Peter Manley
Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962 in Cheam, London Borough of Sutton) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003 and twice held the number one ranking. He also reached the World Championship final in 1999, 2002 and 2006, losing to Phil Taylor on each occasion. Declining form led to him losing his place on the PDC tour in 2011.
| Peter Manley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Peter David Manley [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | One Dart | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 March 1962 Cheam, London Borough of Sutton, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Carlisle, Cumbria England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts | Winmau Tungsten 19 Gram | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | Amarillo by Tony Christie preceded by intro to "Who Are You" by The Who | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO | 1995–1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC | 1996–2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO majors – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 16: 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Darts Trophy | Quarter Final: 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Int. Darts League | Last 32 Group: 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finder Masters | Semi Final: 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Runner Up: 1999, 2002, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | Runner Up: 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Semi Final: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | Group Stages: 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Premier League | Semi Final: 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ch'ship League | Initial groups, Semi-finals 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desert Classic | Winner (1) 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Ch'ship | Semi Final: 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Semi Final: 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| US Open/WSoD | Fifth round: 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Players Ch'ship Finals | Last 32: 2009, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Open Regionals/Qualifiers
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| Other achievements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Updated on 11 August 2018. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
He was nicknamed One Dart by commentator Tony Green after hitting the winning double on numerous occasions with his first dart during his first televised appearance at the 1995 Unipart European Masters, where he eventually lost in the final to Mike Gregory. Manley was also known for his walk on and personality. Described as someone whom "darts crowds love to hate",[2] his antics sometimes led to run-ins with fellow players.
Darting career
Manley debut in 1996 PDC World Matchplay Last 40 to Paul Cook 5-2 in Last 32 to Dave Kelly 8-2 and Last 16 his losing to Jamie Harvey 8-3.
Manley's controversial personality rather than the quality of his darts was often the most notable part of his career and continued poor form resulted in him failing to secure a PDC tour card in 2012. Manley lost several major sponsors including darts manufacturer Unicorn as a result.
Manley is perhaps most famous for his long-running feud with Phil Taylor resulting from his refusal to shake Taylor's hand after losing 7-0 to him in the 2002 PDC World Darts Championship final. He has finished runner-up to Taylor in two other World Championships - losing 6-2 in 1999 and 7-0 in 2006.
His biggest tournament win was 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic when he beat John Part 16-12 in the final. He is also the chairman of the Professional Dart Players Association,[3] a position he has held for six years.[4] Manley attempted getting a PDC Tour card in the Q-School in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 but was unsuccessful.
Crowd popularity
Manley's refusal to shake Taylor's hand after his 7-0 World Championship thrashing in 2002 led to darts fans booing him for many years. The boos became more ironic and good-natured when in 2005 Manley changed his entrance theme from Chumbawamba's Tubthumping to Tony Christie's Is This the Way to Amarillo. By the end of his career Manley was seen by darts crowds as being more of a 'pantomime villain' rather than subject to genuine animosity which had occurred previously. Manley has even gone on to say that whilst the booing and crowd reaction was hard for him and his family to take in the early days, it helped him as his career went on and ensured his popularity on the exhibition circuit.
Controversy
Despite being chairman of the Players' Union (the Professional Dart Players Association - PDPA), Manley was often the subject of controversy with fellow players. Most notably Taylor in the aforementioned incident, and also in the 2006 PDC World Darts Championship. During that tournament, Manley was accused of gamesmanship against Dennis Smith and in a later round against Taylor's protégé, Adrian Lewis. Manley muttered words to his opponent, resulting in Lewis leaving the stage in anger. Despite serving as Mardle's best man at his wedding Manley also had a notable spat with the former PDC professional player Wayne Mardle. Mardle accused Manley of being a cheat in his autobiography. Manley has also had notable spats with the likes of Roland Scholten, John Lowe, Rod Harrington, Dave Jowett and Wynand Havenga.
Outside darts
Manley currently resides in Carlisle. He is married to Crissy Manley (née Howat), and has two daughters and one grandson.
In his early years Peter worked at his parents' newsagents, Manleys, in North Cheam.
World Championship Results
PDC
- 1998: Quarter-finals (lost to Dennis Priestley 3-4)
- 1999: Runner Up (lost to Phil Taylor 2-6)
- 2000: Semi-finals (lost to Dennis Priestley 2-5)
- 2001: 1st round (lost to Jamie Harvey 2-3)
- 2002: Runner Up (lost to Phil Taylor 0-7)
- 2003: 2nd round (lost to Simon Whitlock 1-4)
- 2004: Quarter-finals (lost to Bob Anderson 2-5)
- 2005: 3rd round (lost to Josephus Schenk 2-4)
- 2006: Runner Up (lost to Phil Taylor 0-7)
- 2007: 2nd round (lost to Wynand Havenga 3-4)
- 2008: Quarter-finals (lost to Kirk Shepherd 4-5)
- 2009: 1st round (lost to Mensur Suljović 2-3)
- 2010: 2nd round (lost to Mark Webster 2-4)
Career finals
PDC major finals: 5 (1 title, 4 runners-up)
| Legend |
| World Championship (0-3) |
| World Matchplay (0-1) |
| Las Vegas Desert Classic (1–0) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1999 | World Darts Championship (1) |  |
2-6 (s) |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1999 | World Matchplay | |
17-19 (l) |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2002 | World Darts Championship (2) | |
0-7 (s) |
| Winner | 1. | 2003 | Las Vegas Desert Classic | .svg.png){kind=small} |
16–12 (l) |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2006 | World Darts Championship (3) | |
0-7 (s) |
Independent major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2007 | Masters of Darts |  |
0–7 (s) |
Performance timeline
| Tournament | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
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| Winmau World Masters | DNP | 1R | 4R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | Did not participate | |||||||||
| European Masters | F | Not held | |||||||||||||||
| Zuiderduin Masters | Not held | SF | RR | DNP | NH | DNP | |||||||||||
| World Darts Trophy | Not held | Did not participate | 1R | QF | Not held | ||||||||||||
| International Darts League | Not held | Did not participate | RR | Not held | |||||||||||||
| PDC World Championship | DNP | QF | F | SF | 1R | F | 2R | QF | 3R | F | 2R | QF | 1R | 2R | DNQ | ||
| World Matchplay | DNP | 2R | 2R | QF | F | 1R | 1R | 1R | SF | QF | SF | 1R | 1R | 2R | DNQ | ||
| World Grand Prix | Not held | SF | SF | SF | 1R | 1R | SF | 2R | 2R | SF | 1R | 1R | DNQ | ||||
| Las Vegas Desert Classic | Not held | 1R | W | 2R | 1R | 2R | SF | SF | 2R | Not held | |||||||
| UK Open | Not held | 4R | 3R | SF | 3R | 4R | 4R | 4R | 2R | 1R | |||||||
| Premier League Darts | Not held | SF | 6th | 6th | 6th | DNP | |||||||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | Not held | RR | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| European Championship | Not held | SF | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Not held | RR | RR | DNQ | |||||||||||||
| Players Championship Finals | Not held | 1R | 1R | DNQ | |||||||||||||
| Masters of Darts | Not held | DNP | NH | F | Not held | ||||||||||||
| News of the World | Not held | QF | Not held | ||||||||||||||
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||
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| DNP | Did not play at the event | DNQ | Did not qualify for the event | NYF | Not yet founded | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
| QF | lost in the quarter-finals | SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
References
- "Darts Players Wives". 17 August 2007. Sky. Sky3. Missing or empty
|series=(help) - "Taylor top of world with lucky thirteen title". The Independent. 3 January 2006. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- Peter Manley - Team Unicorn from Unicorn, retrieved 19 February 2009
- PDPA Board Members Archived 25 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine from the PDPA, retrieved 22 February 2009
