Sunday, September 13, 2015

BRIGG SPORTSMAN MEETS & GREETS TOP DARTS PLAYERS INCLUDING PHIL 'THE POWER' TAYLOR

 
Top world darts players Adrian 'Jackpot' Lewis, Phil 'The Power' Taylor and Steven 'The Bird' Bunting happily lining up for a Simon Church picture kindly forwarded to Brigg Blog from Perth, Australia.

A former Brigg Town cricketer and ex-pupil of Sir John Nelthorpe School played a role behind the scenes in a top darts tournament and was seen by millions of fans on Sky TV, including Brigg Blog and others back home in the UK.
The company run by Simon Church, who emigrated to Australia many years ago, provided colourful signs for the tournament in Perth. Simon then got involved in a 'meet & greet' session with the stars of the game, including Phil 'The Power' Taylor.
Brigg Blog was unaware of all this at the time but was watching coverage of the tournament and immediately spotted Simon in one  of the crowd shots. 
We dropped him an email Down-Under and he confirmed this for us, also kindly supplying details of his involvement and these interesting pictures.
Simon told us: "We did all the signage once gain for Down Under Events and the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) for this event. I had been pushing the promoter for 4 or 5 years to bring darts to Perth. The event has been very successful. It is here again next year."
It's also a small world. For Simon says the man he dealt with over the signage (Mark Leak) is based in Hull. He does all the staging for the PDC in  England and for the World Series.
"We set up and did the signage for the qualifiers, press conference, meet and greet, as well as the three days of the event," Simon added.
Chozzy, as most people know him, makes return visits to the UK every few years and we hope to meet up with him in a Brigg hostelry or three in the not too distant future.
He lived in Barnetby before heading off to sunnier climes.
Brigg Blog is breaking new ground here by bringing you pictures of sportsmen on the world stage. We hope you find them of interest. G'Day, as our old mate Chozzy would say!

A nice 'selfie' from Simon Church, right, and family as they enjoy the world darts tournament in Perth.
Where DID you get that hat, mate? Simon with Joanna, who's pledging her support for 'The Power', Phil Taylor.
Simon Church, right, showing his support for Scunthorpe United Down-Under. He's with Matt Porter, chief executive of the PDC - the Professional Darts Corporation, which runs the sports worldwide.
Colourful signage at the tournament in Perth.

Above and below: Peter 'Snakebite' Wright - one of the most colourful characters in world darts.


Top players who took part in the Perth tournament, fronted by Phil 'The Power' Taylor, from Stoke, who has been world champ more times than anyone. Second right is Simon Whitlock, the Australian - on his home stage. 

Simon  'The Wizard' Whitlock, the Aussie darts ace, left, with Paul Nicholson, player and commentator.

Simon Church gets the top players in focus for Brigg Blog during the press conference.

Simon (front) in the crowd - spotted by Brigg Blog on the other side of the world during TV coverage of the Perth tournament.

Simon Thomas supporting Scunthorpe United on the other side of the world.

Commentator and player Rod Harrington. Hands up if you remember seeing him perform during  a darts night at Brigg Servicemen's Club many years ago?

On the world stage - picture supplied by Simon Church.

Phil 'The Power' Taylor on the oche (centre, right)

'The Power' on the world stage.


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