Greatest Darts Players of All Time

Phil Taylor is the greatest darts player of all time. Across a career spanning three decades he won a record 16 World Championships, including eight in a row from 1995 to 2002, and more than 80 televised PDC titles. Beyond him, the conversation includes multiple world champions Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld, 1980s icon Eric Bristow, and rising phenomenon Luke Littler.

What makes a darts player one of the greatest

Greatness in darts is measured first by world titles, because the World Championship is the sport’s biggest stage and the hardest event to win. But raw title counts do not tell the whole story. Longevity matters: staying at the top for a decade or more, as Taylor and van Gerwen both did, separates the legends from the one-off champions.

Consistency of scoring is the other pillar. Elite players are judged on their three-dart averages, their checkout percentages, and the rare perfect leg known as the nine-dart finish. A player who can average over 100 across a major final and clinically take out big finishes is operating at the highest level the sport has ever seen.

Phil Taylor, the undisputed greatest

Phil “The Power” Taylor stands alone at the top. His 16 World Championships (two BDO, 14 PDC) are a record that looks untouchable, and his eight consecutive PDC titles from 1995 to 2002 represent the most dominant run in the sport’s history. In total he won more than 200 professional tournaments, including a record haul of major titles.

Taylor’s peak scoring redefined what was possible. He remains the only player to hit two nine-dart finishes in a single televised match, achieving the feat in the 2010 Premier League final. Michael van Gerwen has called him the greatest and predicted no one will match his achievements.

Michael van Gerwen, the modern master

Michael “Mighty Mike” van Gerwen from the Netherlands is the defining player of the 2010s and the closest thing to a successor to Taylor. He is a three-time PDC World Champion, winning in 2014, 2017 and 2019, and has amassed dozens of televised titles alongside a lengthy spell as world number one.

Van Gerwen also holds the record for the most nine-dart finishes in official PDC events, overtaking Taylor’s mark. Though a younger generation has challenged him, including his 7-3 defeat to Luke Littler in the 2025 World final, he remains one of the most accomplished players in history.

Raymond van Barneveld and the Dutch trailblazer

Raymond “Barney” van Barneveld opened the door for Dutch darts long before van Gerwen. He won five World Championships in total: four BDO crowns (1998, 1999, 2003 and 2005) and a PDC title in 2007. That 2007 final, a 7-6 sudden-death win over Phil Taylor after trailing by three sets, is widely regarded as the greatest darts match ever played.

Van Barneveld’s cross-code success and huge popularity helped turn darts into a genuinely international sport, and his rivalry with Taylor produced some of the most memorable television in the sport’s history.

Eric Bristow and the 1980s pioneers

Before the modern era, Eric “The Crafty Cockney” Bristow was the face of darts. A five-time World Champion (1980, 1981, 1984, 1985 and 1986), Bristow dominated the 1980s and was central to the sport’s first television boom in Britain. He later mentored a young Phil Taylor, effectively helping to create his own greatest successor.

Contemporaries such as John Lowe, a three-time World Champion and the first player to hit a televised nine-dart finish in 1984, round out an era that laid the foundations for everything that followed.

Luke Littler and the current era (2025-26)

The most remarkable recent story is Luke Littler. On 3 January 2025, aged 17 years and 347 days, the English teenager beat van Gerwen 7-3 to become the youngest World Champion in darts history. He was not finished: at the 2026 edition he thrashed Gian van Veen 7-1 in the final at Alexandra Palace, averaging around 106 to retain the title and claim a record £1 million first prize.

That made Littler just the fourth player to win back-to-back PDC World Championships, joining Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson, and the first to do so since Anderson in 2015 and 2016. Alongside world number one Luke Humphries, the 2024 champion, Littler now headlines a new generation reshaping the sport as of 2026.

Greatest darts players at a glance

Player	Country	World titles	Peak era
Phil Taylor	England	16 (2 BDO, 14 PDC)	1990s-2010s
Raymond van Barneveld	Netherlands	5 (4 BDO, 1 PDC)	1998-2007
Eric Bristow	England	5 (BDO)	1980s
Michael van Gerwen	Netherlands	3 (PDC)	2010s
John Lowe	England	3 (BDO)	1980s
Gary Anderson	Scotland	2 (PDC)	2015-2016
Luke Littler	England	2 (PDC)	2025-

The verdict

Phil Taylor remains the benchmark against whom every darts player is measured, and his 16 world titles may never be equalled. Van Gerwen and van Barneveld define the modern and pre-Taylor Dutch eras, while Bristow and Lowe built the sport’s television popularity in the 1980s. Yet the story is still being written: if Luke Littler sustains his current form, the debate over the greatest of all time may look very different a decade from now.