Phil Taylor (darts player)

Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor
	Taylor in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Philip Douglas Taylor
Nickname	"The Power"; "The Crafty Potter";
Born	13 August 1960 (age 64); Stoke-on-Trent, England
Darts information
Darts	26g Target Phil Taylor Gen 11
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	"The Power" by Snap!
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1987–1993
PDC	1993–2018 (founding member)
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner (2): 1990, 1992
World Masters	Winner (1): 1990
World Trophy	Winner (1): 2006
Int. Darts League	Quarter Final: 2006
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Winner (14): 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013
World Matchplay	Winner (16): 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017
World Grand Prix	Winner (11): 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013
UK Open	Winner (5): 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013
Grand Slam	Winner (6): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014
European Ch'ship	Winner (4): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Premier League	Winner (6): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
Ch'ship League	Winner (4): 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013
Desert Classic	Winner (5): 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
US Open/WSoD	Winner (3): 2006, 2007, 2008
PC Finals	Winner (3): 2009, 2011, 2012
Masters	Winner (1): 2013
Champions League	Winner (1): 2016
World Series Finals	Semi Final: 2015, 2016
WSDT major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Quarter Final: 2022, 2023
World Matchplay	Runner Up: 2022
World Masters	Runner Up: 2022
Champions	Quarter Final: 2023, 2024
Other tournament wins
PDC World Cup of Darts (team event)	2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
German Darts Championship	2012
German Darts Masters	2014
Gibraltar Darts Trophy	2013
Austrian Darts Open	2016
Players Championship (AUS)	2010
Players Championship (BRI)	2008
Players Championship (CRA)	2014, 2015
Players Championship (DER)	2010 (x2)
Players Championship (EIN)	2008 (x2)
Players Championship (GER)	2008 (x2), 2009 (x2)
Players Championship (GIB)	2009 (x2)
Players Championship (HOL)	2005 (x2), 2007 (x2)
Players Championship (IRL)	2005, 2006, 2007,; 2008, 2009, 2011
Players Championship (KIL)	2009
Players Championship (LAV)	2008
Players Championship (MID)	2008
Players Championship (NUL)	2009 (x2)
Players Championship (REA)	2012
Players Championship (SOU)	2008, 2009
Players Championship (WAL)	2005, 2006
Players Championship (WIG)	2010, 2011 (x2)
Bobby Bourn Memorial	2003, 2004, 2005; 2006, 2007, 2008
US Open Players Championship	2010
UK Open Regional (IRL)	2002, 2004
UK Open Regional (MID)	2008, 2009
UK Open Regional (NWE)	2008
UK Open Regional (SWE)	2009
UK Open Regional (SOU)	2003, 2007, 2009
UK Open Regional (WAL)	2002, 2004, 2006
UK Open Qualifier	2010 (x2), 2011 (x2), 2012 (x2); 2014, 2015, 2016
Sydney Darts Masters	2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Perth Darts Masters	2014, 2015
Japan Darts Masters	2015
Melbourne Darts Masters	2017
Antwerp Darts Trophy	2008
Antwerp Open	1997, 1998
Battle of the Champions	1997
British Pentathlon	1990, 1991
Canadian Open	1988
Champion Vs Champion	1999, 2004
Denmark Open	1990
DPA Tournament of Champions	2012
Finnish Open	1990
German Darts Championship	2007, 2009
Gleneagle Irish Masters	2009
IRL Open Autumn Classic	2004, 2005
Isle of Man Open	1990
Jersey Festival of Darts	1990, 1999
Las Vegas Open	1989
Malta Open	1990
Masters of Darts	2005
MDA Face Off	2010
News of the World Ch'ship	1997
WDC UK Masters	1994
WDC UK Matchplay	1996
RTL7 Masters	2011
South African Masters	2007, 2008, 2009
WDF Europe Cup Singles	1990, 1992
WDF Europe Cup Pairs	1990
WDF Europe Cup Teams	1990, 1992
WDF World Cup Team	1991
World Team Championship	1996
Jocky Wilson Cup	2009
World Cricket Championship	2010
Other achievements
2006	PDC Player of the Year
2007	PDC Fans' Player of the Year
2008	Fans' Player of the Year, PDC Player of the Year and PDPA Player's Player of the Year
2009	PDC Player of the Year, PDPA Players' Player of the Year, Fans' Player of the Year and Best PDC Pro Tour Player
2010	Inaugural inductee into Stoke-on-Trent Sporting Hall of Fame
2010	Hit two televised nine-dart finishes in Premier League Final against James Wade
2010	Scored what was then a world record televised average of 118.66 against Kevin Painter in the 2010 UK Open
	Updated on 24 December 2016.

Philip Douglas Taylor (born 13 August 1960) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed "The Power",^[5] he dominated darts across three decades and is widely considered the greatest darts player of all time, having won 214 professional tournaments, including a record 85 major titles and a record 16 World Championships.^[6] In 2015, the BBC rated Taylor among the ten greatest British sportsmen of the last 35 years.^[7]

Taylor took up darts seriously in his mid-twenties and was sponsored and mentored in his early professional career by five-time world champion Eric Bristow. An unseeded 125/1 outsider at the 1990 BDO World Darts Championship, he defeated Bristow 6–1 in the final to win his first world title at age 29. In 1992, he won his second world title in dramatic fashion, defeating Mike Gregory 6–5 in a tiebreak leg after Gregory had missed six championship darts. In 1993, Taylor was among 16 top players who broke away from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form the World Darts Council, later renamed the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He won eight consecutive World Championships from 1995 to 2002, reached 14 consecutive finals from 1994 to 2007 and reached 21 world finals overall, all of which are records. He held the world number one ranking for thirteen years in total, including eight in a row from 2006 to 2013. He won 70 PDC Pro Tour events, which was a record until Michael van Gerwen surpassed it in February 2019. Taylor hit a record 11 televised nine-dart finishes (and 22 overall). He was also the first person to hit two nine-dart finishes in the same match.^[8]

Taylor won the PDC Player of the Year award six times (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and was twice nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, in 2006 and 2010; in the latter year, he finished as runner-up, making him the first darts player to finish in the top two.^[9]^[10]^[11] He was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame in 2011.^[12] He retired from professional darts after the 2018 World Championship, where he finished as runner-up. He competed in the first three World Seniors Darts Championships from 2022 to 2024 but no longer plays darts competitively.

^ Cite error: The named reference PDC Profile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Wade scoops PDC Player of the Year award". Matchroomsport. 10 January 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
^ Cite error: The named reference stokehall was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Taylor on Fire, Whitewashes Kevin Painter and sets new Record with 118.66 AVG". The Oche. 5 June 2010. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
^ "Part relishes Taylor triumph". BBC Sport. 6 January 2003. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
^ "Phil Taylor player profile". Dartsdatabase. Archived from the original on 18 January 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
^ "Top 10: Best of British sportsmen of the last 35 years". BBC. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
^ "Historic Taylor nails TWO 9 darters in Premier League triumph!". Unicorn: The Big Name in Darts. Unicorn. 24 May 2010. pp. "Unicorn Darts News" section. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
^ BBC Press Office (4 December 2006). "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2006 shortlist unveiled". Unicorn: The Big Name in Darts. BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
^ "Sports Personality of the Year 2010: Phil Taylor". Unicorn: The Big Name in Darts. BBC Sport. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
^ "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024: Keely Hodgkinson beats Luke Littler to award as Olympic 800m champion crowned". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 18 December 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
^ "PDC Hall of Fame". pdc.tv. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[PDC_Profile-1] Cite error: The named reference PDC Profile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] "Wade scoops PDC Player of the Year award". Matchroomsport. 10 January 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2010.

[stokehall-3] Cite error: The named reference stokehall was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] "Taylor on Fire, Whitewashes Kevin Painter and sets new Record with 118.66 AVG". The Oche. 5 June 2010. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2010.

[5] "Part relishes Taylor triumph". BBC Sport. 6 January 2003. Retrieved 18 January 2010.

[6] "Phil Taylor player profile". Dartsdatabase. Archived from the original on 18 January 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2010.

[7] "Top 10: Best of British sportsmen of the last 35 years". BBC. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2019.

[2_nine_darts-8] "Historic Taylor nails TWO 9 darters in Premier League triumph!". Unicorn: The Big Name in Darts. Unicorn. 24 May 2010. pp. "Unicorn Darts News" section. Retrieved 27 July 2010.

[SPOTY_2006-9] BBC Press Office (4 December 2006). "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2006 shortlist unveiled". Unicorn: The Big Name in Darts. BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2010.

[SPOTY_2010-10] "Sports Personality of the Year 2010: Phil Taylor". Unicorn: The Big Name in Darts. BBC Sport. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.

[11] "BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024: Keely Hodgkinson beats Luke Littler to award as Olympic 800m champion crowned". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 18 December 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2024.

[12] "PDC Hall of Fame". pdc.tv. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

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