Evening Press writer HUGH MACDOUGALL talks to York's 'Mr Darts', Dave Fotheringham...

THE York man who has championed darts in the city as Evening Press correspondent for the past 35 years is targeting a new life in the Spanish sun.

Dave Fotheringham will soon be trading his pen and tungsten darts for a bag full of iron and titanium on the golf courses of the Costa Blanca.

He and his wife Jean are to set up their new home in five-star luxury on the edge of a Seve Ballesteros-designed golf course at Oliva Nova, an hour north of Benidorm.

It will mark the end of an era in York darts, which 66-year-old retired British Rail Eastern Region plant section training engineer Fotheringham has done so much to organise since he first played the game as a teenager at Acomb Youth Club.

His football days ended by a knee injury (he played in the same Minor League side as Colin Addison and the injury saw future City hero Barry Jackson replace him in the York Minor League team line-up) Fotheringham made darts his main sport.

As his skills improved he moved in with the top teams such as Three Cranes, Mail Coach (now the Roman Bath), and Bay Horse Monkgate (now Keystones), winning a couple of individual and many pair and team events. The Golden Lion in St Samson's Square, Co-op WMC on The Mount, Frog Hall, White Horse Bootham and the Masons Arms were other teams he played for.

He was submitting reports as a league secretary and in the mid-60s was appointed Evening Press darts correspondent with the task of co-ordinating reports from all the city's leagues.

He introduced the triples board to York, which had previously used only doubles boards. In 1969 he started the Kincel Memorial League, the first summer league in the city and the first league in York to use the triples board. The competition commemorated Dick Kincel, former landlord of the Brown Cow, and the trophy was the one he provided for the Kincel Trophy event he organised.

Fotheringham organised competitions to enable York players to take part in the British Open Championship and he made it possible for Barry Noble and Ian Johnstone to be the city's first two competitors in the event.

He also started the York team in the early 70s, playing inter-town matches against Scarborough, Malton, Pickering, Goole, and Marston Moor. From these matches he tried unsuccessfully to get together a Yorkshire team to play inter-counties games.

Standardised rules for darts in York that exist today were originally Fotheringham's idea. He got secretaries of all the leagues playing under different rules to come together and agree a uniform set to follow.

In 1985 he co-ordinated the hugely successful Evening Press/Cameron's Scanner Appeal Darts Competition which raised £3,000 for the District Hospital baby scanner appeal and which, with £2,000 total prize money, was the largest pay-out of any darts competition in Britain at that time.

And two years ago he tried to set up a Darts Academy in York, through the Future Prospects scheme.

"I wanted to encourage young players and I put together a training programme, including videos, but not enough people came forward so it had to be abandoned," he said.

"But I think a Darts Academy is very much needed. There are players who have ability who could improve with proper coaching."

"One of the main changes in darts has been that women's leagues have expanded. There is now a nucleus of women players in York who have the skill to play super league and county darts. I am very impressed by how women's darts has progressed in York."

Among his top York players he recalls Mick Smith, who got to the News of the World semi-finals when representing Yorkshire, George Maxwell, who won virtually every York competition in the 50s, Billy Guildford, Frank Roberts, Ken Elcock, Paddy Hoban, Mick Wilson and Billy Sadler. "They were the top boys of their era," said Fotheringham.

Nine years ago he took up golf as a member at Forest of Galtres and now plays off a 16 handicap. He has won a couple of senior competitions and says that one of the things he will miss most when he goes to live in Spain is the camaraderie of the senior members at FoG.

Your chance to report on darts...

IF you are involved in the York darts scene and are interested in taking over the reins from Dave Fotheringham as Evening Press correspondent, contact the Sports Editor, Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN, phone 01904 567136, email sport@ycp.co.uk

Updated: 10:12 Saturday, May 24, 2003