British Professional Championship
Darts tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The British Professional Championship [1] was a darts tournament organised by the British Darts Organisation and televised by the BBC between 1981 and 1988. After the 1988 championships, the BBC withdrew their coverage of the event and it left UK terrestrial television with only one televised tournament – the World Championships. The game was at an all-time low and players eventually went on to set up the World Darts Council in an attempt to bring back sponsors and television.
VenueFiesta Club Stockton-on-Tees (1981), Gaskins Conference Centre Middlesbrough (1982), Coatham Bowl Redcar (1983–88)
Country
Great Britain
Great BritainEstablished1981
Organisation(s)BDO Major (8 editions)
| British Professional Championship | |
|---|---|
| Tournament information | |
| Venue | Fiesta Club Stockton-on-Tees (1981), Gaskins Conference Centre Middlesbrough (1982), Coatham Bowl Redcar (1983–88) |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Established | 1981 |
| Organisation(s) | BDO Major (8 editions) |
| Format | Sets |
| Final Year | 1988 |
| Final champion(s) | |
 Jocky Wilson | |
Jocky Wilson won the title a record four times – John Lowe also reached four finals but lost them all.
British Professional Championship finals
| Year | Champion (average in final) | Score | Runner-up (average in final) | Prize money | Sponsor | Venue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Champion | Runner-up | ||||||
| 1981[2][3] | Jocky Wilson |
6–5 |  John Lowe |
£12,000 | £6,000 | £3,000 | Fiesta Club Stockton-on-Tees | |
| 1982[4][5] | Eric Bristow |
7–3 | John Lowe |
£26,000 | £7,000 | £3,500 | Gaskins club Middlesbrough | |
| 1983[6][7] | Jocky Wilson |
7–2 | Dave Whitcombe |
? | £8,000 | ? | Coatham Bowl Redcar | |
| 1984[8][9] | Mike Gregory |
7–5 | John Lowe |
£29,600 | £8,000 | £2,000 | ||
| 1985[10][11] | Eric Bristow |
7–4 | John Lowe |
£34,000 | £9,000 | £4,500 | ||
| 1986[12][13] | Jocky Wilson |
7–6 | Dave Whitcombe |
£35,800 | £10,000 | £4,500 | ||
| 1987[14][15] | Keith Deller |
7–5 |  Leighton Rees |
£38,200 | £10,000 | £5,000 | ||
| 1988[16][17] | Jocky Wilson |
7–2 | Ray Battye |
£39,700 | £11,000 | £5,500 | ||
