I am sure that anyone who has read any of my darts books which includes the history of the sport will be aware that darts is a fairly recent sport, having its roots, probably, in archery but not developing into the modern game of darts until the late Victorian/early Edwardian period and accelerating into the 1920s. In 1924 the National Darts Association (NDA) was founded, and put darts on a formal footing for the first time.
I am indebted to my friend Chris Kelly for providing me with a newspaper cutting relating to a gentleman named George Gurr (pictured) who claimed to have been ‘in at the birth of darts.’ The cutting is undated and the source newspaper not identified but the reporters’ name was Dave Lacey. (More about him later.)
Dave wrote:
The weekly darts match is something of an institution in Sussex pubs and clubs, but how many of today’s players realise that the first darts league in the county was formed only at the end of the 1920’s…The man who played a major part in the birth of this competition, the Mid-Sussex Darts League is 66-year-old George Gurr, of Horsted Keynes.
For many years a stalwart of Horsted Keynes British Legion, George told me how he became a darts pioneer.
“Before I was married – that was in 1919 – I couldn’t throw a dart,” said George. “But my wife, Florence, comes from Kent – they have been playing darts there for donkey’s years – and I used to go down to Canterbury and play there.
First league
Eventually, I introduced it to our British Legion Club here in Horsted Keynes.”
Interest in the game spread, and eventually the Mid-Sussex Darts League was formed in 1928. “We were the first league in Sussex,” said Mr. Gurr, who has been chairman since 1939. The Mid-Sussex League started with half-a-dozen teams. Now it runs two sections with 17 teams in each.
Before darts really caught on “rings” and shove ha’penny were the favourite games. “I think we wanted something fresh,” said Mr. Gurr. “The social side of darts appealed to us.”
George Gurr, has lived in his trim, white-walled cottage for 22 years, and in the parish for more than 50 years. Born in Uckfield, he was driving a horse-drawn milk-cart at 16, and later became an ostler [a man employed to look after horses] at the Cricketers in Brighton’s Black Lion-street.
When World War 1 [the Great War] broke out he joined the Army and was drafted into the Sussex Yeomanry, serving in France and Flanders. “I was orderly to three brigadier-generals,” he said, “and a runner at Ypres for Lt.-Col. R. V. Gwynne – now Lt.-Col. Sir Roland Gwynne. I pulled him out of a shellhole and was with him when he won the D.S.O.”
Retiring a year ago, George Gurr became a member of Horsted Keynes parish council almost at once. “They had been trying to get me on it for years.” He devotes a lot of time to his British Legion activities, but at the moment is concentrating on modernising his cottage.
Still plays
Most of his many relatives live in and around Horsted Keynes. Earlier this year the British Legion team was made up entirely of Gurrs.
George still plays occasionally himself. “I like to start on a double 17 and finish on double 16. At one time I could guarantee to get either in three darts.”
He once had a game with darts star Joe Hitchcock the man who could get a double-top with [a] 6in. nail. “Of course I didn’t stand a chance, but it was worth the experience.” smiled George.
Note: As regards the reporter ‘Dave Lacey,’ I did track down a David Lacey, a former journalist for the Guardian, who also worked for other national newspapers. When interviewed in 2012 what his first job in journalism was, he replied “Cub reporter for the Brighton Evening Argus.”
So, this might well be the reporter and the newspaper. I also calculate, from the facts given in the article that it was publish circa 1965-1970 but that’s just a guess.
© Dave Lacey. Additional text © Patrick Chaplin. Thanks to Chris Kelly.
[This article first appeared in Dr. Darts’ Newsletter, #133, April 2021. Minor revisions made October 2025 and 6th November 2026]
