Bob Anderson (darts player)

Bob Anderson
Anderson at the 1985 World Masters
Personal information
Full nameRobert Charles Anderson[1]
Nickname"The Limestone Cowboy"
Born (1947-11-07) 7 November 1947
Winchester, England
Home townClevedon, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1973
Darts24g Unicorn Signature (previously 18g)
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO1979–1993
PDC1993–2008 (Founding Member)
WDF major events – best performances
World ChampionshipWinner (1): 1988
World MastersWinner (3): 1986, 1987, 1988
World TrophyLast 56: 2007
PDC premier events – best performances
World ChampionshipSemi-final: 2004, 2005
World Matchplay3rd Place: 1996
World Grand PrixQuarter-final: 2006
UK OpenLast 16: 2006
Desert ClassicLast 24 Group: 2003
WSDT major events – best performances
World ChampionshipLast 24: 2022
World MatchplayLast 16: 2022
World MastersLast 16: 2022
Other tournament wins
British Matchplay1988,1989
MFI World Matchplay1987
Antwerp Open1996
British Gold Cup1983, 1986
British Open1987
Canadian Open1990, 1992
Denmark Open1986
Dry Blackthorn Cider Masters1989
Jersey Festival of Darts1986
League of Legends2008
League of Legends Event2009
MFI World Pairs1986
North American Open1993
Pacific Masters1987, 1988, 1989
PDC Samson Darts Classic1993
PDC World Pairs1996
Swedish Open1986
WDF Europe Cup Pairs1990
World Champions Challenge1990

Robert Charles Anderson (born 7 November 1947) is an English former professional darts player who competed in British Darts Organisation and Professional Darts Corporation events. He won the 1988 BDO World Darts Championship. Nicknamed the Limestone Cowboy, he was ranked world number one for over three years in the late 1980s.

Before darts

Anderson threw his first darts maximum (180) at the age of just seven, with brass darts with feather flights.[2] He became a champion athlete during his teenage years, and was selected as a javelin thrower for the British Olympic team of 1968, however, broke his arm before the team left for Mexico, an injury which ended his javelin-throwing career.[2] He then turned his attention to football – playing to a moderately high standard for Lincoln United, Guildford City, Woking and Farnborough Town. During this time, he had continued to play darts socially and decided to take up the game more seriously when his injury jinx struck again – this time a broken leg in 1970 ended his football career.[2]

Darts success

Anderson's career peaked in 1988 when winning the World Professional Championship. He took on John Lowe in the final and won 6-4 in sets, posting a 92.7 average, and winning £16,000.[2]

He won the Winmau World Masters in 1986, 1987 and 1988 – the first man to win the Masters in three successive years.[3][2]

Two years after his world title success, Anderson underwent surgery to fix a back problem that threatened his darts career. He returned to the game professionally but never reached the same heights he had achieved in the late 80's. However, in 1992, he was chosen as the captain of England, which was one of his proudest moments in darts.[2]

Anderson was amongst the players who formed the Professional Darts Corporation – an organisation (originally known as the World Darts Council) which separated from the existing governing body, the British Darts Organisation in 1992–93. Anderson reached the final of the Lada UK Masters, in November 1993 – losing to Mike Gregory.[3]

In 1996, Anderson won the WDC World Pairs event alongside Phil Taylor.[2] Anderson and Taylor defeated Chris Mason and Steve Raw in the final.[3]

His world ranking stayed sufficiently high to earn automatic qualification for most major PDC tournaments, and he went on to reach the semi-finals of the PDC World Darts Championship in 2004 and 2005.[3]

Anderson was also the driving force behind the Bob Anderson Classic, a major darts tournament held every October. The tournament started in 2002 and ran until 2005.

In 2008, Anderson took part in the BetFred League of Legends which was shown live on Setanta Sports, to play along with the likes of Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko, and Dave Whitcombe. Anderson went on the capture the League of Legends title in 2008, beating Keith Deller in the final.[2]

Outside darts

Bob married Sally Attwater on 8 April 2004.[4] he chose former World Champion dart player Eric Bristow as his best man. Anderson has two children, Jennie and David. He lists his hobbies as golf,[2] and fishing.[2] Anderson lives in the Somerset sea-side resort town of Clevedon.[4]

World Championship results

BDO

[3]

PDC

[3]

WSDT

[3]

Career finals

BDO

Anderson appeared in BDO major finals 10 times with a record of 7 wins and 3 runners-up.[3]

Legend
World Championship (1–0)
World Masters (3–0)
World Matchplay (1–1)
Grand Masters (0–1)
British Matchplay (2–1)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1984 Butlins Grand Masters Mike Gregory 3–5 (l)
Runner-up 2. 1985 MFI World Matchplay Eric Bristow 4–5 (s)
Winner 1. 1986 Winmau World Masters (1) Bob Sinnaeve 3–2 (s)
Winner 2. 1987 Winmau World Masters (2) John Lowe 3–1 (s)
Winner 3. 1987 MFI World Matchplay John Lowe 5–1 (s)
Winner 4. 1988 World Darts Championship John Lowe 6–4 (s)
Winner 5. 1988 Winmau World Masters (3) John Lowe 3–2 (s)
Winner 6. 1988 British Matchplay (1) John Lowe 3–2 (s)
Winner 7. 1989 British Matchplay (2) Cliff Lazarenko 3–0 (s)
Runner-up 3. 1990 British Matchplay Alan Warriner-Little 4–5 (s)

Performance timeline

Anderson's performance timeline is as follows:[3]

BDO

Tournament 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
BDO World Championship Did not participate 1R 2R SF QF W SF 1R SF 2R QF Did not participate
Winmau World Masters 3R DNQ 2R DNQ QF 4R SF W W W 4R 2R SF 2R Did not participate
British Matchplay DNP QF DNP QF QF W W F QF Did not participate Not held
British Professional Not held DNQ 2R QF 1R QF 1R SF Not held
Butlins Grand Masters Did not participate F 1R SF Not held
MFI World Matchplay Not held SF F 1R W 1R Not held
World Darts Trophy Not held Did not participate RR
WDF majors performances
Tournament Event World Cup 1987 Euro Cup 1988 World Cup 1989 Euro Cup 1990 World Cup 1991 Euro Cup 1992
WDF World Cup &

WDF Europe Cup

Singles L32 L16 L32 L64 DNP L64
Pairs L32 QF Prelim. W SF
Team W SF SF W W
Overall W W W W W

[5][6]

PDC

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
PDC World Championship QF QF RR RR RR QF 1R 1R 1R 2R SF SF 1R 1R 1R
World Matchplay QF 1R SF QF QF 2R 2R 1R QF 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R DNQ
World Grand Prix Not yet founded 1R RR DNQ 1R 1R 1R QF DNQ
Las Vegas Desert Classic Not yet founded DNQ RR 1R DNQ 1R DNQ
UK Open Not held DNQ 4R 5R 5R 3R DNQ
Performance Table Legend
W Won the tournament F Finalist SF Semifinalist QF Quarterfinalist #R
RR
Prel. 		Lost in # round
Round-robin
Preliminary round 		DQ Disqualified
DNQ Did not qualify DNP Did not participate WD Withdrew NH Tournament not held NYF Not yet founded

References

  1. ^ Anderson's full name/wedding certificate Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Team Unicorn - Bob Anderson". unicorn-darts.com. 28 August 2017. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Bob Anderson Results and Statistics". dartsdatabase.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Where did 40 years go ! 1983 Gold Cup singles winner ! — with Bob "The Limestone Cowboy" Anderson fans page and Bob Anderson Darts". Sally Anderson at facebook.com. 9 December 2023.
  5. ^ "WDF World Cup". MasterCaller. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  6. ^ "WDF Europe Cup". MasterCaller. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
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