good record on Bullseye, scoring more than 301 with nine darts on at least six appearances in eight and thus having his charity money doubled. Rees also wrote an autobiographical account of his life in 1979, titled On Darts, which included tips on playing the game. Personal life In 1980, Rees married Debbie Ryle, a Californian, in Las Vegas while he was competing in a tournament there. Eric Bristow was best man. Despite being the first world champion, it could be argued that Rees missed out on darts' glory years. The prize for his title was £3,000 and as the prize money rose and tournaments began to spring up all over UK television channels, Rees' form began to slide and by the 1980s he never managed to match the continued success of Lowe, Bristow and Wilson. Rees was forced to make his living from playing exhibition matches with his compatriot and great friend Alan Evans. Death Rees quit his exhibition work after having a pacemaker fitted and also had a heart bypass operation in his later life. He returned to the stage of the World Championships to make the draw for the event in the year before his death. He died in his home village, Ynysybwl, in 2003, aged 63. Leighton Rees Close in Ynysybwl is named after him. World Championship results BDO 1978: Winner (beat John Lowe 11–7) (legs) 1979: Runner-up (lost to John Lowe 0–5) (sets) 1980: Quarter-Finals (lost to Bobby George 1–3) 1981: 2nd Round (lost to Ceri Morgan 1–2) 1982: 1st Round (lost to Angus Ross 0–2) 1983: 1st Round (lost to Cliff Lazarenko 0–2) 1985: 1st Round (lost to Russell Stewart 1–2) 1987: 1st Round (lost to Mike Gregory 0–3) 1990: 1st Round (lost to Eric Bristow 0–3) Career finals BDO major finals: 6 (2 titles, 4 runners-up) WDF major finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) Independent major finals: 1 (1 runner-up) Performance timeline References External links Leighton Rees' profile and stats on Darts Database NY Times' Leighton Rees Obituary BBC website report on Rees's life and death 1940 births 2003 deaths Welsh darts players BDO world darts champions People from Ynysybwl Sportspeople from Rhondda Cynon Taf British Darts Organisation players