Leighton Rees - Early Life

Early Life

Rees was born in the village of Ynysybwl, where he was to spend most of his life. He attended the local Mill Street School in Pontypridd where one of his teachers famously declared on his report card that he would be "good only for reading the sports pages of the South Wales Echo". After leaving school he found work in the store room of a motor spares company, a job he did for over twenty years until he became a professional darts player in 1976.

It was during his time working as a store man that Leighton found the sport of darts, becoming a regular for his local pub and county. It was not until 1972 though that he gained any real national attention. Sid Waddell, who later became a commentator for Sky Sports, was at the time producer of Yorkshire Television's Indoor League - a show with pub games tournaments. Waddell and his researchers had heard reports of a trio of great darts players in the South Wales valleys, an area that was quickly becoming a hotbed of talent for the sport. The three names mentioned were Tony Ridler of Newport, Alan Evans of Rhondda and especially Leighton Rees of Ynysybwl.

Waddell quickly offered all three the chance to play on national television and they did not disappoint, Ridler and Evans both scored a number of 180s in their matches, but although he did not perform as well on the night it was Leighton Rees who stole the show. Over a lager and a cigar he told presenter Fred Trueman, in his soon to be famous brand of dry humour, stories about himself and Evans hustling the English.