Darts’ greatest ever player Phil Taylor has announced that he will be retiring from the sport and that the 2024 season will be his last before calling it a day. ‘The Power’ has won 16 world titles across his 35-year career but is stepping away from the game.
The 63-year-old announced that he would be embarking on a farewell tour over the next 12 months in order to say goodbye to all of the fans who have supported him over the years and saw him be crowned world champion a record 16 times, winning eight consecutive titles between 1995 and 2002.
In a statement, Taylor said: “I’ll always love performing to the best of my ability, but time waits for no man, and I know now is the right time to step away from the Tour.
“It’s been an unbelievable journey over the past 35 years, and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’d like to thank Target and the World Seniors Darts Tour for their support in recent years and I’m looking forward to playing in front of darts fans across the country next year. I’m going to be working just as hard as I always have to make sure I give the fans what they want and go out on top”.
Taylor currently competes on the World Seniors Darts Tour (WSDT) and will continue to do so until he quits the professional game next year. His final tournament is set to be the World Seniors Darts Masters next November.
Taylor initially retired from darts in 2018, when his professional career came to an end and he joined the WSDT. He will still be part of the tour as an ambassador and plans to be competing in exhibition matches well into his sixties.
He has previously cited an inability to compete against this generation’s top players as one reason why a retirement date was set. “It’s hard work now at my age,” he admitted. “My grandson Matthew doesn’t want me to retire. He wants me to carry on forever.
“But I said we’re going to set a date at the end of 2024 and I’m going to retire then from competition darts. When you aren’t performing like you can do, it breaks your heart.
“At one tournament, people were saying things in the crowd like: ‘Come on Phil.’ They had paid money to come and see you, and you are trying so hard. There was no sarcasm involved. Nobody was nasty. They were lovely in fact. But they wanted me to win and I was trying my hardest.”
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