32 Facts About Dennis Priestley

Dennis Priestley has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively.

Dennis Priestley is nicknamed "The Menace", after the Beano character Dennis the Menace, and reflects this by wearing red and black, and using red and black flights.

Dennis Priestley first caught the eye in 1989 when he reached the final of the News of the World Darts Championship where he was beaten by the experienced Dave Whitcombe.

Dennis Priestley then reached the semi-finals of the 1990 Winmau World Masters, losing to eventual champion Phil Taylor.

Dennis Priestley had defeated defending champion Taylor in his quarter-finals and 1988 champion Bob Anderson in his semi-final.

Dennis Priestley won the 1992 Winmau World Masters and picked up many BDO Open events between 1991 and 1993.

Dennis Priestley was a founder member of the World Darts Council which split from the British Darts Organisation in 1993.

Dennis Priestley won the inaugural WDC World Darts Championship in 1994.

Dennis Priestley has been a three-times World Matchplay runner-up, losing to American Larry Butler in 1994, Taylor in 1995 and Peter Evison in 1996.

Dennis Priestley's ascendancy was forcefully ended by Taylor's World Championship and World Matchplay triumphs in 1995.

Dennis Priestley is the only man to date to win both the BDO and PDC World Championships at his first attempt.

Dennis Priestley won the 1991 BDO title in his first appearance in the main draw of the Lakeside event, while he won the inaugural PDC World Professional Darts Championship in 1994.

In 1992, Dennis Priestley entered the 1993 Embassy World Championship as the number-one seed.

Dennis Priestley held the number-one spot in the PDC world rankings between November 1994 and April 1995 and was seeded number-one for the WDC World Championships of 1995 and 1997.

At around this time, Dennis Priestley took part in a 'Battle of the Champions' contest to mark the resolution of the dispute between the governing bodies.

In later years, Dennis Priestley contested some thrilling Blackpool encounters with Taylor.

Indeed, Dennis Priestley was close to quitting darts in 2003, unhappy with his form over the previous couple of years and had problems with his eyesight.

Dennis Priestley returned to better form in 2005 following his World Matchplay epic against Taylor.

Dennis Priestley repeated that feat the following year and ended 2006 with a top-three ranking behind Taylor and Colin Lloyd.

Dennis Priestley is good friends with Taylor, who describes Dennis Priestley as a darting "soul-mate" in his autobiography.

Taylor and Dennis Priestley first met in major competition in the 1990 World Masters.

Dennis Priestley defeated Taylor again later in the year in the 1991 British Matchplay final.

Dennis Priestley defeated Taylor in the Last 16 of the 1995 UK Matchplay, before Taylor beat Dennis Priestley in the 1995 World Matchplay final.

In January 2007, Dennis Priestley made his debut in the Premier League Darts, the respected darts competition in which eight of the best players from the PDC circuit compete against each other in a league format, with matches held across Great Britain at different venues.

Dennis Priestley took the tournament by storm in the opening weeks, complementing hammerings of Roland Scholten and Adrian Lewis with a draw against Taylor and hard fought wins over Terry Jenkins, Colin Lloyd, and van Barneveld.

Dennis Priestley's form dipped later in 2007, although this was greatly overshadowed by his battle with prostate cancer.

Dennis Priestley failed to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts in 2009, but he did win the US Open.

At the start of 2015, Dennis Priestley announced that he had retired from professional darts, but would still do exhibitions.

Away from darts, Dennis Priestley is married to Jenny and has 4 children.

In November 2007, Dennis Priestley was diagnosed with prostate cancer and issued a statement through the PDC regarding his health.

Dennis Priestley was forced to withdraw from the John McEvoy Darts Classic in Ireland with pains in his abdomen having been diagnosed with the disease in the run up to the event.

Dennis Priestley lost to Taylor again after a terrific run to the semis of the 2008 World Matchplay.