John Goves: My Hero & My Friend

I have no hesitation in stating that John Goves should be remembered as the greatest Plymouth darts player to ever grace the oche, which is a strong but worthy statement of such an incredible competitor and man.

After an early sporting career in basketball, table tennis and football, Goves went on to become one of the most influential players on the Plymouth darts scene.

He reached a very high standard at basketball and was an England under-18 trialist, despite being only 5ft 6ins tall, but it was playing darts that gave Goves his stage on which to shine.

None more so than thirty-six years ago when Goves produced arguably his greatest ever achievement after winning the Whitbread Flowers Dartsathlon.

As one of the entries from 650 Whitbread outlets, that stretched from Warwickshire to Lands End, Goves won through to compete in the finals which took place on March 27, 1988, at the BAWA Leisure Centre, Bristol.

Representing the Coach House Inn, South Brent, Goves was one of 28 qualifiers from an original entry approaching 9,000 players, who had come through tough qualifying rounds to earn their place in the line-up.

On the day, Goves was untouchable and brushed aside his opponents one by one before he emerged champion, claiming a winner’s cheque to the value of £500.

In the final he defeated Chris Whiting from Cheltenham who, at the time, was an unbeaten England international and appearing in his fifth Whitbread Flowers Dartsathlon.

The stature of Whiting can be measured by the fact that later in the same year, he went on to win the British Singles Gold Cup when beating Mike Gregory in the final.

The two losing semi-finalists from the Dartsathlon were Ray Butler from Bridgwater and Cornishman Vic Tearle, who hailed from Bodmin.

A player of great stature, he won all there was to win locally and has the distinction of being an individual champion in every league he has played in.

Unlike the youngsters of today, Goves was a late starter on the oche and did not pick up a dart competitively until the age of 38.

Goves used to watch another prolific darts player, Cliff “Ticker” Inglis, famous of course for being the first player to win the World Masters in 1974 and it was his prowess that encouraged Goves to take up the sport.

John’s first taste of competitive darts came in the 1978-79 season when he played for the Tamar Inn, Calstock, in the Lamerton and District League.

His skills around the board were soon noticed and in a very short space of time, Goves was playing Cornwall Super League.

He began for the Rifle Volunteer at St Ann’s Chapel, played for various teams in between before representing Torpoint sides The Standard Inn and Bar Mez in the Premier division up until 2010.

Goves latest dalliance into the county arena was as recent as 2016 when representing Torpoint Cons Club in the Cornwall Super League East Division.

The marksman won the Cornwall Super League singles crown as many as four times over that lengthy and prosperous career.

In the season of 1982-83, Goves won his first singles trophy when winning the Tavistock Gazette Open, just one of many which were to follow.

It was also in this season that he began playing over the Tamar within the Plymouth leagues and was turning out for Lion and Column B in the Bass Open League.

Despite being a 'B' team player, Goves picked up the first of three individual titles in his first year with the Column.

Goves has also graced the darts boards within the Courage League, later to become the John Smiths League and the Whitbread League, winning both individual titles on two occasions.

In 1983, Goves first qualified for the World Masters and has played in that high-ranking tournament no fewer than six times.

The following season Goves first represented Cornwall in the British Inter County Championships and made his debut in the 1984-85 campaign against Dorset.

He made 152 appearances for the Duchy, winning 98 of them, playing for the 50th time in the 1990-91 season against Oxfordshire with a century racked up in 1995-96 against Merseyside.

John’s best season on the county scene came in 1991-92 when he won all nine matches, dropping just five legs for the season.

This included a 3-1 victory over Plymouth marksman and future teammate Glyn Wells when, in February 1992, Cornwall inflicted on Devon one of their heaviest county defeats when they beat them 29-7.

Winning eight from nine, the previous year, Goves put together a winning run of no fewer than seventeen matches and also claimed eight from nine on two other occasions in 1993-94 and 1999-2000.

Goves was an ever-present from 1984 and played his last county game against Somerset in the final match of the 2001-02 season.

Always leaving them wanting more and going out on top was a feature of Goves career wherever he played as Goves could've easily carried on his illustrious county career for another ten years.

A standout year is hard to pick from such an illustrious and lengthy career, but 1985 is certainly one that stands out amongst many.

It was in this year that Goves made his first television appearance when finishing runner-up in the Flowers Dartsathlon, taking his place in the final after coming from 4-1 down against Welsh International Ceri Morgan to win 5-4.

In the same year, Goves won the Devon play-off for the Winners Masters Pub and Club Open, but lost out to another Welsh International, Peter Locke.

And a hat-trick of achievements was completed by becoming the inaugural winner of the Plymouth Herald’s Champion of Champions in 1985 when defeated Ivor Newman in the final of the competition.

Goves retained his title the following year when defeating Robbie Williams and was only stopped from gaining a hat-trick of wins when losing in 1987 to the eventual winner Ivor Newman, who avenged his 1985 defeat.

Goves made the finals again in 1988 and 1990 but was defeated by Flynn Jones and Steve Barnes respectively, before winning again in 1993 with victory against Steve Rice.

His record in the Champion of Champions is only bettered by Simon Stevenson and Flynn Jones who have both lifted the famous trophy on six and five occasions.

Had Goves star shined in this era, I think we'd be talking about Goves as a seven or eight time winner of the illustrious title that is still revered by Plymouth's darting fraternity thirty-nine years after he lifted his first.

Always on the lookout for a darts competition, Goves has been successful in many Opens – Bournemouth, Torquay and the Scottish Borders to name just three.

One of his better pay-days came in 1987 when, from an entry of over 12,000 players, he reached the semi-finals of the John Bull Masters at the Alexandra Pavilion in London.

Goves went out to Peter Evison, who in turn lost to the eventual winner, Rod Harrington, and both men would eventually add their name to a very short list of PDC World Matchplay champions.

The darting royalty in the game at the time had been made well aware of the capabilities of John Goves who was described as being "from down Devon way."

Back to 1988, Goves qualified for another televised tournament when he emerged as one of the divisional individual champions of the BDO County Championships.

He took his place among some illustrious names in the British Professional Championships and the tournament of 1988 will be remembered as the first official event, staged by the BDO, where alcohol was banned on stage.

The Cornwall based thrower could not have wished for a tougher draw than the World No.1 and World Embassy champion at the time, John Lowe.

The best of three legs per set and best of five sets format favoured the top players, but Lowe’s reputation counted for nothing as Goves put Lowe to the sword and won in three straight sets for an emphatic victory.

The British Professional Championships was the only BDO major that Lowe was never to win and this was his last chance to do so with the tournament being removed from the calendar during the following season.

In the next round, the format changed to the best of seven sets and Goves again gave a good account of himself but was unlucky to go out to Keith Deller 4-3, despite holding a 3-1 lead.

Goves very nearly became only the second player associated with the city of Plymouth, after Cliff Inglis, to achieve international honours in 1988, but missed out on the final selection process.

The team that went to the Nations Cup that year contained a trio of 1988 World Champion, Bob Anderson, five time World Champion Eric Bristow, and three time World Champion John Lowe.

When you consider that darts at the time only had one professional body, the BDO, it was an achievement to even see your name mentioned amongst the darting royalty.

Goves fame at the time can be measured by recognition on BBC's TV quiz show A Question Of Sport when Eric Bristow was a guest in 1987.

Bristow had first pick at the picture round and after picking number 7, the face looking back at the national audience was none other than John Goves!

At various times during his darting career, Goves has beaten in competition the likes of Phil Taylor, Steve Beaton, Les Wallace, Bobby George and Shane Burgess.

It wasn't just individual events that Goves shone in as in 1989, Goves partnered with the great Ralph Lancaster to enter the John Bull Bitter Pairs championships, representing The Lugger, a Devonport hostelry in Plymouth.

They won the South West area play-offs which were held in Bedminster, and qualified for the national finals at Eltham, London, where the top prize carried a winner’s purse of £1,500.

Although the pairing did not win, they again put Plymouth on the darting map when reaching the semi-finals, which is no mean feat for a national competition.

A coppersmith in Devonport Dockyard, Goves was entitled to compete in the Civil Service National Championships and did so on numerous occasions.

His crowning glory came in 1991 when he emerged as the national champion, beating several professionals from the other home countries along the way.

Plymouth won the Civil Service team championships no fewer than eight times between 1992 and 2011 and Goves was a member of the winning side on every occasion.

In the season of 1992-93, whilst playing for the Dog and Duck in the Plymouth City Super League, Goves registered a total of 30 maximum scores of 180 throughout the season, a long-standing record at the time.

Although that mark has been bettered since, Goves’ maximums came in a 12-team league, so the feat was achieved in only 22 matches.

His final big pay-day came in 1995 when he was the winner of the Plymouth Open and walked away with a cheque for £300.

John finished his regular playing days representing the undefeated Victory Inn side in the Plymouth City Super League and the Bass Open League, as well as the Hill Park during the first season of the 501 Top 20 League.

Upon the inception of the new money league, which is now named after the great Steve Chapman as the Steve Chapman 501 League, arguably Plymouth's greatest line up of talent was brought together under one banner.

In 2008, Goves joined long standing Cornwall teammates Steve 'Tug' Wilson and Tony Teal to make up one half of the iconic sextet.

Future PDC Tour Card holder Simon Stevenson, two time Champion of Champions Adrian Lamerton and John Mann, who has gone on to achieve everything possible in the local game, completed the formidable line up.

Despite some other notorious teams formed, the Hill Park won the league at a canter with four of the six man line up qualifying for the finals night that contained the top eight from the individual table.

After that season, Goves wound down regular involvement in darts leagues but he has, as recently as 2018, helped out Torpoint Cons Club on a few occasions in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League.

In November of that season, Goves secured his singles 3-1, aided by a leg in 15 and top scored with 14 throws of a ton or more which included an out shot of 120 to show that darting prowess never leaves you.

That statement was no more apparent when Goves turned up to the 2021 Torpoint Mens Darts League doubles competition without a partner.

John Cook, a good local player in his own right, also found himself as a spare, so to speak, and together the duo teamed up to take the trophy and prize money, which gave Goves another taste of the limelight.

Away from the game of darts, Goves retired early from the Dockyard and enjoyed the outdoor life and liked nothing better than walking in the Peak District or across Dartmoor with his wife Dena until his recent passing.

The inevitable outpouring of grief when the news broke included stories from generations of players who remembered Goves with nothing but fondness.

Personally I remember John as someone who I looked up to as a hero initially; reading about his exploits in Steve Chapman's Plymouth Herald column on Tuesday.

After that, I had the honour of sharing a dartboard with him as both an opponent and teammate as part of teams that played both for the Archer, and the Hill Park.

John was incredibly warm to myself as a younger darts player; lending his ear and advice about the game, as well as which cider to drink in whatever venue we frequented that week.

Goves will be remembered for his obvious talent but also his grace having played the game with decency, respect, and as someone that always had time to give out advice to anyone that sought it.