Andy 'X-Factor' Boulton

CHESHIRE PRESENTATION NIGHT - 1st AUGUST 2008

Just a quick thank you to everyone involved for such an enjoyable night. I myself was honoured to compere the evening and hope I didn't do too bad a job! Well done to everyone who received an award whether it be a Cheshire Award or whether you received one of the prestigious A+E Awards! The A+E Awards were just a bit of fun where even Pete 'One Dart' Manley, or was it Ian White in drag, turned up to present them! Thanks again for the invite and if you need anymore hosting in the future you know where I am!!!!

BRITISH CLASSIC - 26th JULY 2008

Another day out at Kettering for this years British Classic. Another tournament covered by Setanta Sports and with their most entries yet of 580, it was all set to see a high standard of darts. I had very tough games all day long, non more so than when in the fourth round I played a very impressive youngster Curtis Bagley. A 14 year old from Leicestershire who I'm sure will have a very bright future in the game. Eventually The X-Factor lost in the last 64 to Dennis Harbour from Cambridgeshire. Dennis has had many more years of experience and used these well to his advantage, with unfortunately his gamesmanship just being too good for me on the day!!!! Well done to the Cheshire men Tony O'Shea, Steve Bunting and Stu Kellett for reaching the quarter finals. Also to Ross Montgomery the British Classic Champion 2008!

BREAKING NEWS !!!! - 18th JULY 2008

Unfortunately today I have the news that I will not be playing county for Cheshire next season. As many may know I have moved North of the border to Scotland. Mainly due to cost and time it is just not possible to continue to travel to the games whether be home or away. I have played 93 games for Cheshire and had some really great times. Also I don't think I will ever play in such a strong 'A' Team as what we had there. A team of superstars whether past, present or future! I would like to thank everyone there for their help and support for 9 very happy years. In particular thanks must go to Pauline Stafford who has played a massive part in running such a great county and helping me progress to the standard I play at today. I will always be grateful to Cheshire Darts and will miss everyone involved. I will be signing next season for West Ayrshire and if I have just half as good a time there as I did at Cheshire then Happy Days will be had by all! 

Thanks again Cheshire and all the best for the up and coming season!!! 

GOLD CUP FINALS & LAKESIDE CLASSIC - 12th to 13th JULY 2008 

We were off to the home of darts The Lakeside Country club at Frimley Green. The weekend started off with the 2008 Gold Cup Finals. Unfortunately the X-Factor failed to qualify for the singles but congratulations must go to another Cheshire Superstar Stuart 'The Ginger Assassin' Bousfield. A superb performance saw young Stuart reach the Semi-Finals where eventually he lost out to the overall winner Scott Waites. The first of many more T.V. performances I'm sure. Well Done to Stuart although I'm not too sure about the walk on music! 

The X-Factor was involved in the pair's event with the mighty Ian 'Diamond' White to form the darts tag team of A+E! We played Alker/Astley from Montgomery & Radnor in the first round. A+E definitely ran into two players that were well up for this game. They defeated the mighty A+E by 4-0, an excellent performance from the Welsh pair with an opening leg of 11 darts and two 180's they carried this on for a very convincing victory. Although as always in darts they didn't play anything like the same again and lost out in their very next game. Congratulations to Alan Davie and Andy Lynn of Northumberland who were crowned the Gold Cup Pairs Champions! 

In the women's event Dawn Stanley beat Julie Gore 3-1 in the final to take the singles title. Tricia Wright teamed up with Sally Dowell to become Ladies Gold Cup Pairs Champions defeating Sandra Greatbatch and Barbara Lee in the final by 3-1.

On the Sunday it was the I.D.P.A. Lakeside Classic. The bad run of the X-Factor continued with another first round defeat this time to the ever consistent Nicky Turner. Here's hoping the unlucky run finishes soon! Ted Hankey found a new run of form and defeated Scott Waites 4-2 in the final. Although not a bad weekend for the Yorkshire man in the end! 

WELSH CLASSIC - 4th to 6th JULY 2008

This trip took us to The Robin Hood Holiday Camp in sunny Prestatyn for this seasons Welsh Classic. Yet again the X-Factors run of bad luck continued, when he lost in the last 64 to Welshman Derek Williams by 3-2. This year's winners were Yorkshires Garry Thompson who beat Joey Ten Berge in the men's singles final and Francis Hoensenlaar who won the ladies title with a win over Dee Bateman in their final. Other winners Men's Pairs - Scott Waites and Garry Thompson, Women's Pairs - Lisa Ashton and Dawn Shaw, Mixed Doubles - Tony O'Shea and Irina Armstrong, Mixed Triples - Darryl Fitton, Tony O'Shea and Gill O'Shea.

GRANITE CITY OPEN - 26th to 28th JUNE 2008

This tournament was a first for me with a trip across country to Aberdeen for the Granite City Open. After the mixed pairs on the Friday night and a second round exit, it was up early Saturday morning for the men's singles event. Even though I threw some very good darts, it was not good enough to beat the young up and coming star Keith Robertson, a local lad who played very well and put pay to my tournament hopes in the very first round. Fortunately I was able to gain some confidence back with a quarter final appearance in the men's pairs. But a pair from Shetland were to strong for myself and Scotland's Alan Brown.

An increasingly popular event with nearly 500 entries in the men's event and 160 in the women's. This being more entries than most ranking tournaments! Congratulations go to Gary Anderson, who beat Martin Adams in the men's final. Also Karin Krappen who won the ladies event by defeating Scotland's Lynne Cowan. Thanks every one for a really enjoyable weekend! Especially ' Wee Willy ' who kept everyone entertained on the Saturday night with his amazing dance techniques!

SCOTTISH MASTERS - 21st JUNE 2008

This weekend it was a local trip for me, we travelled up to Bannockburn for the finals of the Scottish Masters. This was my first ever Scottish Masters event so I wasn't too sure of what to expect. After turning up and being made very welcome, the competition started with a field of 128 of the top darts players that play their darts in Scotland. After playing well all day I found myself in the final, with victories over Cameron Menzies, Derek Cunningham and Ewan Hyslop along the way. But unfortunately I lost out 3-2 in the final to the in form Mark Barrilli. I would like to thank everyone there for a very enjoyable day out and hope it's the first of many!   

BDO INTERNATIONAL OPEN - 13th to 15th JUNE 2008 

We made another trip away, this time to Brean Sands for the BDO International Open. Unfortunately though this was not a successful weekend for the X-Factor. This has never been a fruitful competition for the X-Factor with 3 out of 3 first round defeats in the last 3 years. First round this time set up a tough opening game against Dutchman Mareno Michels. But after breaking the Brean Sands curse and defeating Mareno 3-1, I felt dizzy with the heights of round 2 and lost out 3-1 to an impressive Joe Murnan. Joe then went on to reach a well overdue Quarter Final, but there he lost out to Scotsman Ross Montgomery. The title in the end went to Dave Richardson, with Francisca Hoenselaar taking the women's crown. I would also like to congratulate my Doubles partner Ian White on reaching the last 16. Also well done to fellow Cheshire team mates Tony O'Shea, who won the Mixed Doubles with Irina Armstrong and Steve Bunting who won the Triples in a team with Dave Chisnell and Apylee Jones.

WELSH OPEN - 16th to 18th MAY 2008

It was off again to Pontins at Prestatyn for one of my favourite tournaments, the Welsh Open! The weekend started off with the men's pairs on the Friday night and what a start to the weekend it turned out to be for the mighty A+E! After some excellent darts throughout the evening A+E found themselves up against the partnership of Mark Webster and Martin Phillips in the final. And what an amazing final it turned out to be! After I finished the opening leg on 68 for a 14 dart leg, Webster and Phillips hit straight back with 12 and 11 dart legs to take a 2-1 lead. Another 14 darter followed from A+E to take us into a nail biting decider. With the Welsh pair winning the bull-up it got them to the double first with Martin Phillips missing Tops for a 116 checkout. Then up stepped 'The X-Factor' who needed 83 for the match. Single 17, single 16 followed by an amazing bull shot to complete a 15 dart leg and give A+E the Welsh Open Pairs Championship 2008! YEEEAAAHHHHH!!!! Well done to Ian 'Diamond' White who once again played a major part in an A+E championship winning performance.

Then it was time for the singles and with a board with the likes of Toon Grebe and at that present time BDO Number 1 Robert Thornton I knew what I had to do to pick up some points. The first few games went well then I reached the board semi-final against Dutchman, Toon Grebe. I was 2-0 down with Toon having 14 and 16 dart legs, I managed to pull it back which seen us go to the deciding leg and I managed to overcome Toon with a 3-2 victory. This then seen me face Robert Thornton in the last 64. The first two legs went with the throw then in the third leg I missed two vital darts at a double with Robert checking 108. Robert took the 4th leg to win the match 3-1. Still I managed to pick up 8 points and move up five spots in the World Rankings.

Congratulations to Gary Anderson who defeated Welshman Mark Webster in the final. Also Congratulations to Anastasia Dobromyslova won took this year's Women's title.

GOLD CUP QUALIFIERS - 10th MAY 2008

This time we were at the Cheshire County home venue of Rudheath Social Club. This was for the Gold Cup Qualifiers, where the winners of the singles and pairs, would be off to Lakeside to represent Cheshire in this years Gold Cup finals.

The day started with the singles, with Cheshire having a very strong county set up this is always a difficult one to win! The first round straight away put together some interesting ties, with Steve Bunting defeating Stuart Kellett, Mel Barrow getting the better of Pete Boughey in an excellent game, and unfortunately this is where I also fell, when the in form Kevin 'Fat Boy' Simm beat me 3-2. Congratulations go to Stuart 'The Ginger Assassin' Bousfield, who was the eventual winner beating Dave Gibbons 3-2 in the final.

Then followed the pairs and yet again this put together some really strong partnerships. Eventually it came down to myself and Ian White (A+E) versus Stuart Kellett and Stuart Bousfield (SAS) in the final. This being a rematch of our head-to-head at our recent A+E night, where SAS were the victors 3-1. A+E took an early 3-0 lead only to be pegged back to 3-3 by some good darts from SAS. But fortunately, after a very tense affair, A+E held it together to take the deciding leg and win the game 4-3.

So its off to Lakeside for A+E and Stuart to represent Cheshire in the Gold Cup Finals, which this year are also to be shown on the Setanta Sports Channel.

Rudheath Social Club is also the venue for yet another Cheshire Open which is to be held on the 1st June. As many entries as we can get are needed, to try and stop defending champion Stuart Kellett repeating his 'LUCKY' win from last year! I wont mention that he beat me in the final! Also a high number of entries will keep Pauline very happy!

COUNTY GAME AND EXHIBITIONS - 25th to 27th April 2008

Away yet again, this time to fulfil the last county game of the season.

The weekend started off with a great night on Friday, in Stockport. A charity exhibition at the Marple Tavern. Myself, Tony O'Shea, Darryl Fitton, Steve Coote and Stephen Bunting all turned up to raise money for one of the wards at the local hospital. I would like to thank Tony for inviting me, as it turned out to be a great night with plenty of laughs! A great turn out enabling us to raise over £1200. Also it was worth turning up just to see the Mighty Steve Bunting after my MC's job. I always knew he would find his way back onto the Lakeside stage somehow!

Then it was onto the Robin Hood at Helsby on the Saturday for one of our superb A+E Nights! I had done an exhibition here before with "The Viper" Tony Eccles and knew I was in for a great night with some great people. I was certainly not disappointed as this night turned out to be one of the funniest A+E Nights ever. We often have a special guest turn out for us and this time it was Ian White/Peter "One Dart" Manley! Ian White with a beard, hair brushed forward and his pink Mr Porky's shirt, but no need for extra padding!!!  (See photo album for some great pics!) This joined with his "Amarillo" walk on, was 'pure genius'. Even topping the time when he appeared as Karin Krappen. I would like to thank everyone who came, with special thanks to DJ Dave the landlord and great host, Mel for chalking, SAS who turned up for a head-to-head doubles match and Gill who helped arrange yet another amazing night in such a friendly venue.

On Sunday it was at Rudheath Social Club where Cheshire played host to Hampshire in the final county fixture of the season. This was to be a nail biting affair with Hampshire needing an overall result to avoid relegation. And our Men's A side were joint top on points with Yorkshire and Lancashire, who were playing each other this weekend! The overall result was 24-15 to Cheshire, which was enough to save Hampshire from division 1!  Cheshire Men's A team won 9-3, a superb result against a side like Hampshire. But unfortunately this was not enough to take the title. As we had finished earlier than the York's/Lancs clash we hung on getting leg by leg scores of what was going on, and despite being 3-2 down Yorkshire managed to win the remaining 7 games to take the Men's A crown. A great season for Cheshire finishing second in the Men's A table and 4th in the overall table. Well done to everyone involved!!!

GERMAN OPEN - 18th to 20th April 2008

Off on our travels again, this time to the German Open in Bochum. Unfortunately for the X-Factor this was an unfruitful weekend for points, as he lost out in the board semi-final to the world number 13, Steve West by a 3-2 scoreline. Just when I thought my weekend was going to get better by playing pairs with the current BDO world number 1, Robert Thornton, up stepped a new up and coming Cheshire tag team, SAS - Stuart Kellett and Stuart Bousfield. We drew them in the first round proper and still on a high after their success in winning the warm up pairs on the Friday night, they continued this success by defeating us 3-1.

Well done to Robert Thornton who was this years runner up, he also regained his BDO World Number 1 spot. It was nice to see a return of form for World Champion, Mark Webster who lost out to Robert in the semi-final. In the mens pairs the in form Dave Chisnall teamed up with Paul Whitworth to beat the well earned runners up, Paul Hanvidge and Alan Brown. It was nice to see two world class players from the past return to form.

Congratulations to Gary Anderson and Julie Gore who took this years German Open titles.

Congratulations once again to SAS - Stuart Kellett and Stuart Bousfield on winning the Warm Up Pairs, lets hope its the first of many successes.

ENGLAND OPEN - 11th to 13th April 2008

We travelled to Selsey in Sussex for the England Open on 12th and 13th of April. This turned out to be a good weekend for Andy 'X-Factor' Boulton as he reached the last 16 after some tough games with Remco van Eijden and Scott Mitchell. He lost out to Gary Robson in a great game that went all the way, Gary won the bull and threw a great 11 dart leg to take the match.

Congratulations to Ross Montgomery and Trina Gulliver who took this years England Open titles.

BRITISH INTERNATIONALS - 5th and 6th April 2008

Andy 'X-Factor' Boulton made his International debut Appearance for England on 5th and 6th of April 2008. After unfortunately being left out of the side to face Wales, he was able to overcome this disappointment with an amazingly, fantastic, scintillating win over Scotland's Mark Barilli. Andy registered a 30.67 average, this being the highest of the England Men in the match against Scotland.

It was one of the closest British Internationals, with Scotland taking the Men's title in the last match of the day with a narrow 7-5 victory over England and England gaining a 5-1 victory over Scotland to take the Women's crown.

Final Standings:

Men's Title: 

1st - Scotland
2nd - Wales
3rd - England

Women's Title:

1st - England
2nd - Wales
3rd - Scotland

ISLE OF MAN - 7th to 9th March 2008

Welsh International Julie Gore and England's Dave Chisnall won the Singles titles at this year's Isle of Man Open. The top positions are shown below: