The first ever BDO World Darts Champion — Leighton Rees won the inaugural Embassy World Professional Darts Championship at Wembley in 1978, setting the sport on its path to mainstream recognition.
Leighton Rees holds a unique place in darts history as the first ever BDO World Professional Darts Champion. In January 1978 at Wembley Conference Centre, he defeated John Lowe in the final to win the inaugural Embassy World Championship. His victory — and the television coverage that followed — marked the moment professional darts became a mainstream sport in the United Kingdom. He won 6 Welsh caps at football and represented Wales in darts for many years.
He is the only man who can claim to be the first ever professional darts world champion — a distinction no future player can ever take from him.
Did You Know?Career Honours
- BDO World Champion 1978 (inaugural)
- Wales darts international