Nicknamed ‘Simply’, former professional player Steve West clearly went down the road of choosing a big Tina Turner hit for his moniker. It probably would have worked far better if the 51-year-old had a double-barrelled surname of ‘The West’. But he doesn’t. So the moniker kind of falls flat on its arse.

However, he seems happy with it – which is ultimately what counts. And before we go any further – no – Steve is no relation to Fred West, although I do believe they both share a keen love of gardening.

As a Spurs fanatic, there’s plenty of opportunity to completely go to town and take the piss. However, given I support Liverpool – and the dire recent season we just had – I feel it would be hypocritical to ridicule Westy’s beloved Tottenham.

But the Epping-born chucker had a lot on his mind and, using an apt forest reference, wanted to clear the trees and show people the clearing. Naturally, as Bang On Target welcomes that kind of blunt honesty, I was all in.

First things first, a bit of background. And for Steve, it all begins with a bittersweet moment.

“Around the same time I lost my Tour Card, I met my now wife, Michelle, at the Gibraltar Open. At least I found happiness in a loving relationship.”

Melts the heart hey? Most people visiting The Rock normally get annoyed by monkeys or have their 10,000 cigarettes seized by customs. But for West, a tournament semi-final and bagging a future wife was a decent return for his trip there.

Nowadays, when he isn’t at home or on the oche, this is what he does for a living:

“I deliver wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Been doing that for just over a year. Just around the same time we moved to Waterlooville in Hampshire.”

There’s a certain irony about a bloke with a dodgy hip dropping off wheelchairs. A little like a fat bloke driving an ice-cream van, I guess. Relief is always close at hand.

During what can be described as a solid PDC innings, despite not picking up any silverware, Steve gained a gulf of experience performing in most major televised events and enjoyed more semis than a hormonal teenager with his parents away for the weekend.

“Overall, I’ve had a decent career, but I would have liked to have won a PDC title. The biggest thrill came at the 2016 World Grand Prix when I beat Phil Taylor but lost next round to Daryl Gurney.”

Beating the greatest player the sport has ever seen in a major televised tournament is certainly one of the standout moments of anyone’s career. But it’s what happened afterwards that still lingers in Steve’s mind. And I don’t mean being beaten by Superchin. No, we fast-forward a couple of years to the issue that really irks him.

“Dropping from 18th down to forty-odd due to COVID. That pretty much destroyed me. Not just with the ranking slide, but mentally, it made me extremely ill.”

Of course, what Steve is referring to is not being able to defend the ranking money he won in 2018 two years later. Largely because the world was in lockdown. Subsequently, if you were limited to just an hour for your daily stroll and could only attempt to speak to your deaf Nan through a nursing home window, it was highly unlikely that PDC Euro Tour events were going to crack on.

“During that period the rankings should have been frozen. I dropped so far down simply because I couldn’t defend the money I earned.”

He makes a very good point. It’s one thing not being good enough to qualify. It’s something completely different when the tournaments aren’t even taking place. You’d have more chance of defending yourself against a bloodthirsty, axe-wielding maniac armed with nothing more than a toothbrush than protecting the ranking money without the event even happening.

Steve then wanted to address a very serious issue in darts. One which countless players from all levels of the sport have endured. Mental health illness. Words uttered with all the trepidation as ‘Dartitis’ and ‘Tax Bill’.

It’s an issue that has become increasingly discussed throughout professional sport in recent years, but West feels darts has been slow to catch up. And more than that, most of the PDPA representatives probably shouldn’t expect a Christmas card from the West household.

“The PDPA doesn’t seem to safeguard players properly. Mental health support simply wasn’t there in my time. Without the guidance of one of their representatives, Alan [Warriner-Little], things would have been much tougher for me.

West then shared a story that clearly still affects him, referring to a current player whom he wishes to remain anonymous in order to protect his identity. Sure, I can do that, mate. Please continue.

“There was an incident involving a young lad who was struggling with the financial pressures of his first year on tour. When he sought help, he was simply told that even the top eight don’t come to him with mental health issues before being told to ‘man up’. At that moment in his life, receiving the right help and guidance was absolutely crucial. Sadly, he didn’t.

“Thankfully, the lad in question is now in a much better place mentally, thanks in no small part to the support of his family and close friends.”

I’ll admit, it’s difficult listening. At the time, Steve, like all the other PDC lads, was also forced to cough up 5% of all winnings to the PDPA. It’s a little like finishing on pole in a Formula One race and then having to hand a few grand over to the bloke waving the chequered flag. Why? Exactly. Because those are the rules.

Of course, in Formula One that rule doesn’t exist. It would be utterly ridiculous.At the start of 2025, West decided to dip his toe back into the PDC ocean and headed for Q School. But it didn’t exactly go to plan, and, within moments, those hidden demons leapt out again.

“The night before, when I checked into the hotel, I felt absolutely fine. Then the next morning, within five minutes of walking into the venue on day one, I was back in a very dark place mentally. It brought everything back. The pressure, the depression.

“But I fulfilled my commitments on the Challenge Tour that year despite saying at the time, when I entered Q School, it was for the very last time. I would never criticise the PDC. But the pressure to win is immense.”

Nowadays, professional darts has grown into a multi-million-pound sport, but stories like this serve as a reminder that behind every Tour Card holder is an individual dealing with the same pressures and struggles as everyone else.

By this point, Steve had moved from his soapbox and was now sitting on the garage. I let him crack on and asked that, if he had the opportunity to make changes within the PDC, where would he begin. Which At this point, I felt like was opening Pandora’s Box:

“Whilst I was still on tour, I disagreed with first-round losers receiving nothing. The PDC want a bunch of professionals, yet many can’t get a full-time job because tournaments take place midweek. If they’re expected to commit professionally, they should be paid something.

“It’s wrong. They should pay everyone for turning up to work. Rather than give those who win only one match £1,250, keep it to what it was recently, a grand, and pay the others £250.

“Or better still, make the PDPA contribute towards the £16k it would cost. If they’re so concerned about players’ welfare, let them put their hand in their pocket. From my own experience, I still don’t believe the PDPA does enough.”

Yep, I can think we can all gather that, mate!

Steve then continues and didn’t just go to town on his feelings, he took them on a world cruise.

“I also disliked Challenge Tour players being brought into ProTour events. My view was that they shouldn’t be rewarded by replacing Tour Card holders. They arrive full of confidence and momentum, often beating established professionals. I believe byes would have been a fairer solution.

“At the end of the day, if you are fighting to keep your professional status and lose to a Challenge Tour representative playing with confidence and no pressure, it takes away from the achievement of winning a Tour Card in the first place.”

Whether supporters agree or disagree with those opinions, one thing is certain. Steve certainly isn’t afraid to say exactly what he thinks. None of us truly know how hard it is to row that boat until we’ve climbed into it ourselves and faced the choppy waters. And this is a bloke who knows all about swimming against a tide.

Professional sport can be incredibly lonely. One minute you’re travelling the country every weekend, surrounded by familiar faces. The next, you’re wondering whether those friendships were genuine or simply built around the next tournament.

Naturally, I asked Steve whether people disappeared after he lost his Tour Card.

“Rob Thornton and Nico [Paul Nicholson] remained close friends. A few others also stayed in touch and supported me through difficult periods. But, on the whole, a lot just didn’t bother, which was hurtful.”

Some friendships, thankfully, are worth far more than a ranking position. West also revealed just how dark life became with a shuddering revelation.

“At my lowest point, I always ensured I had company on journeys. So I’d often drive with young Jarred Cole or George Killington. Quite simply, because I was suicidal. I didn’t trust myself alone because of my mental state and often contemplated simply driving into the central reservation and ending it all. The only reason I didn’t is because I’d have taken their lives too.”

Those are sobering words indeed. Mental health is often spoken about in broad terms, but hearing somebody describe exactly where their mind had taken them gives the subject an entirely different perspective.

Nowadays, darts occupies a very different place in West’s day to day life.

“I now mainly play ADC events at Bradmoor Farm, selected WDF tournaments and I’m not overly concerned about qualifying for Lakeside. I just enjoy catching up with friends. I also play the MODUS Super Series on occasion and Vault events on Sundays at my local darts boozer, the Phoenix Club.”

Now that is something I can certainly take the piss out of. If you’re immediately thinking of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights, I’m with you. It’s hard to imagine Steve, alongside fellow Waterlooville resident Simon Whitlock, at the Phoenix Club without picturing the sort of pantomime from the TV series. All I can see is a racist band, an over-exuberant DJ who still thinks he’s working the Dodgems and a shit-stirring psychic. I’m getting the word ……

“However, down there they have an excellent academy.” He adds. And, at that age, Steve believes there is only so much a coach can do.

“At Phoenix Academy we support young players, but parents have a huge role to play too. They need to keep youngsters grounded and stop them taking the game too seriously too early because they don’t yet need to rely on darts for a living.”

West has already seen enough emerging talent to know the future of English darts is in safe hands.

“You’ve got Freddie Rowlands, who looks about seven but is actually fifteen. Also, Riley Pinhorne and Leo Howard, who is sixteen and has already represented England. A winning attitude is important, but too much pressure can become destructive.”

The latter is the son of the owner, Dale Howard, whom they have humorously nicknamed Frankie – a joke perhaps better appreciated by fans of the Carry-On films. Still, it’s better than the crappy ‘Simply’ Steve came up with if we’re comparing monikers.

Nowadays, it’s a quiet, happy life for Steve West. Thankfully, the dark days are largely behind him and he seems very content with a recent body-part replacement.

“I had a hip replacement. Ironically, despite delivering wheelchair-accessible vehicles for a living, I wasn’t eligible for a Blue Badge.”

You’ve got a new hip, buddy. You haven’t had your leg amputated. Besides, long before Steve went all Robocop, he couldn’t have parked much closer to the entrance at the Players Championship events in Barnsley. Any nearer and he’d have pulled up next to the board.

Thankfully, the 51-year old’s story is now a happier one. And he has MODUS to thank for a great deal of it. Not because he’s moved a couple of miles from the Live Lounge and camps outside every week, hoping his name gets called for the following line-up. No. It’s because he’s genuinely appreciative of everything they’ve done for him.

“MODUS has rebuilt my confidence. The people I’ve met, the relaxed atmosphere and the more personal environment have been fantastic. I genuinely believe the organisation has done an enormous amount for me, both as a player and as a person.”

I can hear them reading this saying “Fine, Steve. You can play next week!”

Joking aside, he is set to return for their Double Trouble week later in the season, which is basically the World Grand Prix format but without the less-than-desirable trek to Leicester, a destination that probably shouldn’t appear on anyone’s bucket list.

It’s the place where they finally discovered King Richard III buried beneath a car park. Nobody even knew he could drive. God only knows what his bill came to.

Anyway, thank you to Steve and Michelle for their time. I think this feature article, whilst having a giggle along the way, has also raised some serious issues. Mental health isn’t just a bad mood – it’s a genuine illness. Only by talking about it can we continue to raise awareness.