Sidney Waddell (10 August 1940 – 11 August 2012) was an English sports commentator and television personality. He was nicknamed the 'Voice of Darts' due to his fame as a darts commentator, and worked forGranada,Yorkshire,BBC andSky Sports. Due to his joke telling skills he was also nicknamed theThief of Bad Gags, firstly byDave Lanning.^[1] He was nominated for two awards for his work, and published several books.

The son of a Northumberland miner, he attendedKing Edward VI Grammar School,^[2]Morpeth, and went on to obtain a scholarship toSt John's College,Cambridge,^[3] where he graduated with an upper second degree in Modern History. At Cambridge, Waddell played rugby for St John's, and the Cambridge University LX Club, the rugby second team. Injury brought him to darts and he started the inter-college darts competition. St John's lost in the final of this in 1961 to a team of trainee vicars fromSelwyn College.

Waddell went into academia for a few years beginning in 1962. He joined the Social Studies Department atDurham University and assisted the Professors of Politics and Economics in writing their books. He toyed with the idea of writing a book on trade unions but settled for folk singing in a duo with Charles E. Hall called the Gravyboatmen. They played on BBCTonight andITV locally. In 1966, Waddell joinedGranada Television working withMichael Parkinson on local news programmes. In 1968, he moved toYorkshire Television. Between 1968 and 1974, Waddell was a producer for over 600 editions of local news programme,Calendar. He also devised the ITV network children's seriesThe Flaxton Boys a historical adventure series that ran for three years from 1969.

1972 was a big year for darts as ITV broadcast theNews of the World Darts Championship for the first time. Waddell was an observer atAlexandra Palace during the 1972 News of the World Championship and was particularly impressed with the play and character of the eventual finalist, WelshmanAlan Evans, who beat reigning champion Dennis Filkins in the semi-finals with a fiery display. Also in 1972, Waddell created the showThe Indoor League, which featured various pub games includingdarts,pool,bar billiards,bar skittles,Table football (aka foosball),arm wrestling andshove ha'penny.^[4]The Indoor League was only shown on Yorkshire Television in 1972 but went national on the ITV network from 1973 to 1977, although Waddell had left ITV by the last series of the programme.

In 1976, Waddell switched to the BBC and his experience with televised darts helped him to become one of the commentators on the firstWorld Professional Darts Championship when it began in 1978. Waddell stayed with the BBC until 1994, commentating on all darts events covered by the BBC, with his last darts commentary on the BBC being the first four sets of the1994 BDO World Championship Final betweenJohn Part andBobby George.

During his time with the BBC, Waddell penned ten episodes of a successful children's television series,Jossy's Giants in 1986. He was also the writer of two series of another children's showSloggers which ran from 1994 to 1996. He was also a director forMop and Smiff and assistant producer for the follow-up seriesMike, Mop and the Moke. His credits also include working with the eccentric scientistMagnus Pyke and he wasAlan Whicker's producer onWhicker's Women in 1972. He worked on theRussell Harty Show, and in 1993 did a series forTyne Tees Television calledWaddell's World in which he was a butler to a posh Tweeddale family, a caravanner and on the dole.

He made one performance as the "Voice of the Balls" on theNational Lottery Red Alert on BBC in 1999. He said he was sacked for being "tooGeordie".^[5]

From 1994, Waddell became an independently employed commentator, but was mainly associated with his work forSky Sports. The first darts tournament he commentated on for Sky Sports was the1994 World Matchplay at theWinter Gardens, Blackpool, in August 1994. For the next 17 years, he worked continuously as a commentator on all darts tournaments televised by Sky Sports. In September 2011, Waddell was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Despite this diagnosis and undergoing treatment, he managed to come back to the darts commentary box in the spring of 2012 during somePremier League nights.

After commentating on a sporadic basis during the2012 Premier League, Waddell did not commentate at either the2012 UK Open nor the2012 World Matchplay prior to his death on 11 August 2012. Waddell's last darts commentary came in the 2012Premier League final betweenPhil Taylor andSimon Whitlock on 17 May, where Phil Taylor won the match 10-7 to take the title, although Waddell only commentated on the first part of the match; his last commentary contributing to a full match came in the same evening in the semi-final match betweenPhil Taylor andJames Wade, Taylor won the match 8–6.

Waddell's last interview came in June 2012, where he discussed his life, darts commentary, pool commentary and his bowel cancer. This interview was aired on Sky Sports on 16 August 2012, five days after his death, as a tribute entitled:Sid Waddell – A Life in His Own Words.

Besides darts, Waddell commentated on numerous other sporting events produced bySky Sports and/orMatchroom Sport over the years. He regularly commentated on the four annualnine-ballpool events on which the two companies collaborated (World Pool Championship;World Pool Masters;World Pool League; andMosconi Cup), particularly between the years of 1999–2003. However, as these events began to be hosted further away from the UK, Waddell gradually withdrew from the sport. He is remembered for coining the term "Golden Break", meaning when the 9-ball is pocketed directly from the break, giving the breaking player an immediate win.

In 2004, Waddell was the commentator for the British game showHouse of Games in which two families competed in various household-based challenges.^[6]

In 2006, Waddell began to hostSid Waddell's Wrestling Show onESPN Classic. This show featured edited versions of matches from the days ofWorld of Sport Wrestling.

In 2007, Waddell andEric Bristow recorded a series ofBellies and Bullseyes darts programmes about the World Darts Championship from 1978 until 1990 for ESPN Classic, which were later broadcast on the channel in December 2007.

Waddell was twice nominated for TV awards. He was up forBAFTA best director in 1992 for a documentary in theIpso Facto series, and in 1994 he was nominated for best scriptwriter in theWriters' Guild of Great Britain awards for his children's cricket seriesSloggers.

He wrote eleven published books, including biographies ofJohn Lowe,Jocky Wilson andPhil Taylor. His bookBellies and Bullseyes was short listed for the British Sports Book Award for 2008.^[7]

His racy 1973 novelBedroll Bella, about a Geordie groupie, was banned byWH Smith andJohn Menzies. In 2009 he published a memoir of his boyhood in a Geordie pit village,The Road Back Home.

Waddell was married to Irene. Waddell was a ferventNewcastle United supporter, and lived inPudsey.^[8] In September 2011, it was announced that Waddell had been diagnosed withbowel cancer.^[9]

Waddell died of bowel cancer on 11 August 2012, the day after his 72nd birthday, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.^[10] Following his death, the decision was made to rename thePDC World Darts Championship trophy the Sid Waddell trophy from 2013.^[11] Waddell's funeral was held in Leeds on 22 August 2012. Before Waddell's funeral he was cremated earlier in the day in a private ceremony.^[12]

Wikiquote has quotations related toSid Waddell.

External videos
Quotes from Sid Waddell

• "It's the greatest comeback sinceLazarus"
• "WhenAlexander of Macedonia was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer...Bristow's only 27."
• "He's burning the midnight oil at both ends!"
• "There's only word to describe the atmosphere here tonight – too much."
• "They'll be rattling their clogs inCleckheaton!"
• "Even Hypotenuse would have trouble working out these angles!"
• "There's only one word for that – magic darts!"
• "It's like trying to pin down a kangaroo on a trampoline."
• "The atmosphere is so tense, if Elvis walked in with a portion of chips, you could hear the vinegar sizzle on them"
• "He's as happy as a penguin in a microwave."
• "His eyes are bulging like the belly of a hungry chaffinch."
• "That could have landed on the pupil of a fly's eyeball"
• "William Tell could take an apple off your head,Taylor could take out a processed pea."
• "He's moving round that pool table likeShawn Michaels after a couple of body slams."
• "In the space of three darts, he has gone from beingLee Van Cleef to the Laughing Cavalier."

^{[13][14][15][16]}

• Waddell, Sid (8 July 2010).The Road Back Home.Ebury Press.ISBN 978-0-09-193223-7.
• Waddell, Sid (7 August 2008).Bellies and Bullseyes.Ebury Press.ISBN 978-0-09-191756-2.

• Classic Waddell Commentary from Waddell's Official web site.
• Sid Waddell atIMDb

• Darts commentators
• English sports broadcasters
• BBC sports presenters and reporters
• 1940 births
• 2012 deaths
• Deaths from colorectal cancer in England
• People from Alnwick
• Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
• Professional Darts Corporation Hall of Fame

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• Use dmy dates from December 2014
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