"When Alexander of Macedonia was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer - Bristow is only 27!"

The words of Sid Waddell after Eric Bristow lifted the World Professional Darts title in 1984.

And now, the Crafty Cockney is hoping to do it all over again as he heads to Blackburn tonight with some of the greatest players to ever toss the tungsten.

During the 1980s, Bristow was the most recognisable darter on the planet and helped to bring the sport from the pubs into the mainstream.

With his inimitable swagger and his unique throwing style - what he called his "perked up right pinkie" - Bristow won 32 titles during his career.

The 51-year-old now works as a spotter on Sky Sports - helping the cameraman to focus in on a specific part of the board when a player is looking to finish - as well as a packed exhibition schedule.

And now, the PDC Hall of Famer is ready to add the BetFred.com League of Legends.com to his impressive CV.

And along with John Lowe, Peter Evison, Keith Deller, Dave Whitcombe, Bob Anderson and Bobby George, the original pioneers of the game are ready to wow audiences up and down the country.

But this isn't just a farewell tour, with a total prize fund of £90,000 up for grabs.

And Bristow said he was hoping that Blackburn would be bouncing once again.

He said: "I hope this is just the start of something big. It will give some of the players who are just coming to the end of their careers another two or three years and give them a nice little pay day. It's like we're the pioneers again.

"A lot of people want to see us again. This is probably the last time you will see the eight of us on the same stage, so people will come along for that.

"I was quite surprised at the Circus Tavern to see a few young ones in and it was nice to see. We don't want the hall filled with zimmer frames!"

The first round at the Circus Tavern saw Bristow up against Bobby George - a thriller which saw Bristow come out on top 7-5.

The five-time world champ-ion faces Cliff Lazarenko on matchday two, and Bristow was pleased to have got off to a winning start.

He added: "It's all laughing joking upstairs until you have to go on and then it all goes quiet. That's the way it should be.

"We all want to beat each other. There's no way I want to lose to any of them. I'm really glad I took Bobby out in the first show because he's one of the favourites.

"He's still play comp-etitively and playing well. He got a bit nervous on the night and that was great for me.

"I've got big Cliff and that should be another cracker. He lost his first game so he'll be gunning for me tonight."

The inception of the Professional Darts Corp-oration has taken darts - and the money involved - to a new level.

But despite the mega-bucks on offer to the top stars, Bristow is more than happy with his lot.

"I had some good times and I can't knock what I did in my career," he said. "Now it's Taylor and Barney's turn.

"I still earn a great living out of darts. I work with Sky and I'm off to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks time. I have a great job and I still do my exhibitions.

"I wanted to win championships, it was never about the money.

"I always think that it's the same as snooker. When you had the first pioneers of snooker, when it first came on TV, you had players who loved the game.

"They were just happy to get on TV but now, like anything where there's a lot of money to be earned, people will think they can make a living out of it and it won't be the same, but I don't think darts will ever be like that."

A clash of two former world champions is another highlight of the night when Bob Anderson, the 1988 world champion, takes on the only man to have captured the game's most prized title in three different decades, John Lowe.

Early table-topper Dave Whitcombe, a 7-3 winner against Lowe on night one, faces Bobby George, while Keith Deller bids to preserve his 100 per cent record when he meets Peter Evison.

There will also be a celebrity thrower on the night as Craig Phillips, winner of the first series of Big Brother, is to go on stage to throw nine darts on a pounds-for-points basis with proceeds donated to UCARE, a urological cancer charity supported by the Legends.