Rosney aiming to join professional Darts tour

By Thomas Conway

You need only to glance at the likes of Luke Littler or Michael van Gerwen in action to determine that darts is a game of ferocious skill and technical precision. But it wasn’t always that way, at least in the eyes of the English courts.

Back at the start of the 20th century, darts was considered to be a game of pure luck. It was prohibited in pubs across England under a law that banned outright any form of gambling in a pub setting, much to the disdain of publicans and the masses. Finally in 1908, the whole thing was brought to a head when a Yorkshire publican took it upon himself to definitively prove that darts was indeed a “game of skill.”

Enter William “Bigfoot” Annakin, the pre-eminent star of the illicit darts circuit in the Black Country. Annakin was the man tasked with showcasing the skill involved in darts in front of a court. He performed all sorts of throws, hitting triple-twenties and 180s and the rest. The judge was convinced. Darts were made legal in pubs. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, there you have it, once the roulette of the English midlands, darts is now a worldwide sport with soaring popularity levels and eye-watering prize money. Its skill level is indisputable, but ultimately, it’s a mental game.

So says Stephen Rosney - the cool-headed, self-made Nenagh man who has risen to the top of Irish rankings at age 29, eleven years after he first became transfixed by the drama of the Ally Pally and the annual World Championship showcase.

Rosney had never really thrown a dart, or indeed paid the slightest bit of attention to the sport, until it caught his eye on the television one Christmas. Within the space of a week, he was hooked.

“I turned on the television and I just kind of said to myself: jeez, this is really good. I fell in love with watching it,” he said of taking up the sport.

For months afterwards he begged his mother and father to buy him a dart board. They weren’t forthcoming, at first - weary perhaps of the threat it might pose to his Leaving Cert studies. But they eventually buckled and brought on home. It might have been the best decision they ever made.

Fairly quickly it transpired that this wasn’t just a one-week obsession or a passing phase. He started throwing and he started liking it. And then one night he had one of those hallelujah moments in which he realised that darts was the sport, or perhaps even the career, for him.

“About six months in, I played my first competition - in town, in Figgerty’s and I got to a quarter-final on my first night and immediately I thought this is brilliant, I love this, I want to keep doing this,” Rosney recalls.

Psychological dimension

Stephen has an intriguing philosophy when it comes to practice. The psychological dimension is the most important, he maintains. Some spend hours throwing at the board, until their wrists crack with exhaustion. He does it differently. Always has. He practises and practises hard. But he doesn’t do it for long. And he always leaves in good form.

“I’m a big believer in the mental game,” he insists.

“Now, obviously, I do practice. Down through the years I’ve always practiced. It might be two, three, four hours a day.

“But nowadays I try to focus on ‘good practice.’ I mean I could go two, three days without throwing a dart. You won’t believe this, but I’ll be honest with you, I don’t even have a dart board at home. So, when I want to practice, I normally go to a pub in town, and I’ll go in there, throw for an hour or two, maybe two and a half.

“My big thing is, I always try to leave the dart board feeling confident. I constantly want to end my practice sessions feeling confident. If I’m playing really well after an hour, I’ll just go; right, that’s enough. And I’ll go home. Because I’m in that good mind frame.”

Stephen has followed the same route as most of Ireland’s best darts talents, impressing in local competitions before working his way onto the inter-county circuit. From there he took the step to national competition, competing in Irish ranking events.

“I play county darts - for Offaly,” he added.

“Then I do the Irish rankings. There are about seven, eight weekends a year of ranking tournaments. The last couple of years I’ve played all of those competitions, but lately I’ve also been playing what are called ADCs, Amateur Darts Circuit.

“Then you have your PDCs - that’s Professional Darts Circuit. Dylan Slevin would be playing in those competitions because he has his tour card - you have to have a tour card.”

Rosney was always a “decent player,” both at county and even at national level, but his performances have soared over the course of the past year and a half. Why? He attributes it to the mental side of the game. Recently, he has settled down with his partner, Laura. She’s incredibly supportive and the couple are happy together. Stephen is content with his life away from the board, and he cites that as the key ingredient to his success.

“When everything is going well in your personal life, and your head is in the right place, it makes things a lot easier, easier to perform,” Rosney said.

“You know you have the backing of whoever, in my case my partner Laura, but also family and friends. So, it makes a difference.”

World Cup

Having topped the Irish rankings and won the Irish Masters (one of his most coveted achievements), he will now captain Ireland at two major events in the coming months - the Six Nations in Wales, and the World Cup in South Korea in August.

It’s an honour and a privilege he was never going to turn down, but there may be bigger waves on the horizon. At present he’s an amateur, and the Six Nations and the World Cup are amateur tournaments. In order to attain a professional tour card, darts players often attend a place known as “Q school” (Qualifying school) - a rigorous week-long assessment with a number of stages and competitions. That is where Stephen will be headed in January 2026.

But this isn’t his first rodeo. He’s been in a similar position before. A number of years ago he actually attended Q school along with Dylan Slevin, who ultimately secured his tour card. The goal for Stephen back then was to evaluate his ability, to assess his own level. This time it will be different. Stephen’s objective will be to obtain that tour card and thereby secure a place on the professional circuit. About that he is unequivocal.

“Once the World Cup ends in September it’s going to be all guns blazing for Q school in January,” Rosney adds.

“All roads will lead to there. That’s my goal. When I went there two years ago, my goal was really to see where I was at, to see what level I was at. And my level was pretty good, But I said to myself then and I’ve been saying it ever since, the next time I go I want to get my tour card.”

If he does, he’ll be following in the footsteps of Borrisokane man Slevin, who recently recorded a landmark victory over World champion Littler at a PDC tournament in Leicester. Rosney has sparred with the 22 year-old frequently down the years, but also played with him at inter-county level. He has only fond words for his fellow North Tipperary man.

“I was delighted for him when he got his tour card and to see him performing well. I still talk to him now and again; I know his family as well, so I know him quite well. He’s a lovely fellow.

Rosney openly admits that he doesn’t really know what to make of Luke Littler’s personal character, but he credits the eighteen year-old Merseyside sensation with effectively elevating darts to a new level. Every sport needs a star, and Littler, Rosney reckons, has embraced that mantle.

“He’s brilliant for darts,” he says of Littler.

“It has always been a growing sport I think but I mean since he’s come on to the scene it has really skyrocketed. Just to see the amount of youngsters that are starting to get involved in it, it’s crazy. He’s kind of taken it to a new level, Luke Littler has. Phil Taylor did it years ago, Van Gerwen helped it along as well, but Littler is just after taking it by storm altogether. You see the PDC upping the prize money as well. That wouldn’t have happened without Littler in my opinion.”

Rosney has big hopes, but he's a man with his feet on the ground. Opportunity beckons, and the allure of life on the professional circuit is certainly most appealing. Will we see the Nenagh man arrowing 180s amid the carnival-like atmosphere of the Ally Pally one day? That’s certainly the ambition. But he’s aware “a lot can happen” between now and next January (when he enters Q school).

Right now, life is good, both at the board and away from it. He’s looking forward to captaining his country. Rosney has made his own luck.