PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY
Date of Birth : July 15, 1962 (see - I'm not old, I just look it and feel it!)
Birthplace : Carshalton, Surrey, England.
Lives : In Pontoon Beach, Illinois, USA (in the St. Louis metro area).
Marital Status : Married to Valerie.
Pets : A fuzzy white cat called Harry.
Siblings : Nope; my parents gave up after me...
Previous Employment : Administrative assistant in a local government housing maintenance office.
Hobbies : Cooking, fishing, reading, astronomy, photography, trivia/quiz nights, crosswords/sudoku/
general puzzles, visiting cemeteries (particularly graves of the famous). Oh, and eating...
Favourite Sports : Spectator - Football (soccer to Americans), speedway, baseball, golf.
Participant - Other than darts, really only snooker, and occasionally golf.
Favourite Music : Mainly classical, but I listen to anything.
Favourite Composers : Delius, Vaughan-Williams, Bach.
Favourite Artists: Katzenjammer, Tom Waits, Billy Bragg, Billy Joel, Madness, Herb Alpert, Jim Reeves,
Beatles, Raymond Scott, Mannheim Steamroller, Ken Griffin, Tom Lehrer.
Favourite Movies : Young Frankenstein, The Ladykillers (original), I’m All Right, Jack,
Once A Jolly Swagman, Murder By Death, any Monty Python film.
Favourite TV : House, Ghost Hunters, most British comedies.
Favourite Food : Anything – except cottage cheese.
Favourite Drink : Tea (hot, of course - with milk!), coffee, and pretty much anything non-alcoholic.
PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Started Playing Darts : W-a-a-a-a-y back in 1972.
Why did you take up darts? : My dad Ken was one of the top players of the 1970’s. My mum Val also
played for the Surrey County team.
League Debut : 1975
Stage Debut : October 1977.
British County Debut : September 1978.
British County Teams Represented : Surrey (1978-80), London (1981-1991)
Turned Professional : In April 1990.
Nicknames : “The Original” or “Brownie”
Sponsors : St. Louis Dart Shop, St. Louis, MO
Best Moment in Darts : Representing the U.S. at the 1999 World Cup in South Africa.
Being named as the London County Captain was also a great thrill.
Worst Moment in Darts : Losing a playoff against England’s Andy Fordham, after we had tied 8-8 in the
quarter-finals of the 1999 World Cup Team event.
In what countries have you played? : United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland,
France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Malta, Australia,
South Africa, and Ukraine.
Darts used : 22g Steve Brown - duh!
Oddments : The only American male to have been inducted into the U.S. National Darts Hall of Fame
and the Golden Harvest (Canada) International Hall of Fame.
Former World Number 1 (World Darts Federation).
The highest ranked American in the history of the PDC (Best position - 4th).
The only American to receive a Top 8 seeding in the history of the PDC World Championship.
The best performance by an American in the history of the PDC World Championship (3rd).
One of three players worldwide to win World Darts Federation-Ranked events in three different decades.
The only player to hold all three U.S. National Titles simultaneously.
The only player in history to have won the ‘01 Singles at all of the following U.S. Major tournaments :
North American Open, Int’l Challenge of Champions, Darts America, Windy City Open,
Witch City Open, Virginia Beach Classic, Las Vegas Open, Wolverine Classic, Houston Open,
Cowtown Open.
The only player to have partnered (in World-Ranked events) Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, John Part,
and Raymond van Barneveld - the four players to win both BDO and PDC World Championships.
Won the cricket singles event at the St. Pat's Day Tournament in Jefferson City, MO, for an incredible
12 (twelve) successive years (1994-2005).
Steve Brown - The Story So Far...
Well, I've been playing this silly game for what seems like a lifetime, and I still don't have any real plans
to retire. While it hasn't been necessarily been the greatest profession - financially - it's still better than
working for a living! Okay, that is maybe a little flippant, because there can be few jobs as stressful, and
as performance-related as darts. So, why do it?
I love the simple act of throwing darts, I love the competition, and above all, I love the people. I have
met so many wonderful people over the years, and made so many wonderful friends, and of course, I met
my wife Valerie through darts.
Some of you will recall that my dad was one of the top players over 3o years ago, but most will not know
the story behind it. To cut a long story short (which is difficult for me, I know), although he had been
been playing darts since the 1950's, his first love was cricket - NOT the American darts game. Things
changed suddenly in 1971...
Getting ready to leave for work one chilly March morning, my dad's car refused to start, so he ended up
taking his motorcycle. On the way home that night, he was rammed by a car that sped through a stop
sign. His right leg took the full force of the impact. The doctors saved the leg, but just how bad the injury
was is illustrated by the fact that he was in a plaster cast for over eighteen months.
With cricket now a thing of the past, he began to take darts more seriously, and managed to find a semi-
comfortable stance by forming a tripod with his crutches. In 1973, it was decided to form a Surrey County
Team to compete in the BDO's new Inter-County League. My dad went for trials, and got straight in. In
March 1974, Ken Brown became the first man to play in a full international match when he represented
the BDO against the U.S. in New York!
I'd been messing around with game before that, but of course, that was the greatest inspiration that an 11-
year old could have. I put more and more time and effort into darts - which wasn't easy when trying to
combine it with school. Just over a year later, I made my league debut for the Printer's Devil (Slough) in
the Bucks & Berks League. I know it was only a local league team, but I was fortunate enough to play
alongside not one (my dad), but THREE England players! The other two were George Lee, and Peter
Chapman. If you're wondering how we got a team like that together, our captain was Ben Drake, boss of
the famous Elkadart company.
By 1976, I was playing league four nights a week, and competing in weekend tournaments on a regular
basis. In October 1977, I got on stage for the first time at a small tournament in a Butlin's hotel in
Margate, Kent. I partnered my dad, and Surrey Ladies Captain Amy Ross, to victory in the mixed triples.
In September 1978, just a few weeks after my 16th birthday, I made my debut - albeit unsuccessfully -
for the Surrey County 'B' Team. Three years on, and I was still struggling to hold down a place in the team.
Things took a dramatic turn though, when I decided to quit Surrey after some political problems.
I joined London for the 1981-82 season, and to be honest, I never looked back after that. I had a pretty
good first term for the 'B' Team, playing every match, and the following year, I made it into the 'A' Team,
where I was a regular until I left the UK.
Even though I was recognised as one of the top county players in the country, tournament success still
proved elusive. In March 1986, I finally broke through. Partnering Welshman David 'Rocky' Jones, I
grabbed first place the Butlin's Easter Gala Men's Doubles. Less than two months later, I had my first
singles triumph at the BDO Mayday Festival.
Things really took off now, with a win in the 1986 Thames TV Cockney Classic (televised, as well). The
following year, I managed to retain both singles titles, and I never looked back. After a string of wins in
mainland Europe, including the presitigious Antwerp Open, I won the 1988 Dutch Open against
reigning Champion, Belgium's Bob Renard. I backed that up by beating another Bob - this time World
Champion Anderson - in the final of the North American Open.
Well, to keep this spectacular run of back-to-back victories going, I managed to hold on to both the Antwerp
and North American Opens the following year! As a result of the American successes (which included
the 1989 International Challenge of Champions in New York), when I finally quit my job, I turned to the
U.S. circuit in a big way.
Three years later, after meeting my now-wife Valerie, I decide to stay. We settled down in the St. Louis
area, where Valerie was born and raised, and I really have no intentions of going back across the pond. I
lost my dad nearly six years ago, and as he was the last of my immediate family, that pretty much sealed it.
So, it looks like I'm here for the duration...
Steve
