To the uninitiated, it’s just overweight men throwing sharp objects – but there’s a gladiatorial nature to darts and there have been some glorious (and petty) rivalries down the years.
The close proximity to one another, celebrating in an opponent’s face, the pressure cooker of thousands of boozy fans cheering and heckling, it’s the petri dish for animosity to grow.
The fact that the world’s best darts players are on the same circuit together all year round means they’re often sick of the sight of each other as well.
Here, Daily Mail Sport takes a look at some of the fiercest rivalries in the sport and amusing flashpoints from those beefs.
The mentor and protégé
Phil Taylor, widely regarded as the best darts player of all time with 16 world titles, was head and shoulders above his peers for decades.
But the ‘Power’ would also give a helping hand to the next generation and that included Lewis, who was also from Stoke.
Taylor became a mentor for Lewis and almost sees him as a son. Lewis’ parents came to the darts legend and asked him to take him under his wing.
He happily obliged, the problem was, ‘Jackpot’ developed into an elite player and was soon competing against his mentor for the biggest trophies, putting their relationship under huge strain.
Lewis won his first World Championship in 2011 and Taylor was there to cheer him on. Afterwards, the new king said: ‘It’s time to stop calling me Phil’s protégé – all I’ve ever done is to practise with him, but I used to practise with my dad and nobody calls me his apprentice.
Phil Taylor celebrates against his protege Adrian Lewis in the 2010 World Championships quarter-final at Alexandra Palace
‘How much of my success is down to Phil? He passed on a few tips, like going to bed early and a few things I should be doing as a professional, but I had qualified for three tournaments on the circuit before I had even met him.’
Taylor later wrote: ‘I thought his comments were very disrespectful – to suggest I had never done anything for him apart from telling him to go to bed early was not just dismissive, it was an insult.
‘For a few weeks I didn’t say a word to him: in fact, I felt so let down that I told him to keep away from me.’
Taylor also brought up that Lewis failed to mention he was living at one of his mentor’s properties with a massive rent reduction.
They played each other 72 times, with Taylor winning most of those matches and while the relationship had been severely damaged, both maintain there is affection that remains.
The greatest rivalry
Taylor vs Van Barneveld was as juicy as it got. For years the pair were operating at the top level.
Barney famously walked on stage with a Dutch flag for the World Championship final in Alexandra Palace, immediately turning the crowd against him in a move described by Taylor as a ‘spectacular own goal’.
Taylor would go on to win his 14th world title that night and later reflected in his book Staying Power: ‘Turning the final into England v Holland was his biggest mistake.
‘I don’t know if he did it because his footballer compatriot Robin van Persie was supporting him in the audience, but it backfired and turned the crowd against him.
‘I was thinking to myself, “Carry on waving that thing around, old son – it’s not working for you, but it’s doing wonders for me.”‘
Raymond van Barneveld is pictured with a Dutch flag at Alexandra Palace
A stony-face Robin van Persie watched his compatriot lose against Phil Taylor
The most famous run-in between the pair came in 2012 at their World Championship semi-final showdown.
Taylor won an epic struggle 6-4 but it was the post-match handshake that captured headlines.
He explained: ‘We shook hands – no problem. But Barney, for some reason, wouldn’t let go.
‘He pulled me around and tried to embrace me, but instead of a warm hug he almost had me in a headlock.’
Taylor was caught on camera angrily telling his adversary to f*** off. The Englishman later said he deeply regretted his behaviour and apologised to Van Barneveld.
There were plenty of mind games and a bit of friction but by and large the duo were friendly with occasional flashpoints. Van Barneveld’s victory over Taylor in 2007 broke his dominance and delivered a juicy narrative at the perfect time for the sport.
Van Barneveld still competes at the top level, while Taylor retired in May this year.
Crafty Cockney vs Old Stoneface
This was the defining rivalry of the 1980s. Bristow was the dominant force but there was an extraordinary match in which Lowe came back from a 6-0 deficit to win 7-6.
But Bristow had the better of his foe on the big stage before finally in the 1987 World Championship final, Lowe beat his man.
The rivalry worked because they were such contrasting characters.
Bristow, nicknamed ‘The Crafty Cockney’, was flamboyant, threw quickly and was known for his gamesmanship at the oche.
Lowe, meanwhile, was the polar opposite. He was calm and composed, grinding out results and refusing to be a showman, hence the name ‘Old Stoneface’.
Lowe hit the first ever televised nine-dart finish in history back in 1984, earning a whopping £102,000 as a result, which would be around £420,000 today adjusted for inflation.
Eric Bristow was the dominant force of the darts world in the 1980s, pictured with Maureen Flowers holding the trophy after the 1981 World Championship final
Prior to the competition, there was an arrangement where Lowe and Bristow would share prize money from tournaments.
But Bristow ended the agreement just before Lowe his his nine-darter, costing the ‘Crafty Cockney’ £51,000.
‘One week before, he told me he couldn’t share prize money anymore,’ recalled Lowe. ‘He said, “we can’t share anymore, my manager thinks I’m a better player than you”. So we shook hands and that was it.
‘So Eric lost half of that money and his manager lost 15 per cent! Eric wasn’t there that afternoon but he rang me straight away and said there was a drink waiting for me at the hotel bar!’
The Price is wrong
The intense Welshman has had his fair share of run-ins down the years and the most notable was with Scottish rival Gary Anderson.
The feud started at the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts final. Price was behind 11-8 but fought back dramatically to win 16-13, securing his first major PDC title.
Both men clashed on numerous occasions during the match, with Anderson wound-up by what he perceived as over the top celebrations and deliberately slow play to put him off.
Price was fined £12,000 for his behaviour and given a suspended ban but it was clear there was still plenty of ill-feeling a couple of years later.
Anderson lost the 2020 World Championship final against Price and did not even congratulate him afterwards.
Gerwyn Price landed in hot water for his antics against Gary Anderson and was fined
Adrian Lewis vs… the world
Lewis has been involved in a handful of emotional outbursts down the years and stormed out of his match with Peter Manley in 2006.
Known for his gamesmanship, Manley was accused of muttering behind Lewis and trying to sneakily put him off.
It worked a treat and Lewis exchanged words with his rival before throwing his arms up in the air and storming off stage in a huff.
He eventually returned but went on to lose the match and Manley later said: ‘At the time Sid Waddell actually said and called it cheating. He was basically doing things behind me and denied it and I just got on with the game but he wouldn’t leave it.
‘The next thing I know he’s walking off. We both got fined, but I ended up with £50,000 in the bank so I was alright at the time. I’m happy to admit if I played up, but that wasn’t playing up, that was get on with the game.’
Six years later, Lewis was involved in another heated row with Wade… over a floorboard.
Wade accused Lewis of putting him off but the impassioned defence included Lewis stomping around on the red carpet on stage, pointing to the rogue bit of flooring and emotionally dragging the match referee to the same spot.
Another chapter in Lewis’ argumentative history was during an intense match with Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright in 2021.
Again there was a supposedly creaky floorboard involved.
Lewis accused Wright of taking him out of his rhythm by pointing out the floorboard, which the Englishman thought was fine.
Lewis (right) had spats with many players over the years, including Peter Wright (left)
Lewis explained: ‘He said to me there was a loose floorboard and I found it! So my response to him was: “You took me out my rhythm, you had a game plan, and as world number two, it’s disgraceful and you’re nothing but a cheat”.
‘He knew what he was doing, as soon as I went 3-1 up he started muttering things and shaking his head at me which put me in a situation that made me feel uncomfortable.’
When it was pointed out to Lewis that he is the common denominator in all of these confrontations, he bit back: ‘Trouble does seem to follow me around, I can’t deny it, but it’s only because I’m a genuine person who wears my heart on my sleeve and people try to take advantage of that. I will always speak my mind!’
