He might only regard himself as a ‘pub-level’ player, but Spalding’s Ian Tilley will be mixing it on the biggest stage this weekend.
Tilley, 65, will be refereeing at the 42nd British Internationals at Chapel St Leonards, looking after some of the game’s top stars.
The butchery manager, who works at the Vine House Farm Shop, Deeping St Nicholas, will be swapping cleaver for mic as he takes charge of some of the best players from England, Scotland and Wales in the championships at the Golden Palm Resort on the Lincolnshire coast.
He said: “I refereed at the Tri Nations in Wales last year and came to the attention of the England organisers, who were impressed and asked me to officiate at the British Internationals.
“It’s a great honour because this is the big one on the international calendar.”
Tilley, who is also chairman of the Spalding & District Darts League and vice-chairman of the Cambridgeshire County Darts Organisation, has been involved in the darts world since he was 18 and still turns out in the local league.
“I’ve never been more than pub-level as a player and still captain the Lincoln Arms team,” he said.
“I’ve been refereeing since about 2000 when I scored at the Lakeside. Since then I’ve been doing exhibition matches with Martin Adams. ‘Wolfie’ has been a huge help in my progress as he’s always recommending me as a good referee to have.”
The three-time BDO world champion and England’s captain from 1993-2003, is now based in the Deepings and Tilley said he had paired up with him for more than 100 exhibition matches across the country.
Tilley admitted that his day job had helped him in his refereeing career.
“You have to be very good and very quick at mental arithmetic. As well as having the mic you have to keep the scores and shout them out – yes, I’m the man who has the ‘180’ line!”
The internationals start on Friday and continue until Sunday, consisting of four championships – for men, women, boys and girls.
Among the ladies’ line-up is Spalding’s Claire Brookin, who has been a consistent performer for England since she first made her debut in 2012.
The Cambridgeshire county player has played in all the international team events and has gold medals from the 2015 World Cup and 2022 Europe Cup.
In the 2015 World Cup she was also a ladies pairs gold medallist.
The weekend’s first action comes at 6pm on Friday with the start of the boys’ tournament. England take on Scotland in the opening women’s match of the event at 9.20pm.
The Auld Enemy come together in the men’s draw opener at 2.40pm on Saturday, with England taking on Wales in the finale at 4pm on Sunday.
The whole event is being live-streamed.
