Winmau Blade III Bristle Dart Board with Dart-Stop Octagonal Backboard

A Bried History of Winmau...

The legacy of the famed Winmau dart board brand began in 1945 in the East End of London. The company, known at that time as H.A. Kicks & Sons, was first located in a bomb damaged building and used only a paraffin lamp for light, a coal fire for heat and the owner's father for handpainting the colors on the dartboards. They delivered the dartboards, by hand, using Londons Underground System to the Watney Brewery, Kick's first customer.

In 1973, Kicks achieved a major breakthrough deal with the British Darts Organization (BDO), the governing body for darts in the U.K. From then on, Winmau dartboards would be the official dartboards of the BDO and be allowed to carry its logo and would appear in many international darts tournaments.

By the mid-1970s, Kicks changed the company name to Winmau (pronounced Win More) using the first three letters of his wifes first two names, Winifred Maud. The sudden death of Harry Kicks, Senior in 1984 resulted in the transfer of ownership of Winmau to his five sons. With the heyday of televised darts now past, trading conditions became extremely difficult. After several years of financial losses, the company was close to insolvency. In 1993, the brothers approached their U.S. distributor, Accudart, Inc., for finacial support. Accudart agreed and became the majority shareholder in the company. Within two years of appointing specialists in the business of turning companies around, the business was back to making profits and has continued to do so ever since.

In 1995, development work began on the most technically advanced bristle dartboard in the world. By 1997, The Blade dartboard was launched as the ultimate no-bounceout dartboard using sophisticated staplefree technology. Throughout its period of severe financial difficulties, the company remained committed to the BDO. Today, the Winmau World Masters Dart Tournament is represented by more than twenty-five countries around the world and is often televised. Winmaus sponsorship affiliation with the World Masters make it one of the longest serving sponsors of a sporting event.'