NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

'Dead-end' worker on verge of $259,000 darts win

1 Jan, 2008 02:02 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

KEY POINTS:

Kirk Shepherd is a penniless sheet metal worker from Kent in southern England. Today he stands one win away from pocketing 100,000 pounds ($259,000) as darts world champion.

Shepherd lives at home with his parents, cannot afford a car and gets up at seven every morning to walk
two miles and back to his "horrible dead-end job" as an 8,000 pounds-a-year ($21,000) sheet metal worker.

No wonder he talks about the last fortnight as a "life-changing experience".

Tonight the 21-year-old from Kent plays Canada's John Part, the 2003 champion, in the final of the PDC World Darts Championship.

If he loses he will leave Alexandra Palace with a cheque for 50,000 pounds, which is 48,030 pounds more than he had earned from darts before the start of the tournament.

If he wins, he will double his prize-money to 100,000 pounds.

The only certainty is that one of the workers at FK Moore and Son, "the premier suppliers of fixing and fasteners for the glass industries", will not be clocking on for work at his scheduled start time at Haine Industrial Park in Ramsgate tomorrow morning.

Indeed, it is a pretty safe bet that the firm will soon be looking for someone else to make hooks and screws out of sheets of brass metal.

"I really hate the job," Shepherd said in the small hours of yesterday morning as he reflected on his semi-final victory over Wayne Mardle on Sunday night.

"I'd love not to set foot in the place again. I want to get out of it. Now I think I probably can, though I'm not thinking about that at the moment. I'll worry about that after the final."

Shepherd is the youngest player ever to win a place in the PDC final and is attempting to become the first qualifier to lift the world title since Keith Deller in 1983.

If he wins, he will be two days younger than Jelle Klaasen when the Dutchman upset his fellow countryman, Raymond van Barneveld, to win the rival BDO world crown two years ago.

Ladbrokes, the sponsors, have taken some 20 million pounds ($52 million) in bets on the last fortnight's action at Ally Pally, but only one punter, staking just 5 pounds, backed Shepherd at his pre-tournament odds of 500-1.

There was, after all, little reason to fancy a player who was one of eight to emerge from a 160-strong field at a qualifying tournament and had made little impact since joining the Professional Darts Corporation circuit two years ago.

Shepherd, the world No 140, is not short of confidence, but even he admitted: "When I came here I knew that if played the darts I could I might do well, but I never dreamt I'd reach the world final. Now I really think I can win this.

"At the start I was just chuffed to have qualified for the world championship."

Shepherd's expectations were such that he did not bring enough clothes with him on returning to London for the resumption of the tournament on Boxing Day.

"My girlfriend's been washing them in the bath at the hotel," he said.

"Two pairs of boxer shorts for seven days were not enough."

But for his mother's ability with a needle and thread Shepherd might also have been looking for a new pair of trousers.

"I split them when I reached down to high-five some mates of mine at the front of the crowd after the quarter-final," Shepherd said.

"Thankfully, mum was around to sew them up."

His parents, Debbie and Keith, have been Shepherd's support team ever since he took up darts at the age of 13 and started practising on a board hung from the bathroom door.

"Mum wasn't very happy when I smashed a window one day when I missed," he said.

"She's a diamond for me. I give her £18 a week towards my keep. You can't beat living at home. I don't think I'd survive living in my own place on my own.

"My mum and dad have been brilliant, supporting me all the way, driving me to wherever I've been playing. Now the rewards are starting to come for all the work they've put in for me.

"I wrote my Ford Fiesta off when I ran up the backside of some old lady about a year and a half ago. After that I couldn't afford to buy another car, or the insurance.

"I have to walk two miles to and from work, whatever the weather is. The factory's on an industrial estate and the buses don't go down there.

"I had to work the day before my first match here because my boss wouldn't give me the time off.

"They've been pretty good at giving me time off without pay when I've run out of holiday and need to go to a tournament, but if I can win here I hope this will be my future from now on."

Until now Shepherd has had to limit his practice to two hours every evening after work, but a new future is beckoning.

He plans to take his parents and girlfriend on a week's holiday after the tournament but then hopes he can concentrate on moving up the world rankings and winning direct entry to the biggest events.

The evidence of the last fortnight is that he clearly has a big-match temperament, which he puts down to experience in karate, which he gave up when he was 16 in order to concentrate on darts.

"I used to fight in front of a lot of big crowds at places like Crystal Palace and I think that's what's helped me here. Karate's a lot harder than playing darts and it helps you concentrate.

"When you lose focus at karate for just one second you get hurt.

"If I'm going to win the final I need to block out all thoughts about the money and how my life might change as a result. I just have to concentrate on beating John Part."

- INDEPENDENT

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Boxing

'Boxing saved my life': Kiwi champ set for historic showdown

Sport

Solar system: Warriors match to provide NRL first, powered by sun

Racing

Why Wexford Stables had a record season and what comes next


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

'Boxing saved my life': Kiwi champ set for historic showdown
Boxing

'Boxing saved my life': Kiwi champ set for historic showdown

Lani Daniels will fight Claressa Shields in Detroit on July 27 (NZT).

26 Jul 12:00 AM
Solar system: Warriors match to provide NRL first, powered by sun
Sport

Solar system: Warriors match to provide NRL first, powered by sun

25 Jul 11:16 PM
Why Wexford Stables had a record season and what comes next
Racing

Why Wexford Stables had a record season and what comes next

25 Jul 11:04 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP