Probably the best pub game going

William Adamson parodies a well-known lager advert to describe the darts players at his pub in Wolverhampton.

"This is probably the best pub darts team in the world," he says.

And, with world No 13 Wayne Jones and 2006 World Matchplay quarter-finalist Chris Mason in the side, he may well have a point.

Certainly, the regular punters at the Cleveland Arms on Stowheath Lane seem to think so.

"On a typical Thursday night, we will have 250 people in the pub to watch them play darts," says the pub's general manager.

With customer numbers like this, you would think pubs would be falling over themselves to get people playing darts into their bars.

But, according to Councillor John Clancy, the traditional local where regulars can enjoy a game of arrows is becoming a thing of the past.

Last month, Councillor Clancy persuaded Birmingham City Council to take the unprecedented step of ordering a pub to install a dartboard as part of its refurbishment plans.

It is thought to be the first time around the country that a planning committee has made such a formal request as part of building consent.

The Quinton ward member said: "I have complained before that dart boards are disappearing from our pubs.

"I think we should be doing all that we can to preserve what we have and encourage more."

Bill Payton, of the Cleveland Arms team seems to agree, and there is no doubt in his mind about why pub dartboards are disappearing.

"They think there is more money in this," he says, emphatically slamming a food menu onto the table.

Mason, who is known as 'Mace the Ace' on the darts circuit, believes it may also be down to subtle changes in the character of many pubs.

He said: "Years ago, darts was part of a social night out, you would play you would go after work to play your friends for half-pints.

"But the introduction of pool tables took up lots of room and, if you have got a pool table in a pub you are taking 50p a game, whereas darts is free."

The smoking ban has definitely played its part, Mason added, as he stepped up to the oche.

He said: "It's forced a lot of the old customers out of the pubs. And people can't afford to come out."

But Mason argues another major factor is the large chains which are increasingly dominant in the licensed trade.

They are reknowned for publishing more standardised, corporate formats in their pubs.

Mason said: "In the early days of Wetherspoons, I contacted the founder about the potential of a national darts league across all his pubs.

"He was saying at the time he was creating traditional pubs, with no juke boxes and no pool tables, and I thought darts would be perfect for that.

"But he just said none of his pubs had dartboards."

Jones, known as 'the Wanderer' to his fans, reached the last 16 of this year's PDC World Championship before losing out to Adrian Lewis.

The 46-year-old recalled it was playing in his local pub which first got him interested in the sport as a teenager.

He said: "I was about 15 or 16 when my mum and dad bought me a dartboard and I later started playing down my local,.

"I think it was just the excitement of going to a pub."

Payton, who is 65, started playing in his local pub league as a 14-year-old.

He said: "I started out the way all the best players used to, by keeping the scores. It used to be much quieter in those days.

"People used to stand under a light in hushed silence. We still take it seriously now, but it's much less formal."

Surprisingly, despite the apparent decline in the number of pub dartboards, Payton reckons the sport is bigger now than it has ever been.

He said: "It's bigger, much bigger. The kids see it on television. There's now a darts league every night of the week."

Adamson agrees, pointing out that after Premier League football, darts is now the most-viewed sport on Sky TV.

He said: "When we have a big exhibition here at the pub, we sell 400 tickets every time.

"People come along and they can ask the likes of Wayne on how to improve, and he will give them some tips.

"You won't do that with Premier League footballers."

It begs the question, in a time of record pub closures, whether traditional pub games such as darts could spark a revival in the licensed trade.

Adamson said: "It doesn't cost much to put on, all you need is a dartboard and a set of darts, and people will come in.

"We have been having our big exhibitions for five years now, we wouldn't be doing them if it didn't grow our trade."

Some pubs in the J D Wetherspoon chain have now introduced dart boards for the first time, but there seems to be resistance in the pub trade.

Mason believes that one day there will come a time again when no pub is complete without a dartboard in the corner.

He added: "I think it will probably happen when the younger generation comes through.

"The kids who are watching darts on Sky at the moment will be demanding dartboards in their pubs.

"It will come back eventually."

By Mark Andrews