Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a dart; thus the arrows game, darts; arrowman, darts player.

1936		Manchester Guardian 17 Apr. 11/7: The most distinguished performer in the cup competition threw a straight arrow.
1946		Dart (Feltham) 16 Mar. 3/1: The team with the first throw has an advantage of three arrows [OED].
1975		D. Nobbs Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) 192: And darts, well, I threw a pretty decent arrow myself, in my day.
1980		T. Lewis GBH 78: [H]e’s just having a game of arrows.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 371: [They] had never, in fact, been known to win a darts match. Your more cultured arrowman was always going to be turning elsewhere for his sport. [Ibid.] 444: To his left a dartsman waited at the dimmed oché with his arrows.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 60: Nae hassle in here now boys, a big fat cunt fae the darts team sais, threateningly. He’s still goat his arrays in his hand.