The Albion Foundation hosted their inaugural Darts Night at The Hawthorns on Friday night, raising valuable funds for the Foundation.
This unique opportunity, which tailed off a successful summer of fundraising events for the Foundation, gave budding darts players the opportunity to play a tournament across a combined 389 games in the East Stand concourse.
143 competitors took part, but only one was left by the end of the night, as Craig Butler took home the maiden edition of the competition.
Deputy director Jonathan Ward was keen to express his praise for a fantastic evening for the vast number of participants and the Foundation itself.
“I’m delighted that this event has panned out so successfully,” Ward said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the evening and it’s been great to see a space like the East Stand concourse transformed so quickly.
“I’d like to thank the Foundation events team and everybody who’s worked on it. It was fantastic to be a part of such a well-oiled machine in helping this event take shape.
“I’d also like to thank our partners and event sponsors, particularly Darts Corner who have provided so many amazing custom boards for our competitors to take aim at tonight. I’d also like to thank Ace Weddings, Sheldon and Clayton, Lloyds Transport, International Tyres and Concept Flooring for their endeavours to support the event.”
In addition to the main competition, The Hawthorns also played host to the Squalla Cup, an annual competition played out between lifelong Albion fan Richard Swallow’s friends and family. Richard kindly suggested the idea of hosting the competition to the Foundation, which allowed for the upscaling of the event to its current form.
“I've got six children and two of my children have been helped out quite a lot by The Albion Foundation,” Swallow began. “I just wanted to give something back as a thank you because they've helped my kids out quite a lot.
“It means the world to me, having parcels at Christmas for our family and travelling to schools to see my kids and working with them on a one-to-one basis is brilliant.
“There's a lot of people who’ve enjoyed it and it’s been a good occasion. It’s only going to get better in the future.”