The Indoor League
The Indoor League was a pub games competition series that was produced by Yorkshire Television and aired from 1972 until 1977. The programme was hosted by England cricketer Fred Trueman. The first series (1972) aired only in the Yorkshire Television region, before series 2-6 were aired across Britain on the ITV network from 1973 to 1977.
Trueman often wore a cardigan whilst smoking a pipe throughout his links. He always ended the show with the phrase, "ah'll see thee".
The show featured many indoor games, the majority of which were pub games, each of which had a prize of £100 for the competition winners. The sports included darts, pool, bar billiards, bar skittles, Table football (aka foosball), arm wrestling and shove ha'penny amongst others. Among the commentators was Dave Lanning.
The Indoor League was created by Sid Waddell, who also produced the series from 1972 to 1976. Darts coverage on television was in its infancy, with the News of the World Darts Championship having just begun to be broadcast on ITV in 1972. Waddell would later go on to become one of the voices of darts on television when the World Championship was created in 1978.
In 2006, a DVD of the first series of The Indoor League was released by Network DVD.
Darts tournament winners
- 1972 Colin Minton (beat Charles Ellis)
- 1973 Tommy O'Regan (beat Alan Evans)
- 1974 Leighton Rees (beat Alan Evans)
- 1975 Conrad Daniels (beat Cliff Inglis)
- 1976 Leighton Rees (beat Charlie Ellix)
- 1977 Tony Brown (beat David Rocky Jones)