RANKING THE BEST DARTS PLAYERS OF ALL TIME!
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- čas přidán 3. 08. 2024
- There have been well over 50 different winners of ranked majors in the world of darts since the sport's popularity exploded in the 1970s but if they were all in their absolute prime today, what would the world's top 10 look like?
This isn't just a list of who has won the most World Championship titles and other major crowns, but nor can we rank players who spanned different era purely on what averages and performance statistics they achieved.
For example, the playing conditions, equipment, board quality, wire thickness and professionalism - just to name five factors - have all changed dramatically since the likes of Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Jockey Wilson were battling for honours so we must try and judge how well their natural ability and mental strength would have coped and adapted alongside modern-day greats.
It may well be an impossible question to compare eras and come up with a universally agreed list, while the decision on who should take number one spot out of Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen is also up for hot debate.
Our panel of Sky Sports darts presenter Abigail Davies, former major winner Paul Nicholson and Sporting Life writer Chris Hammer haven't considered Premier League champion Luke Littler for inclusion yet purely because this is still his debut season and he's yet to win one of the big ranked majors but where would you rank him now?
Watch our verdict unfold during this thought-provoking show while below you'll find a list of the big major winners to help you come up with your own top 10 and let us know in the comments.
RANKED MAJOR WINNERS
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (PDC)
14 - Phil Taylor
3 - Michael van Gerwen
2 - Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, John Part, Peter Wright
1 - Dennis Priestley, Michael Smith, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (BDO)
5 - Eric Bristow
4 - Raymond van Barneveld
3 - John Lowe, Martin Adams, Glen Durrant
2 - Scott Waites, Ted Hankey, Phil Taylor, Jocky Wilson
1- Richie Burnett, Leighton Rees, Wayne Warren, Stephen Bunting, Scott Mitchell, Christian Kist, Mark Webster, Keith Deller, Jelle Klaasen, Andy Fordham, Tony David, John Walton, Les Wallace, Steve Beaton, John Part, Dennis Priestley, Bob Anderson
WORLD MATCHPLAY
16 - Phil Taylor
3 - Michael van Gerwen
2 - Rod Harrington
1 - James Wade, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Larry Butler, Peter Evison, Colin Lloyd, Rob Cross, Nathan Aspinall
WORLD GRAND PRIX
11 - Phil Taylor
6 - Michael van Gerwen
2 - James Wade
1 - Gerwyn Price, Colin Lloyd, Alan Warriner, Daryl Gurney, Robert Thornton, Jonny Clayton, Luke Humphries
GRAND SLAM OF DARTS
6 - Phil Taylor
3 - Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price
1 - Scott Waites, Raymond van Barneveld, Luke Humphries, Michael Smith, José de Sousa
UK OPEN
5 - Phil Taylor
3 - Michael van Gerwen, James Wade
2 - Raymond van Barneveld
1 - Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Andrew Gilding, Adrian Lewis, Danny Noppert, Roland Scholten, Robert Thornton
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
4 - Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor
2 - Rob Cross, Peter Wright
1 - Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock, James Wade, Ross Smith
PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
7 - Michael van Gerwen
3 - Phil Taylor
1 - Gary Anderson, Kevin Painter, Paul Nicholson, Daryl Gurney, Peter Wright, Luke Humphries
BIG UNRANKED MAJORS
PREMIER LEAGUE
7 - Michael van Gerwen
6 - Phil Taylor
2 - Gary Anderson
1 - James Wade, Raymond van Barneveld, Glen Durrant, Jonny Clayton, Luke Littler
MASTERS
5 - Michael van Gerwen
1 - Phil Taylor, James Wade, Peter Wright,Jonny Clayton, Joe Cullen, Chris Dobey, Stephen Bunting
0:00 Intro
1:10 Rob Cross
2:54 Gary Anderson
6:36 Eric Bristow
11:03 James Wade
15:31 Alan Warriner-Little
18:13 Peter Wright
22:36 Adrian Lewis
25:09 Gerwyn Price
29:48 Raymond van Barneveld
33:25 Luke Humphries
37:42 Michael van Gerwen
39:31 Phil Taylor - Sport
2016 MVG vs 2009 Phil Taylor would be the pinnacle of darts
Gary Anderson, during 1 of this years PDC floor events, hit 46 180’s, smashing the record of 35 and also missed double 12 3 times for 9 darters.
I think Gary Anderson has the most 180’s in a tournament at 64. Definitly the best 180 hitter in history.
@@djstevieoI think Smith broke that with something like 70 180s in 2022. But I agree what separates Anderson from the rest is his consistency to do it over 3 different decades.
and a few days ago he played a 123 average in a game against Gilding. I'd put him above Peter Wright.
@@arpussupra Gary is also the only other player to have multiple averages over 130 marginally behind Kyle Andersons record of 134 in a professional match. In exhibitions he has averaged over 136. Andersons top level simply cannot be matched by anyone and his consistency as i said before is absolutely remarkable that at 53 years old he can still win players championships, euro tours and not only compete but still beat the big names and be able to average 123+
The flying scotsman🏴💪
I would switch Anderson and Wright but other than that, spot on imho.
Phil Taylor (prime) would annihilate mvg best of 11 sets 6-2 easy
Ppl forget how good taylors average was in his prime if you put himin todsys player pool rven though farts is more competative tsylor would stillwinmost of the tournements his average would still consistantly be wellover humpries or littlers or mvgs still
Michael smith has to atleast get an honorable mention. Would bully boy beat Eric bristow in his prime? It’s an impossible conversation to have but I think so.
Yes he probably should have but the video was edited to include just those who got in the 10 and just outside - otherwise we'd have been talking about every world champion ever. That said, next time we will look to make it shorter and get more names mentioned.
It's not a debate. Taylor is orders of magnitude better than even MVG.
List is decent but John part needed a mention
Yes, he was obviously a legend but we do stress this list was more about peak player performance rather than just the amount of titles they won. So Paul would say that if every major winner were all at their peak levels, John wouldn't have been in the worlds top 10. No doubt he'd have still won titles and done well, however.
Seconded
@@SportingLifeVideo Parts peak was beating Phil taylor in a world final, that's a big peak
No respect from the wall either 😊
An on form John Part had some of the biggest testicles ever seen on the oche. The avgs never captured his sheer ruthlessness under pressure. He is probably the best nicker of legs in history aswell
Great discussion
spot on with this list agree 100 percent thank you
No Dennis Priestley in the top10 is completely wrong. I also agree with those that mentioned John Part. At his peak he was a great player. To not even be considered is a major oversight
Taylor is so far infront of 2nd its crazy
Adrian, mvg and Gary are my 3 favourite dart players of all time just beautiful to watch
Still Phil is the GOAT
@@thomasroedgaard117 Agreed!
#1 TAYLOR
#2 BRISTOW
#3 BARNY
#4 MVG
#5 ANDERSON
#6 PART
#7 LEWIS
#8 WILSON
#9 WRIGHT
$10 PRIESTLEY
MY TOP TEN SOME IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
Where is John Lowe.
I agree that wright has not had the peak longevity, but his peak was almost unplayable
Don’t know how Warriner is on this list. Durrant,Adams,Lloyd,Part and even more modern players like Smith and Aspinall are better imo. A very random inclusion especially with only 1 major. Don’t know what splits Alan and Colin Lloyd, both number 1 as Taylor didn’t play in much. Lloyd has 2 majors though. Great video guys
Clowns list, no Dennis Priestley or John Lowe.
Hardly a clowns list
Cool Hand is comfortably better than a number of people who were listed here
It's too early to call that, let's see in a couple of years...
@@mrgrimm53it’s about peak level so in this conversation longevity is irrelevant
This list is almost spot on apart from Anderson is definitely third over Wright. I agree with the points on Wright his astronomical averages get overlooked all too often. I think what separates Anderson is this: Mvgs “peak” when he was pretty much unbeatable was probably 2015-2017 you could probably extend that a few years as well. However, during that three year period Anderson won two out of the three world titles and reached the final of the other. Anderson was literally the only guy on the planet who could put it up to Mvg in big tv Majors and if it wasn’t for Anderson Mvg would have alot more world titles and premier leagues.
anderson is the only player in history to have 2 averages over 130
@@jonahehlers1673 correct and I’ve also heard he has averaged 136+ in exhibitions. Although kyle andersons world record of 134 and Gary andersons multiple 130+ averages are before the days of darts connect and live streaming. Peter wrights average of 123.5 in 2016 i think it was, was live streamed and obviously mvgs premier league average of 123.4 was televised on sky so the PDC only recognise these televised averages on their official lists.
@@boom4301 2011 anderson was a scary player, sadly it was before the dartconnect era so we don’t have that much data
@@jonahehlers1673 Anderson has said in interviews he was better then than he was in his 2015/2016 title rain. The problem was he couldn’t hit doubles when it mattered. As he got older with more experience he finally managed to start hitting them and the result was a back to back world champ. He did win the premier league and reached a world final in 2011 even with inconsistent doubling
Garys sadistic domination of nonce klaasen in the 2016 world semi & the 2017 world final loss to prime shrek were probably higher peaks than wright reached.
The wright that destroyed everything in his path at the 2021 matchplay would go toe-to-toe with 2016 shrek & gary though
1. taylor 2. mvg 3. gary 4. wright 5. eric 6. barney 7. lewis 8. humphries 9. bob 10. price
Alan in the top 10 lmao, Adrian in the top 10 lmao, and Peter in the top 3, dillusional
The decision for Paul to put Alan Warriner in the top 10 won't be backed by many but he was world number one for over 50 months of his career (only Taylor and MVG have enjoyed longer streaks) and he still has the World Grand Prix record average that nobody has got close to. Paul's argument is that at his peak - on modern boards and with better equipment - he'd have made the top 10. Not everyone will agree for sure, but that was his rationale.
I think you are right about Peter Wright, I've got him at number 4. At his best he is a brilliant player, don't judge him on his recent form.
I totally agree with you Mathew, Paul Nicholson talks out of his backside.
@@BertSmithLondonwill see what littler is like at 53 🤣
Sack the sound manager.
Warriner in there ahead of Lowe I'm not sure about that one.
John Lowe, bob Anderson, jockey Wilson not to get a mention due to era bias makes this list nonsense
I get that you need to throw in some e of the older guys but the idea that Warriner-Little is higher than Smith or Humphries is ridiculous - if they were all at their peak, AWH little would be 3/1 or bigger with the bookies to beat MS or LH
Part higher than warriner little
Part, Humphries, Smith and even Aspinall and Clayton are miles better than what Alan Warriner was.
It's hard to compare different eras. Every single premier league player today is better than Pele.
@@m.f.1646 Please tell me you are trolling here.
@@StewartyMac Well players are stronger, faster, better athletes in every possible way compared to Pele. 11 Harry Maguires would beat 11 Peles 50-0, the level of the game is so much better these days.
@@m.f.1646 LOL, I knew you were trolling. Fair play lad.
@@StewartyMac Ur delusional if you think any 60's player would make it these days. Pele was ahead of his time obv and earned his place in top 2 after Messi, but game has changed alot.
Can’t believe what’s happened to Adrian Lewis
For what it's worth I'd reverse Anderson and Wright, and if you're agreeing that Bristow would be far better if he played as much as today's players, then you'd have to do the same for the great John Lowe, he had the best throw of any darts player I've ever seen. I wouldn't have Alan Warriner in the top 10, and as someone else has said, John Part can't be too far outside the top ten either.
Priestly and Part should definitely be on this list, and no way is Peter Wright third. Jocky Wilson?
All at their best Adrian Lewis is a lot higher up the list people forget how good he was!
Phil no 1 Absolutely ...The day he retired he was playing in the World final against a player who has never repeated that performance again ..How many finals has Phil played in? Not a great loser but an absolute legend.
Taylor and MVG absolutely miles clear
Dart pundits always seem to be the best to comment on their. Miles ahead of any other sport commentators.
What a strange list. Little is in it: no Priestley or part. Or does a world championship not count as a major?
Yes, but we were focusing on players who produced a high level of performance on a regular basis to cope with the highest talent in all eras. There's no doubt John Part is a legend for what he won - but how would he cope in this 'perfect era' when all legends were operating at the top of their game. Paul didn't think his A game was strong enough to get in this top 10 but we all have our own opinions.
@@SportingLifeVideo so little, who has one big pike in his career would be a greater danger then John part? If that was the case why didn’t he win as much majors as Part? Why didn’t he never beat Taylor in a big final? Same goes for Priestley: he was the first to trow a 100+ average in a final. And has won more majors then little.
It’s simply put very strange to put little above part and priestly. I would rather win 3 world titles, in the prime Taylor era, with a 97 average then be like little and have one good tournament. Being a matchplay players means something also.
@@user-rf8mc8rg9v Do you know what PEAK means?
@@SportingLifeVideoremind us of how many world title finals priestly was in? PDC world finals may I add. Also who won PDC/WDF first world? I’d say era bias this list
Bristow was good but so was Lowe and remember Lowe was the first player to do a 9 darts leg on tv.
That lady looks like a cartoon star from Scooby Doo
WHAT YEAR IS THIS? 1965, THE BEATLES, FLOWER CHILD!!!
it’s pointless to compare the highest averages of players before the dartconnect era, because they do not appear on mastercaller. Lewis hit a 120 average in the gdc in 2009 but it does not appear on mastercaller.
Wright should be in 6 or 7 at max
Swap Wright & Bristow around and replace Warriner-Little with Humphries.
No debate to be had, Taylor streets ahead , no question
Need to amend title to say nicholsons top 10 dart players of all time.
Are they moving Part out of Sky?
Sort of slimy rationale for not getting at least a mention.
This wasn't a list of who has won the most - but ranking them if they were all playing at their performance peak. It'll all very subjective but John Part didn't make the 10 because his A game is arguably not as strong as what other players managed to attain. That's not to say he wouldn't have won matches or titles in this 'perfect' era when everyone is at their peak, but the cases for others were stronger.
Only Taylor and MVG would have any chance against peak Bristow. Most of the others would be beaten before Eric took his first swig.
Not even a close debate really is it Taylor beat them all at different stages of his career and peaks of his power….he made a world championship final for his final match past his absolute peak
He also won titles against people averaging 80 odd, wouldn’t win man worlds in todays game, prime MVG absolute streets ahewd
@@StevenMcGann-ls9xc dream land
The list doesn’t follow its objective. It is supposed to be about people at their peak, and yet there is constant mention of longevity. So really, MVG should probably be number 1, Anderson 2 and Luke Humphries 3.
What? 😂 Did you miss Taylor’s career? Particularly the 08-13 period?
@@mccann82 does Taylor Swift play darts too? Extraordinary talent.
@@jimbrimble3131 Better joke than that list you put up tbf
@@mccann82 look, of course Phil Taylor should be number one on the list. He is and I’m certain will always be, the greatest darts player who has ever lived. He held the world record for highest average in a match five times, only losing the record to MVG in 2016. I was making a flippant comment about the futility of these lists. He will always be number one on any list about darting achievements.
To me he is probably the most dominant SPORTSMAN ever, with the possible exception of Don Bradman with his freakish test average.
Whatever way you look around this there is no way Alan Warriner can be in the list above John Part. Infact it's a total disrespect that Warriner is in over Part and John Lowe. Even Colin Lloyd deserves to be in over Warriner.
I think Paul being a homer for his fellow broadcaster is a bit too obvious here. No way Alan beats a prime Rob Cross. What were the other names just outside of the top 10?
No John Part 🧐 utter nonsense.
Taylor
MVG
Barney
Anderson
Bristow
Part
Wade
Priestley
Lowe
Lewis
This wasn't a list of who has won the most - but ranking them if they were all playing at their performance peak. It'll all very subjective but John Part didn't make the 10 because his A game is arguably not as strong as what other players managed to attain. That's not to say he wouldn't have won matches or titles in this 'perfect' era when everyone is at their peak, but the cases for others were stronger.
The original list was bad. This one is somehow even worse.
@@eoinj16 every player on my list except Wade is a multiple world champion….your judged on what you win not your average
@LIAMGUNNER89 It's literally a list of the best players AT THEIR PEAK 😂
You're just ignoring the criteria, as well as the response from the actual channel, and sticking with your god awful list that makes 0 sense.
Alan Warriner shouldn’t be on the list , only 1 major… John part..? Dennis Priestley?.. John Lowe..?
Yikes. You keep replying to comment saying "The list is if they were at their peaks". Gary Anderson at his peak was far better than Wright, as was Lewis.
You cant genuinely believe Bristow at any stage of his career can compete with someone like Humphries who regularly averages 110+ or peak Lewis who did similar?
Not sure Lewis was as good as wright
When does humphries regularly average 110 ?
@@TimComley That question doesn't even make sense. As I said... regularly.
Paul Nicholson did explain why he thought Wright at his peak would edge Anderson. And the rationale for Eric Bristow was that his peak in today's world where the boards are more favourable, would see him be a real force to be reckoned with. For what it's worth, Chris Hammer wanted Luke Humphries in the top 10 but Paul had the final say.
@SportingLifeVideo Paul has had an absolute mare here then.
Some people just can't get their head around the fact that sports move on with time. Nicholson is clearly one of those people. Players of today ARE better than the players of decades ago, as they SHOULD be. If this wasn't the case, the game wouldn't be advancing.
Bizarre to include Wade. Never reached a world final or even had a match average of 100 at the worlds.
On his number of tv majors he is a fringe top 10 all time contender but for a discussion about peak level he should not even be in the top 25.
Alan Warriner Little shouldn't be anywhere near that list
Snake over bristow no way
This absolute nonsense. They bang on about averages, (which is obviously important) but the fact is the trebles and doubles are thirty percent bigger than they were in the 80's, 70's etc. Not having John Lowe in the top 10 is a joke and Peter Wright 3 is hilarious.. I have seen Wright cry playing Taylor, he would have been crying before the game against Eric. John Lowe would and DID thrash Warriner, honestly this list is comical!
should be
1. Taylor
2. MVG
3. Bristow
4. Gary A
5. RVB
6. Lowe
7. Wright
8. Lewis
9. Dennis Priestley
10. Part.
If you rank players peaks, for me it is
1. Taylor
2. MvG
3. Anderson
4. Humphries
5. Lewis
6. Barney
7. Wade
8. Wright
9. Bristow
10. Burnett
No john Lowe?
Humphries too high at the moment for me!
Taylor then MVG then Anderson
@TimComley Would you stop. You want John Lowe but no to Humphries? 😂😂😂
You seriously think peak John Lowe is better than peak Humphries?
Sorry mate but Eric Bristow at number 9 he would have eaten Wright Wade Humphries Lewis for breakfast
MVG's peak has been higher than Taylor's.
It's a tough one, MVG was at his peak when Taylor stuffed him in the world final.
@@BertSmithLondon Not for me he wasn't. At his peak MVG's numbers were higher than Taylor's. MVG also dominated for a number of years against lots of players who were also posting 100+ averages. During Taylor's era only he was regularly posting 100+ averages.
Imagine taylors averages if people were pushing him
@@BertSmithLondonread the world matchplays averages mate, that will tell you who had the best stats out of prime mvg v taylor
@@jaysmith2858Taylor was up against prime Barney , ando, Lewis , Wade and even mvg yet beat them all even when they averaged 100 plus against him, your take on Taylor is rubbish saying his opponents didn’t av 100 against him
No John Lowe...
MVG AT HIS PEAK BLOWS TAYLOR AT HIS PEAK OUT THE WATER, MVG HAS DONE STUFF TAYLOR COULDNT EVEN DREAM OF, AND DONT TELL ME HE WON 16, I DGAF, SORRY TO ALL THE BALL GAGGERS BUT ITS DA TRUTH.
He was at his peak when Taylor destroyed him in the world final.
You left your caps on 👍
Look at mvgs peak at the matchplays compared to Taylor’s , over the long format Taylor was superior to mvg, by the way knock your caps off 😮
An old, washed and not as motivated Phil Taylor took one look at prime MVG, chewed him up and spit him out like nothing.
Hang your head in shame for comparing the Dutch gummy bear with the greatest darts player who has ever lived.
Wright above Eric Bristow your having a laugh Eric would have eaten Peter Wright Gary Anderson for breakfast and then said whom is next.
Be realistic, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright would destroy Eric Bristow. Every stat you can ever read backs up that argument.
@@BertSmithLondonAlthough statistics do not provide a comprehensive understanding, it is possible that Bristow would have achieved greater success in the modern era due to advancements in equipment and overall improvements.
Anyone want to tell them Littler won the premier league, A MAJOR
Yes, the Premier League is a unranked major but this was really looking at the ranked majors which aren't just for eight players to compete in.
Toosoon
Peter Wright at number three and no Dennis Priestly, Gerwyn Price at number seven and no John Part !!! garbage
what a pointless list and excersize this is. seriously... everyone has opinions and this list is based on 'Major winners' not players at their peak... so this is a load of bollox