Leighton Thomas Rees (17 January 1940 – 8 June 2003) was a Welsh professional darts player who competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He won the 1978 BDO World Darts Championship, and was formerly ranked world number one. He was one of the sport's most successful players throughout the 1970s, and retired from the game in 1991.
Early life
Rees was born in hospital in Mountain Ash and grew up in the village of Ynysybwl, Glamorgan, where he spent most of his life. He attended the local Mill Street School in Pontypridd where one of his teachers famously declared on his report card that he would be "good only for reading the sports pages of the South Wales Echo". After leaving school he found work in the store room of a motor spares company, a job he did for over twenty years until he became a professional darts player in 1976.
It was during his time working as a store man that Leighton found the sport of darts, becoming a regular for his local pub and county, and playing for Wales in 1970.
Personal life
In 1980, Rees married Debbie Ryle, a Californian, in Las Vegas while he was competing in a tournament there. Leighton Rees Close in Ynysybwl is named after him.
World Championship results
BDO
- 1978: Winner (beat John Lowe 11–7) (legs)
- 1979: Runner-up (lost to John Lowe 0–5) (sets)
- 1980: Quarter-Finals (lost to Bobby George 1–3)
- 1981: 2nd Round (lost to Ceri Morgan 1–2)
- 1982: 1st Round (lost to Angus Ross 0–2)
- 1983: 1st Round (lost to Cliff Lazarenko 0–2)
- 1985: 1st Round (lost to Russell Stewart 1–2)
- 1987: 1st Round (lost to Mike Gregory 0–3)
- 1990: 1st Round (lost to Eric Bristow 0–3)
Career finals
BDO major finals: 6 (2 titles)
{| class="wikitable"
! Legend
|- style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| World Championship (1–1)
|- style="background:#ffc;"
| British Professional Championship (0–1)
|- style="background:thistle"
| Grand Masters (1–1)
|- style="background:#9cf;"
| British Matchplay (0–1)
|}
{| class="wikitable"
!width="80"| Outcome
!width="20"| No.
!width="50"| Year
!style="width:250px;"| Championship
!style="width:200px;"| Opponent in the final
!width="70"| Score
|-
|- style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| style="background:#98FB98;"|Winner
| 1.
| 1978
| World Darts Championship
| John Lowe
| 11–7 (l)
|-
|- style="background:thistle"
| style="background:#98FB98;"|Winner
| 2.
| 1978
| Butlins Grand Masters
| John Lowe
| unknown
|-
|- style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 2.
| 1979
| World Darts Championship
| John Lowe
| 0–5 (s)
|-
|- style="background:thistle"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 3.
| 1980
| Butlins Grand Masters
| Bobby George
| 0–1 (s)
|-
|- style="background:#9cf;"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 4.
| 1980
| British Matchplay
| Jocky Wilson
| 0–2 (s)
|-
|- style="background:#ffc;"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 5.
| 1987
| British Professional Championship
| Keith Deller
| 5–7 (s)
|}
WDF major finals: 2 (1 title)
{| class="wikitable"
! Legend
|- style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| World Cup (1–0)
|- style="background:#dfe2e9;"
| Europe Cup (0–1)
|}
{| class="sortable wikitable"
!width="80"| Outcome
!width="20"| No.
!width="50"| Year
!style="width:250px;"| Championship
!style="width:200px;"| Opponent in the final
!width="70"| Score
|- style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| style="background:#98FB98"|Winner
| 1.
| 1977
| World Cup Singles
| Cliff Lazarenko
| 4–3 (l)
|- style="background:#dfe2e9;"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 1.
| 1984
| Europe Cup Singles
| John Lowe
| 0–4 (l)
|}
Independent major finals: 1
{| class="sortable wikitable"
!style="width:80px;"| Outcome
!style="width:20px;"| No.
!style="width:50px;"| Year
!style="width:250px;"| Championship
!style="width:200px;"| Opponent in the final
!style="width:70px;"| Score
|-
|-
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 1.
| 1976
| News of the World Championship
| Bill Lennard
| 0–2 (l)
|}
Performance timeline
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tournament !! 1974 !! 1975 !! 1976 !! 1977 !! 1978 !! 1979 !! 1980 !! 1981 !! 1982 !! 1983 !! 1984 !! 1985 !! 1986 !! 1987 !! 1988 !! 1989 !! 1990
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" |
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |NYF
| style="text-align:center; background:lime;" |W
| style="text-align:center; background:thistle;" |F
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |2R
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |DNP
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |DNP
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |DNP
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | Winmau World Masters
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |DNP
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |L16
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |2R
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |RR
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |2R
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |2R
| colspan="8" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |Did not participate
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | British Matchplay
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |Not held
| style="text-align:center; background:yellow" |SF
| style="text-align:center; background:yellow" |SF
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| style="text-align:center; background:thistle" |F
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| colspan="9" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |Did not participate
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | British Professional Championship
| colspan="7" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |Not held
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |2R
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |DNP
| style="text-align:center; background:thistle;" |F
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |DNP
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | Butlins Grand Masters
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |Not held
| style="text-align:center; background:yellow" |SF
| style="text-align:center; background:lime;" |W
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| style="text-align:center; background:thistle;" |F
| style="text-align:center; background:#ffebcd;" |QF
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |DNP
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |Not held
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" |
| style="text-align:center; background:#afeeee;" |1R
| style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |???
| style="text-align:center; background:thistle;" |F
| colspan="14" style="text-align:center; color:#ccc;" |???
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ WDF majors performances
! Tournament !! Event !! World Cup 1977 !! Euro Cup 1978 !! World Cup 1979 !! Euro Cup 1980 !! World Cup 1981 !! Euro Cup 1982 !! World Cup 1983 !! Euro Cup 1984 !! World Cup 1985 !! Euro Cup 1986 !! World Cup 1987 !! Euro Cup 1988 !! World Cup 1989 !! Euro Cup 1990 !! World Cup 1991
|-
| rowspan=4 style="background:#efefef;" | WDF World Cup & WDF Europe Cup
| style="background:#efefef;" | Singles
|
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| rowspan=4
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| rowspan=4
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| rowspan=4
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| rowspan=4
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|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | Pairs
|
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| ?
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| ?
| ?
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|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | Team
|
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|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | Overall
|
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|}
References
External links
- Leighton Rees' profile and stats on Darts Database
- NY Times' Leighton Rees Obituary
- BBC website report on Rees's life and death