After last nights unrelenting drama at London’s O2 members of the DW team recalled many a memory from the PDC’s flagship roadshow. A finals night with all games going to decider and the overflowing emotion of a young champion will surely remain in the highlight reels of Premier League darts for a long time to come. Here are our selection of six vignettes that have stood the test of time so far:
Chapter One – 2005: The Foundations of a Giant
The inaugural 2005 Premier League Darts campaign represented a seminal moment in the competition’s embryonic evolution, establishing the tournament as one of the PDC’s most prestigious televised spectacles. Though still comparatively youthful in stature, the event already exhibited unmistakable indications of the colossal sporting enterprise it would ultimately become.
Phil Taylor once again demonstrated his extraordinary pre-eminence, securing the title through a succession of imperious displays against an elite invitational field. Simultaneously, the tournament’s expanding arena atmosphere and increasingly theatrical presentation revealed the Premier League’s immense commercial and cultural potential.
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Chapter Two – 2010: Taylor’s Absolute Supremacy
By 2010, the event had become one of professional darts’ definitive flagship productions. That particular season remains synonymous with Phil Taylor’s astonishing brilliance, culminating in a commanding final victory over James Wade at Wembley Arena in which he produced two separate nine-dart finishes.
Taylor’s sustained consistency throughout the campaign reinforced his overwhelming supremacy during darts’ modern golden epoch. Yet the season also carried a more poignant dimension following Raymond van Barneveld’s withdrawal due to personal difficulties, generating substantial discourse surrounding player welfare and the psychological burdens associated with elite-level competition.
Chapter Three – 2013: The Green Revolution
This season symbolised a transformative generational transition within professional darts through the emergence of Michael van Gerwen as the sport’s new dominant force. The Dutchman captured his maiden Premier League title with a commanding final triumph over Phil Taylor at London’s O2 Arena, effectively signifying the beginning of a new competitive hierarchy. Renowned for its extraordinarily elevated standard of play and increasingly febrile atmospheres, the tournament further consolidated its reputation as one of the PDC’s most commercially lucrative and globally recognisable productions.
Chapter Four – 2020: The Pandemic Campaign
Widely remembered as one of the most anomalous and unprecedented editions in the tournament’s history following extensive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducted largely behind closed doors and across a radically restructured calendar, the campaign unfolded within an atmosphere of profound uncertainty. Glen Durrant ultimately secured the title on debut after defeating Nathan Aspinall in the final, having also topped the league standings. Equally remarkable was Michael van Gerwen’s failure to reach Finals Night for the first time in his Premier League career.
Chapter Five – 2022: Structural Transformation
A change to the norm in which 2022 heralded one of the most consequential structural alterations in Premier League history through the introduction of the nightly knockout format. The revised system intensified volatility, urgency and spectacle across every individual event night.
MVG ultimately secured a record-equalling sixth Premier League crown after edging out Joe Cullen in a dramatic 11-10 final in Berlin, with Cullen narrowly missing a match dart for a fairytale debut triumph. The season was additionally immortalised by Gerwyn Price producing two extraordinary nine-dart finishes during the same evening in Belfast.
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Chapter Six – 2024-2026: The Littler Darts Phenomenon
More recently, this period has seen one of the most culturally transformative seasons in the competition’s chronology. Teenage sensation Luke Littler captured the title on debut with an emphatic final victory over Luke Humphries at London’s O2 Arena, further immortalising the occasion through a sensational nine-dart finish during the final itself.
Defeat to Luke Humphries in the 2025 final and its reversal last night in such a charged finale has cemented that rivalry as one that would continue and perhaps define this era of PDC darts.
Littler’s meteoric ascent propelled professional darts into unprecedented mainstream visibility, while the tournament generated extraordinary viewing figures, immense commercial magnification and intensified global interest, reinforcing the Premier League’s position as one of the sport’s most influential contemporary spectacles.
Images: PDC
