Team works hard to get venue ready for week of darts action

A large team from the Professional Darts Corporation have been working hard to install the stage, set up tables and seating and fully stock the bars and merchandise tables ahead of the start of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts.

The tournament, which features a 32-player field over nine days of competition, has returned to WV Active Aldersley for the fifth time, having become the home of the tournament in 2018 following the start of works to renovate the Civic Hall.

Apart from a Covid-affected year in 2020, where the tournament was played behind closed doors in Coventry, Aldersley has become the permanent home of the tournament, with more than 15,000 tickets already sold and action set to begin on Saturday.

While the eyes of the world and those in attendance will be on the likes of Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Michael Van Gerwin and Gary Anderson, the unsung heroes of the operation are the team who will have worked long hours to get the arena set up.

Starting on Thursday, the team have worked to set up the large stage at the back of the hall, which features stairs leading up to the oche, dart board, tables for players and the back wall, which has Grand Slam of Darts and Mr Vegas livery on it.

The team have also worked to set up the seating near the entrance to the hall, the bar, which has two types of lager, one cider and one beer on offer, and the tables, which will run along the centre of the hall up to the staging area.

Additionally, there will be a seating area the other side of the walkway for the players family and friends and barriers both sides to allow the players to walk up to the stage.

It's a two-day turnaround for the team from getting into the venue to turning it into an international darts arena and the leader of the team Lee Kelly spoke about the work that goes in and the history of moving to the venue.

He said: "We turn up roughly two days before an event and load in all the equipment and then we have three or four teams who work through the day and sometimes late into the night to make sure we can get the event on ready for the paying public to come in.

"There's also the TV trucks outside that have to be set up and building the stage, which has new sponsors this year and a new design, so we're always looking for stuff to improve.

"When we first came here, we had to get a lot of framework and infrastructure put in before we could mount anything in the air because the building didn't have that.

"We spend hours putting this together to make sure it's perfect for the paying public and we do get complements from the players about how good the sets look and designs."

The tournament runs until Sunday, November 19. To find out more and to buy tickets, go to pdc.seetickets.com/tour/grand-slam-of-darts