I went to the knockout rounds at Lakeside in 2002 when Tony David won. It was total chaos. There was nearly a riot when they ran out of ketchup about after the first semi final. I got my ring stuck in Andy Fordham's hair. Martin Fitzmaurice warmed up the crowd every day by saying "Hello the Dutch" followed by 10 minutes of jokes about world war two. Ray Stubbs played air guitar on stage to "Rockin' All Over The World" by Status Quo. Those were the days.
If you think the men's standard is piss poor you should have seen the women back in 2002. Every leg lasted about 15 minutes whilst both players had 20-odd darts at double one.
I was there too buddy, getting wankered and taking the piss most likely.
Standout moment of the 2004 lakeside, was having a curry with andy fordham after he won the title, with ray stubbs, I thought I could eat, but damn Fordham could shovel it away!