DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY — Rab Smith, a former world number four darts player, died last month. Smith was born in Moniaive in Dumfries and Galloway in 1948 and attended Wallace Hall Academy in Thornhill, working in forestry.

Smith joined the Scotland national darts team in 1973 and represented them until 1982, captaining the team for five years during that period. He became a professional darts player in 1977 and won the Evo-Stik Golden Darts tournament the same year, a victory that earned him an 18-carat gold set and a £1,000 prize. This win led to him gaining the nickname Mr Golden Darts.

In early 1978, Smith was ranked fourth in the world darts rankings. Darts historian Patrick Chaplin stated, "In the late 1970s a Scottish national team without Rab Smith was unthinkable." Chaplin added, "During 1977 Rab decided to go professional whilst title followed title as he appeared to be virtually unstoppable." Chaplin also said, "When the world rankings were announced in early 1978, Rab Smith was in fourth place," and noted, "If he had won just one more major tournament during 1977, he would have been number one."

Smith retired from professional darts in 1982, citing family reasons. "The kids were young and I was never at home; sometimes being away six days a week," Smith said. "I didn't want to lose my family life so I gave up."

During his career, Smith appeared in the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London, where a scene showed a television broadcast of a darts match between him and Cliff Lazarenko. Wullie Burns, who played county darts for Ayrshire with Smith, said, "When I first met Rab, I was maybe about 18 years old and he was a superstar of Scottish darts at the time - before Jocky Wilson and people like that." Burns added, "Rab was the main man," and stated, "He was the best." Burns recalled, "At that time he was beating John Lowe, Eric Bristow, Leighton Rees, Alan Evans, all these boys." He concluded, "There were none better in Scotland at that time, and there were maybe only two or three in the world," adding, "He was just a gentleman - a quiet, reserved gentleman with not a bad word to say about anybody."