Eric Bristow's coffin adorned with three arrows nestled in treble 20 bed on dartboard as Crafty Cockney's funeral takes place
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Three in a bed on the dartboard adorning his coffin, Eric Bristow checked out for the last time.
And as a glittering cast of champions turned out to pay their respects to a darts legend, nothing could have been more symbolic than arrows scoring treble 20.
The Crafty Cockney, who collapsed and died suddenly – aged 60 – at a Premier League darts event in Liverpool earlier this month, was laid to rest in the Potteries he had adopted as his home.
Among the mourners were 16-times world champion Phil 'The Power' Taylor, the protege he mentored to greatness, current world No.1 Michael van Gerwen and old rivals from Bristow's heyday on the oche including John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko and Dennis Priestley.
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Despite teeming rain, hundreds gathered outside the Carmountside crematorium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, to bid farewell to the first superstar of darts at a private funeral for family and close friends.
When the cortege arrived, with proud patriot Bristow's coffin draped in the Union flag, the Embassy world championship trophy he lifted five times between 1980-86 made the final journey with him.
And there was standing room only in the packed chapel, with some of the congregation wearing Bristow's favourite red polo shirts – the colour he often wore on stage.
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Keith Deller, who beat Bristow in the 1983 world championship final, was also at the service and conveyed the sadness which transcends a sport.
He said on Twitter: “Today we say goodbye to our friend and a darting genius... we will remember the good times and say our farewells but the sporting icon will always live on. RIP Eric.”
After the 45-minute service, hundreds of Bristow's friends and well-wishers convened in some of his favourite watering holes in his long-time home town Leek, Staffs.
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In the Black Swan, the Rewind Bar and the Fountain, drinkers raised pints of Guinness – Bristow's favourite tipple – on the day before what would have been his 61st birthday.
When news of the Crafty Cockney's death filtered through to 8,000 stunned fans at Liverpool's Echo Arena on the night he died, they broke into a spontaneous chorus: “There's only one Eric Bristow.”
Earlier this month Taylor, who was launched towards his astonishing success by a £10,000 bursary from Bristow 30 years ago, paid tribute saying: “Eric was like a brother to me. Quite simply, I owe him everything.”