In 2010, Phil Taylor celebrates his 50th birthday….it is a memorable personal milestone but for one of the greatest sportsmen of all time, it is darting milestones and making more history that really matters.

‘The Power’ has set himself an amazing target of winning 20 World Championship crowns before he is 55….and you wouldn’t bet against him doing exactly that!

The great man is celebrating a record-breaking 15th World Championship, after beating Australian Simon Whitlock in a thrilling final by 7 sets to 3 at the Alexandra Palace in January.

“Why not?!” said Taylor. “I am playing as well as I ever have and it is great to have goals and targets, which is why 20 World Titles is a realistic aim!”

Taylor also collected four awards at the PDC’s glittering annual bash at The Dorchester Hotel, including Player of the Year for a second consecutive year.

He is simply a darting freak! The chase for tungsten perfection is unprecedented and the rest of the pack are still playing catch-up after two decades of darting dominance.

It was 1990 that Taylor won his first treasured World Championship…..20 years later, he is celebrating a 15th – quite incredible.

And now Taylor joins a very exclusive club…..the only other member is Team Unicorn legend John Lowe. The pair are now the only players to have won the World Championship in three different decades.

For a man who has earned close on £1 million in prize money in a calendar year, he isn’t too bothered by the money.

“Of course the cash is nice,” he said. “And it makes things comfortable for my family but what really matters is the winning and improving. I would love 2010 to be even better than 2009!”

At the Alexandra Palace, he dropped only one set on the way to the final – beating Colin Monk, Steve Hine, Robert Thornton, Adrian Lewis and Mark Webster.

Whitlock though gave it a really good go in the World Final. The Australian was two sets to one in front and missed a dart to make it three sets apiece, before the all too familiar ‘Power Surge’ took Taylor to his 15th World Championship and that record-breaking winner’s cheque of £200,000

The only big title that doesn’t belong to Taylor is the Premier League and he is determined to win his crown back in 2010. He has though, won every ‘Major’ ranking TV tournament and a hat-trick of Grand Slam titles.

Taylor has it seems, now designed the perfect weapon – with a little help from Unicorn! He is using new specially designed Unicorn flights, which help the aerodynamics of the Taylor dart – making it even more accurate!

Taylor again received nominations for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2009 but unfortunately, he didn’t make the final cut.

He has been the King of Darts for the last two decades – a true British sporting great and there is no doubt that the Grand Master of the Oche is ready to dominate darts for many years to come.

He certainly enjoyed a terrific 2009 with unprecedented success.

He has had ‘The Power’ to add in 2009, with several more of the big TV ‘Majors – in fact his victory at the UK Open at Bolton in June was a landmark day for the great man, because it was his 50th ‘Major’ TV crown….a quite unbelievable record!

And more TV titles followed, with a 5th Las Vegas crown, an amazing 10th World Matchplay triumph, World Grand Prix title No.9 and that third Grand Slam triumph.
On top of that, several big events on the PDC Pro Tour, the South African Masters, the European Championship and German Darts Championship.

He has also set a new world record average on TV….116.01 against John Part in the Premier League at Aberdeen. In fact Taylor now has the best five TV averages in the history of the sport!

And in Amsterdam at the European Championship, he made more history, by becoming the first man to average over 110 in a tournament – and that included a sensational average of 118.14 in the quarter-finals against Gary Anderson.

Indeed, Taylor came within a whisker of even more history….not once, but twice Taylor agonisingly missed D12 for nine darters in the winning leg of ‘Major’ Finals….first in Amsterdam in the last leg of that final and again in the winning leg of the Grand Slam of Darts III

The convincing Grand Slam triumph over BDO star Scott Waites followed his second European Championship crown, when he overwhelmed Steve Beaton

The 14th World Championship came with that convincing 7 sets to 1 victory over arch rival Raymond van Barneveld and after two barren years at the World’s, it meant just that little bit more.

“Everything was always geared towards that World Championship, as it was this time around, because I was so focused on making sure that nobody was taking my title.” he said.

And Taylor didn’t just win it in 2009 - he did it in amazing fashion, with an average of 110.94 – the highest average ever in winning a Major darts Final.

The only blot on the Taylor copybook came in the 2009 Premier League, as his bid to hold every ‘Major’ TV title was ended, when he slumped to a shock 10-6 semi-final defeat to Mervyn King.

After winning all four Premier League crowns since the event started, it was a massive disappointment for Taylor and his defeat of course, allowed Unicorn stablemate James Wade to win the event at Wembley.

But that apart, he has been unstoppable!

And that was proved once again as big time darts returned to the famous Circus Tavern!

Taylor, who won 11 of his World Championship crowns at the iconic venue, swept all aside to win the first ever Players Championship Finals at Purfleet.

He added another TV ‘Major’ to the CV – beating Scot Robert Thornton by 16 legs to 9 in the final.

His third UK Open title at the Reebok saw him beat Colin Osborne 11-6 in the final and in Vegas, Taylor beat Barney in a thriller by 13 legs to 11, after losing only one leg against Part in the semi-finals!

Twice, he broke his own record average for the event at the Reebok…..115.51 against Ken Mather, which was followed by 115.62 against Mark Lawrence.

In July 2009, nobody came close to Taylor at the World Matchplay and he set a new record for Blackpool – losing only 20 legs in five matches, culminating in his 18-4 victory over Terry Jenkins in the final, with a 106 average….he also got revenge over King in the semi-finals!

In Dublin (October ’09), Barney was no match again, as Taylor triumphed by six sets to three….he beat James Wade to win the South African Masters and Steve Beaton was beaten at the European Championship!
Taylor though, did suffer a shock defeat in the final of Championship League Darts….during the group stages, he hit yet another 9-darter, this time against John Part, but he lost the final to Unicorn stablemate Colin Osborne.

And Taylor was simply brilliant at Wolverhampton in November…..despite a surprise defeat against Vincent van der Voort in the early stages, he swept all aside and thrashed Scott Waites by 16 legs to 2 to make it a hat-trick of Grand Slam crowns.

And he has also won the prestigious German Darts Championship in Halle for the last two years. He beat Mervyn King in the 2009 final by 11 legs to 4.

And of course, he has dominated the 2009 Pro Tour, winning events all over Europe – from Gibraltar to Germany and Holland to Essex!

In fact these days, it is a huge shock when Taylor loses a match but nowadays, that happens rarely. During 2009, only seven men managed to beat him in competition – Wade, King, Walsh, Hamilton, Baxter, Osborne and Van der Voort…..that is some record!

But the amount of tournament wins over the last two years is unbelievable!

In 2008 of course, there was a second Grand Slam crown in Wolverhampton, the US Open, the South African Masters, the first ever European Championship and as if that wasn’t enough, Taylor also won the first ever internet tournament – Championship League Darts in October 2008

It has been a remarkable couple of years for Phil Taylor.

“I am proud of what I have managed to achieve in the recent past and it is especially pleasing that some of the best darts of my life have come when people were starting to write me off,” Taylor said.

After crashing out of the World Championship in 2008 to Wayne Mardle and struggling at the start of the Premier League, the critics were writing Phil Taylor and all his past achievements into the darting history books.

But that was all the motivation he needed to storm back with some of the best individual performances ever seen.

New darts….a new start….a new hunger and a new desire saw Taylor prove the doubters wrong yet again.

And he warned: “There is more to come!” Time and time again he has raised the bar and he now believes he can consistently push his match average up to between 115 and 120!

The big low points in his career came in October 2007 when he lost in the 1st Round of the World Grand Prix to Adrian Gray in Dublin….then in March 2008, he was thrashed 8-3 by Peter Manley in the Premier League – at that stage, he had lost three of his first four Premier League matches and something had to be done.

After the defeat to Gray in Ireland, he was in tears backstage, believing his career was over….but that isn’t how Philip Taylor ticks and in the cold light of day, it was just the kick up the backside he needed!

By pure luck, he found a set of wife Yvonne’s darts down the back of the sofa and he hasn’t looked back. Unicorn adapted the tungsten, which are based on John Lowe’s Golden Hero darts and since that moment, he has been virtually unbeatable.

Before his great Ally Pally triumph in 2009, ‘The Power’ was imperious….an average of 106.25 in beating Terry Jenkins 18 legs to 9 to win his second Grand Slam.

He beat King 7-5 in the culmination of Championship League darts and became the first ever winner of the European Championship in Frankfurt when he saw off Adrian Lewis 11-5 in the final.

He won the South African Masters for a second time against John Part and claimed an 8th World Grand Prix crown in Dublin with a 6 sets to 2 victory over Barneveld.

All that followed another golden summer in 2008. The blow of a rare defeat at the UK Open was cushioned by more record-breaking achievements at the Reebok. He lost 10-9 to Barney in the quarter-finals after the Dutchman took out 289 (180, 109 c/o) in six darts in the deciding leg.

But earlier in the event, Taylor had recorded the highest ever average in any tournament in the history of the sport, when he clocked 114.53 against Wes Newton! Of course, he has beaten that three times since!

And he also banged in a 4th magical 9-darter at Bolton – his achievement against Jamie Harvey earning him a £25,000 bonus.

Of course he won the Premier League for a 4th time in 2008. After that shattering PL loss to Manley, Taylor stormed through the rest of the event unbeaten and after demolishing Adrian Lewis 11-1 in the semi-finals, he beat James Wade 16-8 – with a 108.36 average – in the final.

Wade must have been sick of the sight of Taylor because Unicorn’s World No.2 was to suffer twice more at the hands of ‘The Power’ in the summer of 2008. Taylor beat Wade 13-7 to win the Las Vegas Desert Classic and took Wade’s World Matchplay title by winning in Blackpool.

It was a 9th World Matchplay title and the 18-9 scoreline only told half the story….Wade was terrific but Taylor was too good. A 109.47 average and a brilliant 132 finish on the bull in the final leg.

At that time it was the highest average ever in a final, until that night at the Alexandra Palace in January 2009.

That winning dart at the bull was quite incredible. The target was blocked, so he stepped four feet to the right of the oche and nailed the bull right in the middle!

And now ‘The Power’ has set his sights even higher in the sport, which has given him fame and fortune, by pledging to play on, after signing a five-year contract extension with Unicorn.

His 2010 World Championship handed the world’s leading darts manufacturer a 28th World Championship title.

“I will finish my career with Unicorn,” he said. “They are the best in the business and I am determined to be the best in the business for a few years yet,” he vowed.

The World No.1 but it seems the world of darts holds no limits for ‘The Power’

“I honestly believe that I can consistently average 115 and 116 during matches and it’s all about improving all the time,” he said.

Taylor also won the prized US Open for a second consecutive year in May 2008. He lost only one set at the tournament in Connecticut – beating Colin Lloyd in the final.

Taylor though, had endured the roughest patch of his illustrious career – he hadn’t won a PDC ranking ‘Major’ TV tournament since beating Terry Jenkins to take the World Grand Prix crown in Dublin in October 2006….that of course, all changed with his victories in Vegas and Blackpool in July 2008.

Throughout that so-called ‘barren spell’ Taylor still produced some magical moments and tournament wins that any other player would be more than happy with…..but not ‘The Power – The Perfectionist!”

He won the 2007 Premier League with victory over Terry Jenkins in the final…..he beat Raymond Van Barneveld to win the US Open in Connecticut and defeated Denis Ovens to lift the German Darts Championship….there were six other victories on the PDC Pro Tour and of course, Taylor became the first ever Grand Slam Champion, as big-time darts returned to ITV in November 2007.

His triumph at the first Grand Slam was a personal triumph for ‘The Power’ - unbeaten in his group, he then saw off Gary Mawson, John Part and BDO star Gary Anderson in a thrilling semi-final…..it was some revenge for the heavy defeat Taylor suffered against Anderson at the final of the World Darts Trophy in Utrecht in September 2007…..and don’t forget Taylor won the World Darts Trophy in 2006 – thrashing Martin Adams in the final.

‘The Power’ was certainly switched on in that first ever Grand Slam Final – beating Unicorn’s Andy Hamilton by 18 legs to 11 in Wolverhampton.

The great rivalry with Dutch darting giant Van Barneveld has also galvanised Taylor, despite losing his World Championship to Barney in ‘The Greatest Game’ – the last final played at the famous Circus Tavern.

But that defeat was the start of the un-Taylor like run! He lost to Barney at the UK Open Final, was beaten by Mark Dudbridge at the Las Vegas Desert Classic, lost in the semi-finals of the World Matchplay to Terry Jenkins and then Taylor was stunned by Gray in the 1st Round of the 2007 World Grand Prix.

That was a massive turning point. Taylor revealed: “I sat back stage thinking it was all over and there was nothing more I could do. Then it occurred to me that I was sulking and decided to do what it took to get back on track.”

A new fitness regime certainly helped. The Unicorn star is having a purpose built gym added to his new Cheshire home….it’s all about staying ahead of the field.

Since Barney made the switch to the PDC Ranks in February 2006, it has developed into something special. Taylor is unbeaten against the Dutchman in the Premier League…he has beaten him in the final of the US Open and twice at the World Grand Prix. Taylor also won convincingly in the 2009 Grand Slam semi-finals. Barney has won twice in the quarter-finals of the UK Open, the semi-finals of the Desert Classic in Las Vegas and the one that hurt Taylor the most – the 2007 Ladbrokes.com World Championship Final, which will be forever known as ‘The Greatest Game’.

Taylor was 3 sets to nil in front and looked to be cruising to a 14th World Crown, before the fightback started on a quite amazing night at the world famous Circus Tavern. At 6 sets all and 5 legs apiece, it went to a sudden death final leg shoot-out, which of course Barney won.

“We are great friends but great rivals once the serious business starts and there is always something special in the air every time we play. It is a great darting occasion!”

The ultimate revenge though, came in that 2009 World Championship Final. Yes, Barneveld had stacks of chances and he blew darts to win three of the sets at the Ally Pally but nothing will ever take the gloss off that night for Taylor.

So, Darts first millionaire is set for more huge challenges during 2010 and beyond and when Taylor sets targets, he always achieves them….his career prize money from darts is approaching an incredible £4 million.

Taylor actually suffered one of his heaviest defeats in years at the 2007 UK Open, when he lost 11 legs to 4 to Barneveld, who went on to win the title for a second consecutive year but it was at that tournament that he wowed the crowd with his 5th perfect 9-darter on ‘live’ TV (and third at The Reebok).

He achieved darts holy grail against Wes Newton, which earned him a £20,000 bonus. His other 9-darters at Bolton have come against Matt Chapman and Roland Scholten, and then of course, did it again in 2008 against Harvey! He also hit a 9-darter in May 2007 at the International Darts League in Holland to win a car, which he promptly gave away! But Taylor will always be remembered for the first ever 9-darter on ‘live’ television.

His 13th World Championship - a 7 sets to nil victory over Peter Manley in the 2006 Final at the Circus Tavern marked another landmark, as it took his earnings from prize money alone, over the £1 million mark.

One of Taylor’s greatest achievements didn’t even produce a trophy but he rates it as “one of the proudest moments of my life”. He was nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2006.

And in 2007, Taylor was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Staffordshire, as well as being featured on many TV programmes, including Inside Sport on BBC1

Unicorn and Taylor form the perfect partnership – both are winners and leaders in their field. It’s a darting double act which will run and run.

“I want at least more World Titles. To do Darts Grand Slam is still a huge target for me and I still haven’t managed to hit a 9-dart finish at the World Championships, so that is definitely on my hit list – especially because Barney has now done it twice!”

His record of those amazing 15 World Championship Titles will never be beaten. It is incredible to believe ‘The Power’ only started lighting up the world of darts at the age of 28 but after two decades,, he has no equal. He has major titles at Blackpool, Bolton, Dublin and Vegas….on numerous occasions!

Year after year, Taylor raises the barrier and rewrites the history books…..that magical first ever 9-dart finish live on television will forever live in the memory and of course, he has achieved darts holy grail seven more times since, to leave his indelible mark on the sport.

It was back in August 2002 that Taylor scooped £100,000 for the first amazing feat. It happened during the World Matchplay Championships against Chris Mason in Blackpool.

But of course, it is all a far cry from the days when he was earning £50 a week working in a factory making ceramic toilet handles. Then, a certain Eric Bristow recognised the talent and lent Taylor a few thousand quid to get him started. How the rest of the darts world are still cursing Bristow to this day!!

Taylor though, has deserved all he has made from the sport, because he has been instrumental in catapulting darts into the limelight. He has put darts on the front and back pages and his amazing achievements have helped to give the sport the high profile sporting status it now enjoys.

“The money is important because it has given my family stability. I know what it is like to have nothing, or very little, so it has taught me to appreciate what I have now,” he admitted.

Taylor added: “Who would have thought that a lad from The Potteries could achieve the things I have managed to do.”

Married to Yvonne, Phil now lives in Cheshire and the couple have four children.

Taylor’s titles have come all over the world from the BDO World title, World Darts Trophy and International Darts League, World Masters, Head-to-Head’s and the countless PDC titles from Purfleet to the Ally Pally, Blackpool, Vegas, Dublin, Bolton, Wolverhampton and all points North, South, East and West!

These days, Taylor admits he has got his life back. “All those months and years travelling on the exhibition circuit took its toll,” he explained. “My family is very important to me, so now I pick and choose exhibitions and tournaments. I am a Grandad now and it puts everything into perspective. Seeing my Grandson Matthew grow up is what life is all about.”

The relationship with Unicorn has also proved an inspiration to Taylor. “There is no doubt the company is number one and they are not just sponsors, they are friends. They have never let me down and I want to carry on repaying them,” he said.

Taylor has become a celebrity in his own right, appearing regularly on TV shows like ‘A Question of Sport’, The Weakest Link, Eggheads, Hard Spell and the Bulleseye Gameshow Marathon with Vernon Kay.

His autobiography ‘The Power’ was co-written by Unicorn’s Sid Waddell and was a bestseller. He has also appeared in a pop video, featuring the former lead singer of The Darkness Justin Hawkins, where the pop star beats ‘The Power’ in a World Final!

He has also opened a successful sporting trophy and memorabilia shop in his hometown Stoke, which helps him take his mind off darts and the pressures that come with it. Taylor admitted the time he put into the business has affected his darts. “Family always come first,” he said. “But after the shop was finally sorted, it was back to practice, practice and more practice!”

It has certainly all been worth it!

It has been an unbelievable journey from 1990, when as a 125 to 1 unknown, Taylor thrashed his mentor Eric Bristow 6-1 to win his first World title at The Lakeside.

He has been described as one of the best sportsmen that Britain has ever seen…..nobody will argue with that. Time after time, Philip Taylor raises the bar and sets new standards.

There are those who say that without Taylor, the sport of darts wouldn’t be where it is today. He has helped to take the sport into the spotlight and the media coverage has never been greater.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in the sport of darts, Taylor comes up with something extra special…..magical darting moments are made by Philip Douglas Taylor!

2010 World Champion – just how many more are destined for the Taylor trophy cabinet? One things IS for sure….2010 will bring more ‘Major’ titles for the greatest of them all.

0 stars No reviews have been written yet

Share your thoughts with other customers… write your own review