Eric is ready to kill

DARTS legend Eric Bristow is ready to play again and blasted: "I’m going to kill the opposition!"

The five-times world champion will be the top name in the new Betfred.com League of Legends tournament that goes to the oche on May 30.

The Legends will have a similar format to the PDC Premier League and the Crafty Cockney will be joined by other stars of yesteryear including John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko, Bobby George, Bob Anderson, Keith Deller, Peter Evison and Dave Whitcombe.

But clearly Bristow, now 51, has lost none of his arrogance.

He said: "It’s going to be like being in a time warp to be on tour with these guys again.

"We are all old mates but that will definitely change when we get on stage - we’ll all want to win bad.

"In fact the rivalry is very intense, we’ll want to kill each other. But I’ll win, as I always did."

Confident

Bristow is confident of glory despite suffering from dartitis back in the late 80s which sparked his decline from the major championships - and also saw him discover Phil Taylor.

He added: "I don’t see that being a problem now, I play exhibitions regularly and sometimes I’m as good as I used to be - I’m just more inconsistent now.

"I regularly hear it said that we didn’t hit high averages when I won the world championship but looking back at my record I hit up to a 99 average at times.

"It’s only Phil who hits 110 averages regularly but he’s a machine - I’m very proud of him and proud that I played a part in his success story.

"But I hope all us legends can show that we can still live with the best."

One big absentee from the tour - which starts at the Circus Tavern in Essex - is Jocky Wilson.

Bristow added: "I’m personally gutted that Jocky won’t be able to play.

Keith (Deller) did speak to him for over a hour but Jocky has got athritis in his hands now.

"It would have been terrific to re-create our controversial clashes of the 80s - it would have been great box office.

^^But hopefully we can still get him to present the winning trophy."