lit a candle 3h agoMy dad had a VHS of the 1980 News of the World final, we watched it so many times the tape wore thin. Didn't know anyone else in Colorado who'd even heard of darts.
Their story
Stefan Lord (4 December 1954 to 14 October 2026) was a Swedish darts player, widely described as the greatest Swedish player of all time. In the late 1970s and through the 1980s he was one of the few players from outside Britain who could beat the best in the world.…
Stefan Lord (4 December 1954 to 14 October 2026) was a Swedish darts player, widely described as the greatest Swedish player of all time. In the late 1970s and through the 1980s he was one of the few players from outside Britain who could beat the best in the world. He twice won the News of the World Darts Championship, in 1978 and 1980, and remains the only player from outside the United Kingdom ever to win it. He reached the semi-finals of the BDO World Darts Championship in 1978 and 1982, the semi-finals of the Winmau World Masters in 1981, and won 13 Swedish singles titles, nine of them in a row. He died in Thailand on Wednesday 14 October 2026, aged 71, after a period of illness.
Lord was born in Stockholm on 4 December 1954. He first became interested in darts at about 14, when the new owner of a café he visited after school put up a dartboard. He studied the English professionals Barry Twomlow and Tom Barrett when they toured Sweden, and later said he also learned a lot from Leighton Rees, Alan Evans and Alan Glazier. In 1972, aged 18, he was one of the founders of the Stockholm Super Darts Club (SSDC), the club he represented throughout his career, and that same year he made his first trip to England to play.
His first big win outside Sweden came at the Santa Monica Open in 1975, on a British Darts Organisation tour of North America led by Olly Croft. In May 1976, aged 21 and doing his military service, he made his first appearance at the News of the World Grand Final at Alexandra Palace, losing in the first round. At home he won the Swedish singles championship every year from 1976 to 1984, and again from 1986 to 1989.
1978 was his breakthrough year. At the very first BDO World Darts Championship, at the Heart of the Midlands club in Nottingham, he beat his compatriot Kenth Ohlsson and Scotland's Rab Smith before losing the semi-final to John Lowe. A few months later, at the Empire Pool, Wembley, he won the News of the World title, beating Tony Brown, Jack Bentley and Jocky Wilson on the way and John Coward 2 to 0 in the final. He was the first continental European to win the most prestigious tournament in darts at the time. He won it again in 1980 at the Wembley Arena, knocking out the favourite John Lowe in the semi-final and beating Dave Whitcombe 2 to 0 in the final, and was handed the trophy by the footballer Malcolm Macdonald.
He reached the semi-finals of the Winmau World Masters in 1981 and the World Championship semi-finals again in 1982, where Jocky Wilson beat him 4 to 0, before he beat Bobby George to finish third. He reached the quarter-finals in 1983 and played in ten World Championships in all, the last in 1988. With partners he won three European titles in pairs at the WDF Europe Cup (1980, 1982 and 1988, the last with Lars-Erik Karlsson), and he played seven WDF World Cups for Sweden. Known for throwing in a white shirt and tie, he also had his own range of Winmau darts and dartboards sold in Sweden.
Lord left the BDO in 1991 and stepped away from top competition. He opened a restaurant with darts and pool tables in Stockholm, sold it in 2008 and moved to Thailand, where he spent his time playing golf and, in his own words, only threw darts in a local league now and then. He divided his time between Thailand and Vasastan in Stockholm, and when he was home he would drop in at his old club at Biljardpalatset on Sankt Eriksgatan, where a large portrait of him hangs by the boards. In April 2026 he looked back on his career in a Radiosporten documentary on Sveriges Radio.
SSDC announced his death on Facebook, calling him Sweden's greatest darts player of all time and a friend who had been part of the club since its founding. Swedish and international darts media paid tribute to him as a pioneer who proved that a player from outside Britain could win the sport's biggest titles.
Biography adapted from Aftonbladet (15 Oct 2026); Mitt i (15 Oct 2026, including SSDC's Facebook statement); Sveriges Radio (15 Oct 2026); DartFreakz (15 Oct 2026); Nyheter24 (15 Oct 2026); Patrick Chaplin, Darts History: S. Wikipedia ↗
In their own words
“I think I became 'slow' at the News of the World 1978 because I didn't want to make mistakes. I took my time between throws to have a look at the score.”
Speaking to darts historian Patrick Chaplin in 2010.
“The atmosphere was great... like a football match where I was the away team... although I was treated nice and with respect by both players and spectators.”
On playing at Wembley Arena, to Patrick Chaplin.
“The News of the World 1980 is the most memorable... when I beat John Lowe, who was the big favourite, in the semi-final and Dave Whitcombe in the final.”
To Patrick Chaplin, on his favourite win.
“I am playing golf and do nothing. I don't play darts at all apart from a local league game sometimes when I need a drink.”
On life in Thailand, to Patrick Chaplin in 2010.
“Nothing has changed. I am still hacking around the golf course and play darts maybe once a month for the same reason as before!”
Email to Patrick Chaplin in 2015.
“It was quite an experience.”
On the News of the World, in a Radiosporten documentary on Sveriges Radio, April 2026 (translated from Swedish: Det var en upplevelse som heter duga).
Photos
2Stefan Lord with the News of the World trophy, 1978
Jan 1978 · by People Forever
Stefan Lord of Sweden, 1984
Nov 1984 · by People Forever
Same tape basically taught me the game, different continent though.