Leighton Rees

Leighton Thomas Rees (17 January 1940 – 8 June 2003) was the first ever World Professional Darts Champion and former World No1 player.

Early life

Rees was born 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. It was not until 1972 though that he gained any real national attention. Sid Waddell, who later became a commentator for Sky Sports, was at the time producer of Yorkshire Television's Indoor League – a show with pub games tournaments. Waddell and his researchers had heard reports of a trio of great darts players in the South Wales valleys, an area that was quickly becoming a hotbed of talent for the sport. The three names mentioned were Tony Ridler of Newport, Alan Evans of Rhondda and Leighton Rees of Ynysybwl.