An article about Barry Giblets

Taken from www.endoftheoche.com

While all eyes are focussed on the bright lights of the Alexandra Palace, London, this Christmas, for what promises to be the biggest darts event of all time, very few people know the dark secret the event is hiding.

All of the star names of darts will be present. Adrian Lewis. John Part. Raymond van Barneveld. And, of course, Phil 'The Power' Taylor - easily the greatest man to toss some tungsten.

Or is he?

16 World titles in 23 years clearly suggest he is. 10 televised 9 dart finishes isn't too shabby. A World Record televised average of 118 will take some topping.

So who else on Planet Darts can lay claim to being better?

Barry Giblets.

Now, many of our readers will be scratching their heads at this point, wondering who Barry Giblets is. They'll be searching back through their memory banks, wondering whether he was on one of the outside boards at the UK Open, or if he was a token entry in the Desert Classic a few years back. He wasn't.

Barry Giblets is the dark secret the darting fraternity don't want you to know about.

But slowly, yet surely, Giblets is putting his head above the parapet and making some noises. For 30-plus years, Giblets has been exiled from the darting world. But why?

endoftheoche.com approached several of the biggest names in darts, yet all were reluctant to answer our questions. It seems as if there is a real sense of fear around even mentioning his name. So instead, we went to the man himself.

"Barry Giblets is going to tell you something kid. Barry Giblets isn't liked around these parts because Barry Giblets shoots from the hip. You get me son? The BDO didn't want Barry Giblets after I hit the 8 darter. They were fuming with Barry Giblets. And why? Because Barry Giblets is better than their 22 dart averages. Whatever. Barry Giblets doesn't care for the BDO anyway. The PDC overlooked Barry Giblets when they made their choice to go alone. They didn't want Barry Giblets. They knew Barry Giblets would take the money and run. Eric Bristow - God rest his soul - wanted his pie and he wanted to eat it. That kid didn't want Barry Giblets standing on his toes. Eric Bristow hated Phil Taylor in the end after Phil Taylor went big time. Eric Bristow only has Eric Bristow to blame. Barry Giblets gave Eric Bristow dartitis. Fear. Fear of Barry Giblets and his domination of the sport and the share of the money made Eric Bristow lose his bottle. Barry Giblets ruined the BDO and Barry Giblets ruined Eric Bristow. Barry Giblets ruined darts."

Now, whilst to many, Barry Giblets may come across as an egotistical, bitter old man, maybe, just maybe, he's justified.

A former street cleaner, Giblets has experienced highs and lows throughout his career. His genuine belief that he once hit an 8 darter may seem a massive highlight to him, but to the rest of us, it's the talk of a deluded man. Giblets has never answered direct questions about how he went about achieving the legendary 8 dart finish, and the only remaining television footage was destroyed in a suspicious fire in 1984.

Giblets has also been linked to a number of high profile celebrity women, but despite all of this, questions around the sexuality of the man still fly around. Giblets refutes these rumours, but again, remains very closed with his answers.

Whatever the background story of the man, there's no doubt about the lengths people in the sport have gone to over the last 3 decades to ensure Barry Giblets remains darts dark secret. Whether darts has blossomed or suffered as a result, remains open to debate.