 Whitcombe also defeated Phil Taylor in the first round of the 1988 British Professional, which was Taylor's first televised appearance, but lost in 2 finals, both to Jocky Wilson.Whitcombe helped form the players' association WPDPA (World Professional Dart Players` Association) with John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko, and Tony Brown.The association was set up with the intention of promoting more televised tournaments after the big slump of televised darts in 1989 and the early 1990s.