…”
Talking to Steve Beaton is like reliving the history of our game, but from the inside. For aspiring players or dedicated fans there is some solid gold.
We caught up with ‘The Bronzed Adonis’ last week as he relaxed after completing his final PDC season and congratulated him on a remarkable top flight career:
Start at the beginning , it’s a very good place to start…..
We reminded Steve of his breakthrough into elite darts at the Double Diamond Masters in 1984. We wondered what he might remember from the ITV event:
“ I remember a little, Dave Lee was there [he won it] and I played with him in London so that helped. I’d qualified for it but can’t recall much more. You can’t even find out much about it on the internet.
“You can’t even get the drink any more, I do remember that..!
Talking of the 1980s reminded us about the remarkable idea that Steve has played and competed with every single generation of the modern version of our sport. What was his impression of that first golden grouping that he joined?
“ It was great, even back in Coventry when one of those guys came it was the highlight of your night if you got a game against them. I played with most of them, Leighton, ‘Lowey’, Alan Evans, Eric and Jocky. The thing is you then become friends with them as well, it’s great really.
Speaking of the founders of our feast leads us to the struggles that befell the game in the early 90s and the eventual formation of the WDC ( later PDC) as a young talent on the verge of major breakthrough, surely they wanted him onside?
“ Yeah, I had a meeting with a few of them [who formed the WDC] and they wanted me to go across. BUT, as a kid I had always watched the Embassy, it was the one thing I wanted to win
“It was very hard watching them and not going. I just said all credit to you for doing it… That year, 1993, I should have won it, lost in the semi, and I just wanted to give it one more chance…
“They understood my decision and we remained friends, but they broke away then…
The decision to stay obviously led to one of your highest peaks which began with your Winmau World Masters win in 1993
“Yeah, the Winmau was quite tough to win in those days, maybe up to 500 people and you had to play it all the way through, but yeah I prefer quickfire set play cus you can be struggling one set and still get back in it…
Following swiftly on you finally lifted the World Championship which had eluded for quite some time…..
“Yeah as I said, I really should have won it in 1993. Having played many of the top players I slipped up against Warriner in the semi and couldn’t hit a double, but I knew I had the ability but unfortunately the next few I kept going out in the first round…
“When I finally got through the first round in 96 they all banged the money on me to win it. I played really well for the rest of the tournament.”
Steve’s run to the title was a who’s who of darts with Stompe, Part, Adams, Fordham and finally Richie Burnett but Steve did not seem to concerned
“ I just knew I had the ability so I just got my head down really and just kept playing till the fat man said stop. Probably shouldn’t say that these days, but it was Martin Fitzmaurice at the time.
“ That’s what I did, just kept my head down and kept playing till that final double.
Burnett was a pretty formidable opponent at that time;
“Richie had won it the year before as well, he had less pressure on him and hoped that I would break down, I got the early lead on him though and just held on to it really. We were good mates and it shows at the end. We still are now ”
There is almost a melancholy about Steve discussing this period, although it was, in many ways, his finest hour,the troubles in and around darts – especially the BDO – seemed to overshadow things. It seemed perfectly illustrated when we asked about what happened after he had actually lifted the lakeside title:
“It was a great day, but just a shame that darts was struggling at the time really.We’d had the split and were fighting to keep darts on the telly at the time. I wish it had been nowadays really, it would have been so much better…
“ I was hoping it would be the steeping stone to get it going, but for the next few years it was hard work trying to build on it.
Somewhat surprisingly Steve did not select that 1996 highpoint when we asked him his proudest achievement in darts:
“My proudest moment was playing for England, first picked in the early 90s with Eric Bristow as Captain! To have him as your captain was a…well he certainly got you going. My first time playing we won 12-0 and I was man-of-the-match, I couldn’t believe it!
“Eric put the fear of God into you. But that was great , playing for your country was probably the best…
The years that followed those crowning achievements were not the best for Steve’s side of the darting divide. After a few more years of battling the time came to make a decision:
“We’d played a few events with both sets of players, but I think in the end Barry kind of said are you gonna be joining us or not. In the end that was looking better , going forward if you like. Barry was gonna do this and that and all the better players were on that side, the standard was improving and if you play the game you want to play the best and that was that.”
Following on we remembered that Steve was the players’ representative on the PDPA for a while and was involved in Barry Hearn’s major briefing on the future of the game in 2010. We wondered which changes Steve thought most important:
“The TV coverage is brilliant, I can’t believe how it’s getting now and with Luke Littler on the scene it’s twice as crazy!
“The turnaround is amazing from struggling to get people to watch a game… or TV people to broadcast it, and now its everywhere.
“ The opportunity for young people is unbelievable, they don’t have to go to the pub, they can go to local halls, or schools or wherever.”
Almost everything Steve recounted back then has come to pass in the years since, we always wondered if he believed it at the time?
“Barry is the sort of person who looks ahead, when he first came in saying I’m gonna do this and that… We were all looking at each other saying yeah, of course you are Barry…
“ He perceived the future and he is building with the youngsters now for the future of the game…”
On many occasions during his time with the PDC major names have drifted down the rankings and disappeared from the professional ranks and even the game itself. Steve himself endured several ranking slumps but always battled back to the top. We wondered if he had any idea what made the difference for him?
Obviously my will to win, I really always want to win every game, but also I love the game. So I kept on hanging in there. I don’t change me throw or darts too much. If you have a bad day it’s not your dart, it’s you that’s throwing them.
I always wanted to be involved in the sport ‘cus I love it so much…”
It was clear that finishing on his own terms and handing back his tour card was important to game’s longest serving top tier professional:
“Yes, it was important and had been in my mind since last year, that this would be my last one…I can still play well and beat them the odd game, but at 60….
“You think you can do the same at 60 as you can at 20 but you can’t. I have had back and palm problems. But that’s just age and you can’t make excuses.”
In another interesting comment Steve did not give a match, a title or even a venue when we asked for the highlights of his time in the PDC.
“I’ve been very fortunate over the years and meeting people, in the older days the BDO even had us at Buckingham Palace.
“It’s been great, got me into the golf circuit as well and meeting another group through that. It is probably the main reason I do the exhibitions really. They all know you can play darts but they really like a chat, a drink and a laugh…”
Now as we closed we could not help but noting that Steve had mentioned more upcoming activities so we enquired whether he will actually be able to slow down or would we be seeing him elsewhere in the darts world:
“ I am doing a lot of exhibitions and now the Seniors and a lot for MODUS. The problem with the Pro Tour is you can’t be sure if you’re in a European or not, with 13 or so of them a year it is difficult to plan your time.
“ I was supposed to be slowing down but looking at it….I will be able to pick and choose more.
Perhaps this answer gives a clue to how he has managed a 40 year career so we asked if there was any other ingredient.
“ My wife has been brilliant, she has supported me for 30 years. So, you know she wants a bit more time with me. I am away for more than half the year in hotels. It’s quite a strain really.
We asked for Steve’s final thoughts, perhaps for today’s young players and how they might manage a 40 year career in darts:
“ I have always tried to stay fit, giving up smoking was probably the best thing I did. I have a bike, I go to the gym, swim and play golf.
“ It is a more strenuous sport than people think. You can be on your feat for 5 hours or more playing. That’s what I found helped me over the years.
“ Lastly, keep to your throw and the way you have always done it. Don’t reach to change too easily.
—–ENDS—–
Originally published in Darts World Magazine 588
Interview: Paul Mason
Images: Chris Sargeant/PDC and Darts World Magazine
