One of darts' most recognisable voices makes retirement decision as he confirms final tournament
ONE of Darts' most recognisable voices will be putting down the microphone and stepping away from the sport next year.
Iconic referee George Noble has announced that he will retire from the PDC circuit following next year's World Darts Championship.
Noble, 56, has been one of the top callers in darts for the last three decades, taking to the stage alongside some of the world's best tungsten throwers - including Luke Littler and Phil Taylor.
The experienced professional has already called time on his work as a referee on the European Tour, stepping away after the Dutch Darts Championship last week.
And now he has revealed that he will step away from the PDC tour next year too.
Noble, who is nicknamed 'the Puppy', started his career as a referee in 1992 when the regular country caller called in sick.
Unbelievably, he then went on to call every BDO World Championship final between 1995 and 2007.
He joined the PDC Tour later in 2007 , where he called the first ever nine-dart finish in PDC World Championship history when Raymond van Barneveld hit a perfect leg against Jelle Klaasen in 2009.
Since then he has been the voice of a total of 21 televised nine-darters - more than any other referee.
While he has taken part in 18 World Darts Championships.
Noble is the next in a line of top callers to bring an end to their careers in recent years, following the likes of Russ Bray and Paul Hinks.
And the Crawly ref has called on change going forward, hoping to see more diversity on stage in the near future.
He told Viaplay: "I think it's time we had the first female referee at a major tournament… and maybe even the first non-British one, too."
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