Jocky Wilson: A darting legend

What is the greatest comeback in darts history?

Darts

Wed September 02, 2026 · 4h ago

There have been many herculean comebacks in the history of darts and Paul Nicholson looks back through the annals of time to pick his favourite in his latest column.

When we talk about darting comebacks, we initially think of dramatic victories from the jaws of defeat.

Back from the brink

Many would point to Adrian Lewis coming back from 5-1 down in the infamous ‘breezegate’ semi-final at the 2012 PDC World Championship against James Wade, while others would instead pick out Andy Hamilton’s Houdini act against Simon Whitlock in the 2011 World Matchplay quarter-finals.

That, for me, is more miraculous because in leg play situations like this, there is no room for error.

Not to take anything away from Lewis at all because he still had to overcome a lot of pressure from a perilous situation but he didn’t have to win a sustained run of legs like Hamilton.

Comebacks in set play are way more likely and we have seen plenty down the years, most recently when Rob Cross stunned Chris Dobey from 4-0 down in the 2024 World Championship quarters.

Hamilton was trailing 15-8 and Whitlock just needed one more leg to reach the semi-finals. It was effectively over. But as we know, there's no such thing as a sure thing in sport.

PDC World Matchplay 2011 - Quarter Finals - Hamilton vs Whitlock AMAZING COMEBACK

Hamilton ridiculously won nine legs in a row to win 17-15 and considering that he hasn't really won anything of massive note, that’s probably the biggest talking point in his entire career.

There will be a few readers who think Scott Waites coming back from 8-0 down to beat James Wade in the Grand Slam of Darts final many years ago was a bigger comeback but at that point, they hadn’t even played a third of the best of 31 legs match.

Hamilton had no margin for error whatsoever. The only time he had any wiggle room came at 15-15 when they entered the tie-break situation but even then Whitlock didn’t manage another leg.

Whitlock did bounce back from this heartbreaking defeat to become a major champion at the 2012 European Championship – and a year later he’d pull off his only incredible comeback to deny Jamie Caven from 9-3 down.

Whitlock won the next seven legs to keep his hopes of defending his title alive but Jamie was never really the same after that.

PDC European Darts Championship 2013 - Quarter Finals - Whitlock vs Caven

At the time Caven had won seven PDC titles and was regarded as one of the best players in an era where it was hard to pick up that many.

In my mind he’s one of the most underestimated players of the last 20 years and that weekend could have been the time where he finally got his hands on a major.

When Whitlock took out 146 to win the game, he’s probably not celebrated that much in his career before – despite having an injured ankle at the time!

The ultimate comeback

However, when you ask me what the greatest comeback in darts is, then I bypass all those unforgettable matches and instead think about one particular legend.

And that’s Jocky Wilson.

What he did wasn't a comeback across 20 legs or seven sets. It was a comeback across seven years of his career.

When he won the world title in 1982, Jocky was a cult hero. His picture had famously appeared on Top of the Pops with Dexys Midnight Runners, people knew him from Bullseye and he was a genuine celebrity.

We have to remember that being world champion in those days didn't automatically give you limousines and first-class travel. These guys could still be struggling for a living, going from place to place, exhibition to exhibition, and that lifestyle took its toll.

By 1987, John Lowe was beating Eric Bristow for the world title and the question with Jocky was almost: where is he?

He was in obscurity.

People didn't really know what he was up to and you could easily have thought he was going to become one of those one-time world champions we reference years later and say: "Oh, what happened to him?"

Then, in 1989, he turned up at Lakeside.

Darts World Championship 1989 Final Bristow vs Wilson

Out of obscurity, looking fresher in that famous white shirt. That's why I think we sometimes tell the story of that final slightly wrongly.

Everybody remembers Eric Bristow coming back from 5-0 down and taking Jocky all the way before Jocky eventually won the deciding set.

That's obviously an incredible comeback within the match.

But what gets lost – and I don't want people to forget this – is that Jocky winning the title was the biggest comeback of all.

He had spent years away from the very top of the game. He'd struggled. We know he had his problems with alcohol and we know he could be very reclusive.

Yet when he came out of his shell, he provided moments some people can only dream of.

And then there is that moment when he hits double 10 to become world champion again.

Go back and watch it.

The camerawork from the BBC is genius. There's that little zoom-in on Jocky just before he throws the dart and it makes the whole moment even more impactful.

That 1989 final is one of the most important darts matches of all time and I won't hear any different from anybody.

Sometimes we get so lost in everything that has happened in the PDC era that we forget the gravitas darts had before the split.

Millions upon millions of people were watching that match and for me it was on a par with Dennis Taylor beating Steve Davis in the World Snooker final of 1985. It was that important.

But the comeback of Jocky is the story. It wasn't Bristow's ability to come back from 5-0 and take the final all the way.

It was Jocky coming back from winning the World Championship in 1982 to winning it again seven years later.

And the modern game actually helps to show us how difficult that is.

Gary Anderson won his last world title in 2016 and if you'd said to him that night, "That's your last one," he'd probably have looked at you and said: "You're having a laugh, aren't you?"

Since then he's been back in World Championship finals. He was in that incredible 2017 final and again in 2021. He was close to another one in 2026.

But there's still no guarantee he'll ever win another world title.

Michael van Gerwen's last one was in 2019. He's reached World Championship finals since then too, but he hasn't managed to get his hands on that trophy again.

That's the point.

When you're talking about gaps between world-title wins, the longer that gap becomes, the more unlikely another one is.

Seven years is enormous. That's why what Jocky did should never be reduced to simply being "another world title".

He disappeared from the very top of the sport, people wondered what had happened to him, and then seven years after becoming world champion for the first time he came back and did it again.

For me, that's the biggest comeback darts has ever seen.

And unless Gary Anderson somehow wins another World Championship more than a decade after his last one, Jocky's will remain the benchmark.