{"id":1387,"date":"2019-04-18T21:50:37","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T21:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spursforlife.com\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2019-04-18T21:50:37","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T21:50:37","slug":"former-spurs-star-to-make-pro-darts-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spursforlife.com\/former-spurs-star-to-make-pro-darts-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Spurs Star to Make Pro Darts Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is not uncommon for us to write a <\/strong>\u2018where are they now\u2019<\/strong><\/em> piece about a club\u2019s former player.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are often an insightful read and of genuine interest to\nmost fans as we all want to wish our clubs servants well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, to be honest, some stories just aren\u2019t worth\ntelling as it is the usual \u2018does a bit of\nmedia\u2019<\/em> or \u2018plays golf all day\u2019<\/em>\nbut that is not the case when it comes to former Spurs attacking midfielder Rafael\nvan der Vaart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 36-year-old may well have ended his professional football\ncareer, but rather than taking the route of staying in the game, the World Cup\nfinalist has taken an altogether different path and is joining the ranks of\nprofessional darts players on the BDO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside his brother Fernando, Rafael van der Vaart will compete\nin the Denmark Open and Denmark Masters as he pits his wits against a different\ntype of sports star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is known to be handy on the oche too and has played in a\npro-am event with fellow Dutchman Michael van Gerwen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Vaart\u2019s participation is clearly nothing to do with\nmoney as the total prize pool for the event is expected to be around the \u00a36000\nmark \u2013 a fraction of what he was earning in his Tottenham and Real Madrid days.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hope for Van der Vaart will surely be to make it onto\nthe PDC Tour as that is viewed as the Champions League of darts whereas the BDO\nis more your Championship stuff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 1993, the top players split from the BDO to form their\nown World Darts Council and from there, the emergence of the PDC came into\nbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Now the PDC offers\nmore televised events and far more prize money than the BDO although both still\nhave their own versions of the World Championships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Vaart will be used to pressure but this will be of a\ndifferent kind, after netting 24-goals in 63-games for the Lilywhites, the hope\nis van der Vaart can bring that type of form to the Oche and become just as\nwell-known for his darts skills as his football skills. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is not uncommon for us to write a \u2018where are they now\u2019 piece about a club\u2019s former player. They are often an insightful read […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[266,185,136],"class_list":["post-1387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-darts","tag-premier-league","tag-rafael-van-der-vaart"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Spurs Star to Make Pro Darts Debut - Spurs For Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spursforlife.com\/former-spurs-star-to-make-pro-darts-debut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Spurs Star to Make Pro Darts Debut - Spurs For Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is not uncommon for us to write a \u2018where are they now\u2019 piece about a club\u2019s former player. 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