Family gather as funeral begins for darts legend Eric Bristow
Family and friends have paid tribute to darts legend Eric Bristow at his funeral today, three weeks after his sudden death at the age of 60.
Mourners donned football and darts shirts to a private ceremony at Carmountside Crematorium in Stoke-on-Trent.
The sporting icon's coffin was draped with a Union flag and a dartboard replicating a triple 20, while the Embassy World Championship trophy he won five times was brought to the funeral as a mark of respect.
The service took place a day before what would have been the former world champion's 61st birthday, following his death from a heart attack earlier this month.
Known as the Crafty Cockney, Bristow was at a darts event in Liverpool when he was taken ill and collapsed, before being taken to hospital where he died.
A hearse carries the coffin of Eric Bristow, draped in the Union flag, to the Carmountside Cemetery in Stoke on Trent. A dartboard was also laid on top of the the sporting icon
The Embassy World Championship trophy *shown) was brought to the funeral as a mark of respect to the late great darts legend
Family and friends have paid tribute to darts legend Eric Bristow at his funeral today (shown), which has taken place three weeks after his sudden death
The service is taking place a day before what would have been the former world champion's 61st birthday, following his death from a heart attack earlier this month
Mourners donned football and darts shirts to a private ceremony at Camountside Crematorium in Stoke-on-Trent (pictured)
Bristow was World Champion five times between 1980 and 1986 and also won five World Masters titles during an outstanding career (shown right, with his wife Jane)
The charismatic player was instrumental in transforming what had been largely a pub game into a massively popular televised sporting event.
He was world champion five times between 1980 and 1986 and also won five world masters titles during his outstanding career.
Bristow also worked as a TV pundit for Sky Sports, was awarded the MBE for his services to sport in 1989, and appeared on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity in 2012.
He was born in East London on April 25, 1957, and later relocated to Staffordshire where he proved instrumental as a sponsor and mentor to 16-time world champion Phil Taylor during the early stages of his career.
Taylor went on to defeat Bristow – who was also renowned for his unique throwing style – in the 1990 world championship final, while a 6-0 defeat to Dennis Priestley the following year proved to be his last appearance in a televised final.
His final world championship, in 2000, was his 23rd of an illustrious career which saw him win over 70 professional titles.
In 1989 he married wife Jane with whom he had two children, Louise in 1991 and James in 1993.
The charismatic player was instrumental in transforming what had been largely a pub game into a massively popular televised sporting event
A procession of vehicles was seen entering the Carmountside Cemetery and Crematorium, where a private service took place
The sporting icon's coffin was draped with a Union flag and a dartboard replicating a triple 20 shot, the highest-scoring play available in darts
The hearse bearing Bristow, who died aged 60 of a heart attack in April 2018, arriving at the Carmountside Cemetery today