By Elliott West
“It’s been an incredible journey so far, and now I’m looking forward to the next part of my career.”
Russ Bray
Introduction
Russ Bray has the perfect voice for darts. Rough, hoarse and one that can call out the big scores including the roar of the 180 and make them travel the length and breadth of a darts arena. He got his nickname from a picture of him that Kathy Ovens, the wife of Dennis created with the name ‘The Voice’ underneath it. the master of his art, this former police traffic officer, driving instructor, security officer and scaffolder, has been plying his trade as a referee since 1996 and has seen many of the true classics that the sport has produced. A man who always tried to be unique with his calling and attire. Yet there comes a time when you have to step aside for younger blood and at 66, Bray has made the brave decision to enjoy some of his retirement and spend some quality time with his wife Sue. His wife will also retire in January, reducing her working week to one day a week.
Darting Background
Russ fell into his calling career by chance, standing in for a regular caller one night at a county match when he failed to show. Bray who had been a county player for Essex and who had played on the professional circuit, teamed up with Eric Bristow to win the Norway and Finland pairs. He also hit the bullseye from ten feet, outdoors at Blackpool Pier and put himself in the Guinness Book of Records by beating Scott Gibing’s previous record of 9’ 6”.
Since joining the PDC as a referee in 1996, Bray has been at the centre of darts for a staggering 27 years. He was there at the Circus Tavern for the monumental clash between Phil Taylor and Raymond Van Barneveld in 2007. He also refereed John Part’s history-making victory over Taylor in 2003 and called in maiden World Championship titles for Adrian Lewis, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2020 respectively.
New Climbs
Russ Bray may have signed off on his 28th and final World Championship behind the microphone but his darting work is far from done. He has already been inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame and he has been appointed as a PDC ambassador. He will also continue to referee on the World Series of Darts circuit and the PDC’s affiliate including the Asian Tour which he has played a key role in the expansion of. It’s been 28 years since Russ has had a proper weekend off, darting from Minehead to Milton Keynes or London but the offers are still flooding in with offers of work in Costa Rica and India and he will now have a lot more time to do exhibitions in places like Germany. Work that Bray loves doing and has worked with his good friend Keith Deller for over 20 years on these exhibitions. Russ prefers to call this new era, a period of semi-retirement.
Bray has loved travelling to many far-flung countries in the world including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and has covered the majority of Asia except for Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. He loves experiencing new cultures and the different ways of playing darts, especially in Mongolia which only has a population in the region of one million people but where 600 players turn up for a tournament and the standard is getting higher as the years roll by. In fact, in the first game that Russ called, a boy’s game, the first player scored 171, three treble 19s with his first three darts. A competition with an average of 83/84.
With the rise of Luke Littler and so many other talented young men and women in darts, the prize money has rapidly increased and the wealth of tournaments expanded. The standard of darts has also gone through the roof and for Russ, this is just a good thing and proves that darts are in a fabulous place. A rollercoaster that even the benchmarks of Eric Bristow and Phil Taylor are now being challenged. A tournament atmosphere where you would be very brave to pick a winner because hidden talent always seems to fly out of the woodwork. A drive that can only grow by Bray preaching the word as a PDC ambassador and finding new talent across the globe. A man who jumped at the chance all those years ago to work for free and go to call in Las Vegas. Although Russ is no stranger to jumping as he was a demon high jumper in the early 1970s. A legend who found his love for darts when he was asked to join the darts team when in the police in 1975 and went to practice on a paper darts board from Woolworths which led to him not only being a regular in the police team but also representing Essex and Great Britain.
