The Rise and Fall of the BDO Championship
The Lakeside Country Club is thick with smoke-era nostalgia, the crowd singing over pints as a player toes the oche under hot TV lights. For over three decades, this room in Frimley Green was the beating heart of the BDO World Darts Championship.
What Was the BDO World Darts Championship?
The BDO World Darts Championship was the British Darts Organisation's world title event, first held in 1978. For years it ranked among the most prestigious tournaments in the sport.
It ran annually, usually in early January, and crowned darts' world champion in front of packed crowds and TV cameras.
Entry was open to any darter who wasn't banned by the Darts Regulation Authority or involved with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
The BDO Behind It
The British Darts Organisation was founded in 1973 to oversee and promote darts across the United Kingdom.
It managed the sport at both professional and amateur levels, and it ran other major events too — including the Winmau World Masters, one of darts' longest-running competitions since 1974.
- Tournament-spec construction delivers consistent, match-ready performance for players of all skill levels
- Self-healing sisal and a repositionable number ring help extend the board's playing life
- Ultra-thin wiring reduces bounce-outs so more darts land cleanly in the scoring area
Lakeside: The Famous Venue
No venue is more tied to the championship than the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. It hosted the event from 1986 to 2019, and for many fans "Lakeside" and the BDO Worlds became the same thing.
The intimate room, the raucous singalongs, and the January date made it a fixture of the British sporting calendar.
The PDC Split
In 1992, a breakaway group formed the Professional Darts Corporation, and darts split into two rival worlds.
The PDC drew away many of the game's biggest names with better money and TV exposure, and its own PDC World Darts Championship steadily eclipsed the BDO version.
Champions Worth Knowing
The BDO stage still produced memorable winners right to the end. Welshman Wayne Warren won the final edition in 2020, becoming the last-ever BDO world champion at age 57.
On the women's side, Anastasia Dobromyslova claimed the women's world title three times, starting in 2008.
Why It Ended
The BDO's finances worsened for years as the PDC pulled away players, sponsors, and viewers.
In 2020, the bankruptcy of its commercial arm pushed the organisation over the edge, and the BDO dissolved that same year. With it, the championship's future evaporated.
Its Place in Darts History
The BDO Worlds gave darts its first golden TV era and its most storied room in Lakeside.
Even though the trophy's gone, the tournament's champions, chaos, and singalong crowds still shape how fans picture the sport.
Next time you watch a world final, listen for the crowd — that tradition started at Lakeside.