2021 saw the UK beginning to overcome Covid and a darts redemption story cast in Welsh tungsten seemed to fit the bill just nicely :
NOT even Hollywood would normally dare write a script where villains become heroes. Only in Marvel movies does this sort of turnaround of fortunes for characters become some sort of vague reality. When Gerwyn Price lifted his first major trophy at the Grand Slam, his reign began in a rain of resentment. There were more boos than confetti fluttering around his ears.
For over a year every walk-on, every important dart thrown was greeted with hatred, a cacophony of fear and loathing. Getting to the top in any sport is tough enough, let alone being the enemy of the people who pay to watch you. Yet this Welshman has proved to be made of very stern stuff. Yes his Iceman shirt is taught and stretched over every rippling muscle, ab and bicep.
But it’s the incredible strength mentally that has been the key ingredient and carried him all the way to carrying off The Sid Waddell Trophy on January 3 2021.
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There was a moment on stage before he was announced by John McDonald as World Champion when Price looked to the sky. He must have fleetingly remembered the tough times, the social media trolling, the pure bile thrown at him. It was all worth it. However, it might never have happened if he had listened to his wife, who didn’t want him to quit rugby for the oche.
Price, 35, revealed to Darts World:
“She didn’t want me to do it because she didn’t like the change. Obviously my rugby was the main income, I was earning decent money in rugby.
“I said: ‘I am doing alright in darts, I want to give up and finish rugby.’ Now I say to her: ‘Well, a few years ago you didn’t want me to finish, shall I go back to rugby?’ Oh, no. You can play darts, it’s fine.
“Rugby was the main income for me, she was working as a legal assistant in Cardiff with a solicitor’s firm. It was a difficult choice to take but I was doing alright at the time when I decided to make that change. And I was earning more money in darts than I was in rugby. It was probably an easy decision to make.”
Price admitted that there will be a precious moment when the family realises what has been achieved. He added:
“I don’t know, it is going to be crazy, until that moment happens I cannot really explain it. There have been difficult moments along the way and I am happy I have picked this trophy up. I am sure over the next couple of months this will sink in, and I will find tears.”
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There has been a fascinating evolution of Price as a player and perhaps even as a person since that feisty Slam in late 2018. He has reacted to the crowds, lost because of the boos yet managed to turn that into a powerful inspiration of focus on stage. Price admits that experience has turned him into a champion, adding:
“One million per cent. I know for a fact for the last 24 months, the fans have moulded me into the player I am.
“Two years ago when I played Nathan Aspinall, I was two sets up, the fans got on my back. That was the making of Nathan when he got to that semi-final.
“If the fans were here in this tournament, I don’t know whether I’d be lifting this trophy up. “Sometimes it can be tough when the fans are on your back. I’m just glad that the darts shone in this tournament and I’m picking this trophy up.
“I’ll be surprised if I do get cheered but I hope they do. I do actually play some decent darts. I think the final was a good game compared to a couple of years ago in the Grand Slam final. Hopefully the fans can back off a little bit and give me a bit of respect.
“I don’t mind boos. I don’t mind the pantomime villain side of it. I’ve earned a little bit of respect now. I’ve shown I’m not up there to make out what they think I am.
“I’ve always been the same from the beginning, even before playing Gary Anderson. It all stemmed from that 2018 Grand Slam final when people started booing me.
“I was the same player before then and since then. It’s been difficult sometimes with the crowds, but I enjoy it now and again.”
Price insists that being World Champion won’t change his approach to the sport. It was apparent that his World Championship final demeanour was far more business-like than previously. But the loud celebrations will continue and perhaps even his fitness levels could change the look of the sport going forward to new players coming in. He said:
“I don’t know, possibly. It really depends how other people look at it. Playing set format can help if you’re in shape rather than not. “Every game is different, the environment as well, not having crowds and not having that buzz and energy off them.
“Pro Tours are different from TV events, you don’t have that energy, you can’t celebrate and get yourself going. But sometimes that’s where I play my best darts. That’s about balance where I celebrate off stage as well as on stage.
“I’m still learning, I’m still trying to find that right balance to keep myself under control.”
Remarkably, Price won his PDC Tour Card just a couple of weeks after Michael van Gerwen first went to World No.1 back in early 2014. Just seven years later, The Iceman then knocks MVG off his spot at the top of the Order of Merit. He said:
“Exactly, the standard there is now, the likes of Phil (Taylor), who had held the reins for years, then Michael. Since I turned up anyway, Michael was the best player in the world. Now I am!
“It was a difficult trophy to win. Like I said a million times, I never thought that I would ever pick this trophy up. I thought I could possibly get into the top 32, earn a decent living, and give up rugby. I am top of the tree now and I am holding the biggest and best trophy possible.
“I went to Q School with no expectations and went through on the second day. “I didn’t know you had to pay to enter each tournament or I wouldn’t have gone to Q School. I didn’t know it was £100 entry fee every time you played.”
Price also revealed that it was a conversation with Mervyn King – one of his opponents en route to the title – who helped guide him in the early days at the PDC. He added:
“Each year I’ve been winning a lot more. Learning how to deal with certain players, especially the bigger players.
“I didn’t beat Michael for a long time, I think it was 20 in a row and soon as I had done once, I maybe lost another two or three, but then I beat him the next two. Now I’m more and more confident against those sort of players and the tide is going to turn.
“It was all experience, You can’t just expect to go anywhere and jump in the deep end. It’s not possible the standard is so high now in the PDC.
“I can remember speaking to Merv King years and years ago. He used to say ‘what do you expect from today’ and I’d say ‘I want to win 10 grand’. I’m not here to lose.
“But he always said you are new to the game, you need to take it step by step. Just think about getting to the last 16, last eight and go from that.
“As soon as I sort of got that mentality I went from strength-to-strength, not trying to win everything all in one go.
“It’s the same in all walks of life. If you want to be a carpenter or electrician you “If I’d been the player I was four or five years ago in a couple of the games in the World Championship I would never have won. I’ve just learnt from my mistakes.
“I never give up. As long as you’ve still got a dart in your hand and they haven’t finished the game off, you’ve always got a chance. “Especially against Stephen Bunting, I think I was 3-1 down. But I’ve been in that situation before and it all comes back to the experience.”
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Price became only the fifth Welsh world champion but first in the PDC. Leighton Rees became the first-ever BDO world champ in 1978 followed by wins for Leighton Rees, Richie Burnett, Mark Webster and Wayne Warren.
He added: “It’s probably tougher to be World No.1 than to win this trophy, as tough as this is to win. “This is good, but to be World No.1, you need to do it for two years and I think I deserve it.
“In my career, I thought you’d mention rugby players alongside me, but it’s the darts players now! “I don’t care how many I win. I am World No.1 and World Champion. I never dreamt of that until this year. I can’t wait for John McDonald to call me out for my next game.”
The pantomime villain who went on to defy the script and become a hero. Oh yes he did it!
Images: PDC / Taylor Lanning
Words: Phil Lanning
Originally published in Dart World 570 (Summer 2020) with additional editing for context.
Magazine Pages/Graphics: Darts World Ltd
