Jonny Clayton tells darts rival to ‘eat your words’ over stick he gave him when switching from BDO to PDC

JONNY CLAYTON admits he faced backlash from rival Ross Montgomery when he jumped from the BDO to the PDC.

‘The Ferret’ made the bold move in 2015 after clinching his Tour Card at Q-School – and he hasn’t looked back since.

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Welsh thrower Clayton racked up four major titles and 10 ProTour Event wins in his illustrious career.

But Clayton says the switch came with plenty of stick and one exchange in particular has stayed with him ever since.

He told the Tops and Tales podcast: “I remember Ross Montgomery turning around and saying, ‘I heard you’re trying Q-School’. 

“I said: ‘Yeah’. The s*** he gave me by saying, ‘You’re swapping codes’ and stuff — I thought, well, I’ve never played Lakeside in the World Championships, I’ve never done anything like that. 

“Me personally, I thought, ‘Well, sod off. It’s got nothing to do with you, mate. I really don’t care what your opinion is.

“I was lucky enough to win my card on the fourth day.

“I think I had to get a semi-final to get a one-year card, if I remember right, but I won the day — so it gave me a two-year card.

“And I’ve never looked back from there.”

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Montgomery became a PDC Tour Card holder himself from 2022 through till 2023 and also played on the ill-fated World Seniors winning the World title and Champion of Champions.

World No.8 Clayton added: “Yeah, I didn’t like it. Considering that he’s jumped over to the PDC now anyway… whatever he told me back in the day — sorry Ross boy, but you should eat your words.

“But, you know, we were there because I’m big friends with Alan Soutar, and it was just a decision that I made.”

Clayton insists he has nothing but respect for the BDO and the roots of the game.

He revealed: “No, I’ve never slagged the BDO off.

“That’s where most of us as players started, and I really enjoyed my time there. 

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“I’d never, ever slag it off because we had good fun. They were a great bunch of people.

“But it was getting to that time where, if I was going to give it a go, I had to do it. 

“I think I was Welsh No.1 on averages at the time, so I thought, right — give it a go.”