Legendary darts ref Russ Bray, whose iconic voice is down to smoking since aged 10, calls his last ‘180’ in world final
LEADING referee Russ Bray has hung up his main stage mic after three decades on the oche.
But he reckons his famous rasping Voice was down to years of heavy smoking, having started when he was TEN-years-old.
Bray, 66, will take charge of the Luke Littler versus Luke Humphries Ally Pally finale and he is pleased to go out on the top.
The Essex-born official has become a PDC ambassador and will continue working on the Asian Tour and in World Series events but his days in UK TV events are over.
The greatest player he ever covered was Phil Taylor and he was the man in the middle for that famous sudden-death leg final in 2007 between The Power and Raymond van Barneveld.
Asked about THAT voice – so recognisable when he calls out 180s – Bray replied: “It individualises me. It’s all natural.
“To be fair, I started smoking when I was 10 years old as a kid. It was popular in the day.
“I was born in the 50s. In the 60s, everyone smoked. My mum and dad smoked, so did my granddad.
“Watch an advert on TV and everyone had a cigarette in their hand. It was fashionable.
“I packed up at 53 on October 17, 2010, and I haven’t had a cigarette since. Never touched one in 13 years and my voice hasn’t changed.
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“People say you must smoke and drink whiskey. I do neither. Buy me a drink and it’s vodka.”
Cambridgeshire-based Bray – one of the most popular refs in the sport’s history – used to work as a policeman in South and East London nicks.
One of his roles was in charge of traffic and he was once a motorbike out-rider for Frank Sinatra as he left a Royal Albert Hall concert and for participants at an Miss World competition.
He once pulled over singer David Essex for speeding in a Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible top down as he drove home.
Before the calling became his calling, he was a delivery driver, a scaffolder and also a driving instructor but found the pace of that job too slow.
In his formative years, he represented Essex County as a high jumper and even out-jumped two-time Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson in the early 1970s.
One final ambition in the sport is to call a nine-darter in the Americas, having been fortunate to see a perfect leg live in four other continents.
But Bray, a huge West Ham fan, hopes that technology does not creep into the oche like it has done with football, cricket and rugby.
He added: “Stay like it is. Keep the tradition.
“They do have the iPads in the ProTour. The lads work off those in Wigan or Barnsley.
“But you want your traditional marker and traditional callers, I wouldn’t be a fan of technology.
“In the end, I’m not the younger generation anymore. I’m an old age pensioner. I’m old school. I’m sure technology will take over somewhere along the line.
“You have soft-tip dartboards now that register your score as soon as the dart goes in. One day they may not need the ref. I hope that doesn’t happen.”