The Crafty Cockney: Eric Bristow

The autobiography of the legendary darts player and a British sporting iconERIC BRISTOW MBE is considered to be the greatest darts player of all time and one who pioneered the game's move from the pub on to the nation's TV screens. He was an unmistakable figure on the oche during his 1980s heyday, with his trademark blonde highlights and red Crafty Cockney t-shirt, and became renowned not just for the number of world titles he won but for his arrogance on stage and off it.His autobiography is a candid account of his rise to the top and reveals his humble beginnings in London's East End, where gangs like the Richardsons ruled the streets through a mix of fear and torture. Eric would often walk home at night with a claw hammer stuffed down his pants for protection. Cat burglar, shoplifter, thug: Bristow was all of these during his early street-fighting years, but it was darts that proved to be his salvation, introducing him to a new world of beer, babes and undreamed of success.He won his first world title in 1980 and dominated the scene for the next decade, winning four more. In his rapid rise to the top he gives fascinating insights into the characters that pioneered darts in those