FORMER PDC Tournament Director Tommy Cox passed away last week, and his co-founder Dick Allix has paid tribute to his great colleague.
Allix and Cox supported the sport's leading players in the formation of the World Darts Council (now PDC) in 1993, before taking on their own roles within the organisation.
Allix became Chief Executive and later moved into the role of Event Director, while Cox was Tournament Director for over 20 years until his retirement.
The pair were inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame together in 2010 and, speaking to PDC.tv, Allix paid the following tribute to his friend:
I first met Tommy in the early-to-mid 1980s, when he became Jocky Wilson's manager. I would see him at BDO events, and didn't have too much contact with him at first.
He was looking after Jocky and Alan Warriner, I had Eric Bristow and others, and then we got together on a potential project.
Someone had approached me about creating a handicap system for darts, similar to in golf, which he wanted Eric to endorse.
I didn't know much about how that side of the game - I've never been a player, never have been or wanted to be - but Tommy was, so I contacted him and we met up with these guys.
It didn't get anywhere, but that was when I first started to do a bit of business with Tommy. He also had a darts business, World of Darts, which sold equipment to pubs, and when the BDO began losing television coverage we spoke a lot in frantic phonecalls.
We were thrown together really, and then had a bond. He knew all about darts and I knew all about staging events and television.
He had a huge passion for the game, and more importantly he wouldn't back off and nor would I.
The more barriers the BDO put up, the more it made us determined and we were very conscious that we were the sheepdogs of 14 players and we couldn't weaken, otherwise they would have.
Once we were committed we had to see it through and we travelled the world together.
We went to the United States and I remember us getting a very bad reception when we went to the 1993 World Cup in Las Vegas. Tommy and I walked into the Sahara hotel and were told we weren't welcome.
(Photograph above courtesy Patrick Chaplin)
As the WDC was formed, we both stepped back from management to concentrate on our roles within the organisation. It was taking up all of our time anyway, but also we didn't want to be accused of favouring the players we looked after.
Eric understood fully, and he and Rod Harrington were the two players who came every day during the Court Case.
I remember one day we were late for a meeting with the lawyers, Clinton's, and we were running down Drury Lane. All of a sudden Tommy did a scoot to the left, and said "I've got to go to the bookies!"
He whizzed in, placed his bets and then off we ran again. I asked him if I couldn't have done that later, but the meeting wouldn't have finished until after the first race!
As a Tournament Director, Tommy was exceedingly fair and even-handed with players. He stood up to players because that was part of his role and he knew that if you gave an inch, they'd take a mile.
That was the same for any player and it was a great strength of his. He didn't back off, but he was fair and he was far stronger than I would have been with some of the players.
Some of the players might have held a grudge at the time, but I hope that they realised if he was like that with them, he was like that with every other player.
Tommy's fellow Geordie Paul Nicholson said on social media this week that he wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but he was tough but fair. That was spot on.
We worked together so closely but didn't always socialise and that was probably good, because we would have been in each other's pockets for 24 hours a day.
We'd share a drink but he had different taste in music to me, he was into his 1950s and 1960s rock and roll.
Once we were driving from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut to Boston with Jay Tomlinson, our American co-ordinator, and he was forever piping up from the back of the car asking Jay to change the radio station to something he liked!
There are so many officials who would go with him on "Tommy's Tours" for a holiday or road trip before or after the various events we had around the world.
His second passion was music and he would always know a town which had a bit of musical history, and head off to somewhere like Memphis or to visit the birthplace of some musician.
Our events in Las Vegas were always a great chance for him to go and see shows too, but he'd prefer tribute acts to the real thing!
He once had two VIP tickets for Fleetwood Mac but gave them away because they were too modern for him, but he went to see Simon and Garfunkel only because the Everly Brothers were the support.
That was typical of Tommy, and part of what made him so popular.
What he gave to the PDC, his drive and passion, can't be measured and we couldn't have got through it on our own. Our gifts collectively made it go forward and we had great times.
He never lost his passion for darts and he leaves a big hole, in a spiritual sense - I'll miss him.