Loveable Liverpudlian, serenaded by the masses, and wrapped in an aura of goodwill few in the sport can rival, Stephen Bunting occupies a rarefied space in modern darts – an elite competitor whose popularity often roars louder than the tungsten itself.
Yet popularity, for all its intoxicating volume, is not a currency that guarantees sanctuary. And after a bruising third-round exit at the PDC World Championship to James Hurrell, the Bullet now finds his 2026 Premier League destiny hanging by a silken, fraying thread.
Around the globe, Bunting is adored. From Rotterdam to Wolverhampton, the decibel count spikes whenever he strides on stage, fists clenched, heart on sleeve. He is box-office incarnate – the sort of player crowds canonise. But darts, for all its romance, is ultimately ruled by cold arithmetic. Deep runs. Big nights. Silverware. These are the true rites of passage.
Heading into Ally Pally, Bunting sat fourth on the PDC Order of Merit – a position that, under normal circumstances, would be tantamount to Premier League salvation. Automatic. Unquestioned. But darts is never content with normality. With his early exit, the door has creaked open – and Jonny Clayton is already looming in the doorway.Should the Welsh maestro dispatch Swedish surprise package Andreas Harrysson, he will leapfrog Bunting and consign the Liverpudlian to fifth.
And even if Clayton stumbles, the hounds are still baying. Gian van Veen, Josh Rock, and Nathan Aspinall all lurk within striking distance, each capable of shuffling the deck further. Without the sanctity of a top-four finish, Bunting’s fate shifts from ticked to picked – and that is a far more treacherous audition.
Form, cruelly, cuts both ways. Early 2025 painted Bunting in heroic hues. A semi-final at the previous World Championship, followed by quarter-final runs at the World Masters and World Matchplay, suggested momentum, maturity, menace. The Premier League campaign? Best left as a footnote written in invisible ink.
Then came the autumnal reckoning. World Grand Prix – second round. European Championship – first hurdle, fallen. Grand Slam – three matches, three defeats, group-stage oblivion. Players Championship Finals – round two and out. The back end of the year read like a slow unravelling and Ally Pally was meant to be the repair job. It wasn’t.
Now imagine the selectors’ whiteboard. Luke Littler. Luke Humphries. Michael van Gerwen. Clayton. Half the Premier League filled in bold ink. Add the near-inevitable inclusion of van Veen and the clamour for Rock, and suddenly there are precious few chairs left when the music stops.
So Bunting waits at home either hoping that fifth is just enough. Or perhaps he prays for one more Scandinavian thunderbolt. Another Harrysson upset. Another twist in the plot.Of course, his immense popularity of being a social media star still carries weight. Also, the anthemic walk-on when he serenades the crowd still matter in a room where decisions are made behind closed doors. Because for Bunting, this is no longer about darts alone. It is about destiny, discretion – and whether love can still outweigh ledger.
If the Premier League competitors were selected purely based on popularity amongst the elite (which some cynics believe is true) then Stephen Bunting has absolutely nothing to worry about.
Yet to add more substance to his inclusion claims going forward, he needs to start adding more TV major ranking silverware to his cabinet. After all, everyone knows he is good enough. Far better than that lone Masters (PDC) trophy suggests.
—–Ends——
Images: PDC
