The Top Dart Players: Peter "One Dart" Manley
Peter "One Dart" Manley
 What can you say about the inimitable Peter Manley?!
One of the great characters of the sport, one of the great players in the world of darts and one of the great entertainers….
Apart from Phil Taylor, he is the only player to appear in all four Premier League events and despite falling out of the top 10 for the first time in a decade, he is still one of the most dangerous players in the world.
His appearance in yet another World Championship semi-final in 2008 proved that….Manley lost out to Kirk Shepherd at the Alexandra Palace but he is still hugely popular – spending more than half-a-year away from his Carlisle home playing tournaments and thrilling the crowds at exhibitions.
Hugely talented – his victories over Taylor and Raymond Van Barneveld in the 2008 Premier League proving the point – Manley is also very popular with the darts fans, despite the now traditional boos that follow him wherever he goes! He has won a PDC ‘Major’, he has won countless titles and this Unicorn ‘Maestro’ has been at the top of his game for many years...
So often, ‘One Dart’ has lived up to his nickname as one of the very best finishers in the sport and he is adamant there is more to come in the shape of ‘Major’ titles. “I am still enjoying my darts as much as ever and I know I have the game to beat the very best and if I didn’t think I could win another big one, I wouldn’t be playing now!” he said.
2007 saw some terrific Manley performances and 2008 promises more of the same. He won the Open Holland Masters – beating James Wade in the final – and he produced some of the best darts of his career at the Masters of Darts. Sadly, his brilliant darts ended up not being rewarded, because the organisers went bust. Manley reached the final in Holland – beating the very best in the world – before losing out to Barney
Of course, Manley has THE best walk-on in the sport……crowds around the world are on their feet to the sounds of ‘The Amarillo Man’ and despite being the man the crowds love to boo, he has won lots of friends! He is a great character and also very popular amongst his peers, which is the best tribute any darts player could wish for.
Manley pocketed the biggest cheque of his life - £50,000 – his reward for reaching his third World Championship Final in 2006 but for a third time he ended up the loser after running up against an inspired Phil Taylor. “I have proved to a lot of people that I can still throw a mean dart,” he said. “I now have to carry that form into the big tournaments on a regular basis.”
Manley had an infamous dust up with Unicorn Young Gun Adrian Lewis in the World Championship quarter-finals in 2006 but he doesn’t let much bother him and is viewed by many in the sport as the master of the mind games! These days the Peter Manley walk-on has even eclipsed fans favourite ‘Hawaii 501’ Wayne Mardle and it is all thanks to a little help from wife Crissy and famous comedian Peter Kay.
Manley was always the target of the boo-boys – an image he enjoyed for a while. He became known as the man darts fans loved to hate but how times have changed. He explains: “It was always a bit of harmless fun. The crowd would boo me and I would wind them up, even wearing ear-muffs on stage! Sadly, it started to get personal and some of the things being shouted were way over-the-top. It hurt Crissy and she decided to do something about it.” The story continues: “At the time, Peter Kay was number one in the charts. He had done a cover version of Tony Christie’s ‘Show Me the Way to Amarillo’ for Comic Relief. Crissy thought it would be a great idea to adopt it as my walk-on music for all the big TV tournaments.”
“Sky Sports agreed and I used it for the first time when the new Darts Premier League came to my hometown of Carlisle. The response was unbelievable and I haven’t looked back!” Manley said. Nowadays, the crowds go crazy when Manley enters the arena, dancing in the aisles and singing along with ‘The Amarillo Man’. It has seen Manley’s standing in the game rocket.
‘One-Dart’ has enjoyed success at all the big tournaments – Blackpool, Bolton, Dublin, Purfleet and of course Las Vegas – the scene of his greatest triumph when he beat John Part to win the Desert Classic in 2003. “I feel now though, that things are back on track,” he said. “My confidence has returned and my Unicorn 19gm nickel tungsten darts are feeling perfect.”
Unicorn came to Manley’s rescue after he had played with the same set of darts for 30 years. They were old-fashioned copper tungsten with large barrels and all three darts turned out to be different weights! Manley explained: “I bought them off a relative for £6 when I was a paper boy all those years ago! And when Unicorn approached me, we had them weighed and they were all different!”
Manley won his first ‘Major’ at the Las Vegas Desert Classic and insists there are more big titles to come. “I feel I am nearly back to something like,” he revealed. “Getting married to Crissy, the tie-up with Unicorn and the ‘Amarillo’ effect, have given me back my hunger to succeed and win.” Darts is Manley’s life because he is also the highly-respected Chairman of the PDPA (Professional Darts Players Association) and that carries a lot of responsibility and means a lot of hard work, when he isn’t playing in tournaments.
Manley is the link between the hundreds of players and the Professional Darts Corporation. He thrives on that responsibility. “I am the mouthpiece for the players and try to smooth out any problems, particularly at tournaments. It takes up all my time when I am back at home but I enjoy the job because darts is getting bigger and bigger as a sport.” he said.
‘One-Dart’ is also closely associated with BetFred. He explains: “I make personal appearances in their betting shops up and down the country, playing the punters and having a lot of fun. I like to give a good show.” His new-found popularity has resulted in Manley becoming one of the most sort-after players on the exhibition circuit. He rarely experiences a full week at home in Carlisle!
To be at the very top of darts for so long is a tribute to Manley’s great ability.
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