WAYNE ROONEY’s agency believes they have found the next darts’ cash cow – in the shape of a Dutchman who hails from dairy farm stock.
Jurjen van der Velde, 23, is one of the most exciting young prospects in darts and he makes his World Championship debut on Tuesday evening.
The Dutchman is signed up to Invictus Darts Management – the brainchild of Paul Stretford, long-term adviser of Manchester United and England great Rooney – to snap up the next generation of tungsten talent.
What Stretford and fellow bosses at the Triple S Group like about Van der Velde is his playing ability, his personality and his hard-working background.
Remarkably, his family farm in Zevenhuizen, in the north of the Netherlands, has…wait for it…180 COWS!
Whenever he is back home, he tries to help out when he can, though the oche is his full-time role – these days he throws for Bulls rather than milk them.
Van der Velde said: “At the start of the year I started to live together with my girlfriend but I still work on the farm, milking the cows and driving the tractor.
“How many cows are there? About 180 – there is no particular reason why it’s that number but it fits well.
“We have around 80 hectares including the fields but 180 cows need space to graze.
“When I milk them, the alarm goes off at 4.15am, which always feels very early.
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“We start by cleaning the boxes [sheds] and around five o’clock we start milking.
“We clean the udders with towels but the actual miking is done by machines.
“It’s a family business – my grandad started it and my dad took it over.
“We normally finish the milking around 8am, so we go in the house for some coffee and bread.
“After that, sometimes my dad needs my help and sometimes I can go home.
“Believe it or not I’m not an early bird, even though I get up at 4.15am, so sometimes I will go back to bed for two hours and then I start to practise.
“My father told me if you need to travel to play darts, we can get help and that’s okay.
“I don’t drink milk from the supermarkets because I don’t like some of the things they put in the milk – and the taste is very different when you take it directly from the farm.
“That’s the only milk I drink – from our farm, because I know it from the taste.
“It comes from a big tank of 13,000 litres, which empties every two days when we sell it on.”
Van der Velde – who faces compatriot Danny Noppert in round one – played in the UK Open at Butlin’s Minehead in March.
Some wag in the crowd saw his pale complexion and shouted: “Come on the Milky Bar Kid!”
He joked: “If people want to give me a nickname, that’s okay.
“Someone has already made two pictures of me and the Milky Bar Kid and put us together, which was fantastic.”
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LUK OUT!
Van der Velde, a big star on the PDC Development Tour, came within one leg of beating Gian van Veen in the 2024 World Youth final.
Nerves sometimes get the better of him, as evident at last month’s Grand Slam of Darts when he threw up backstage before going up.
The world No.116 said: “When the one-minute call came to get ready for the walk-on I was not ready.
“So I went to the back door, took in some fresh air, took a deep breath and that helped me.
“Some people get so nervous they throw up – I did, but maybe it helped me because I won that game.”
Stretford – who has been with former Manchester United forward Rooney since he burst on to the scene as a teenager with Everton – recently created a darts division to unearth the next stars.
There has never been more money in the sport as there is now, with £1million for the next world champion.
Van der Velde said: “A few weeks ago I signed with a new management team (Paul Stretford) and they are helping me a lot.
“Wayne Rooney and other popular people like Robbie Williams are in the same stable and I have a good feeling about it. I am in good company.”
