Best single tournament performance
2017 - Phil Taylor, World Matchplay
2018 - Gary Anderson, World Matchplay
2019 - Peter Wright, World Championship
2020 - Ryan Searle, Players Championship 3
2021 - Peter Wright, Players Championship Finals
2022 - Ross Smith, European Championship
2023 - Andrew Gilding, UK Open
2024 - Mike de Decker, World Grand Prix
Nominees - Stephen Bunting, Players Championship 25, Ross Smith, Players Championship 16, Jonny Clayton, Players Championship 14, Michael van Gerwen, German Darts Grand Prix, Luke Littler, UK Open, James Wade, World Matchplay, Luke Littler, Players Championship Finals, Justin Hood, Luke Littler, Ryan Searle, World Championship
Winner - Gian van Veen, European Championship
Lot of efforts I want to give shout outs to. Bunting at PC25 was immense with four averages over 105 in a row not dropping under 98 in the tournament. Smith at PC16 dropped just 10 legs in the event, including a 24 leg winning run from midway in the last sixteen through to the title. Clayton in the last PC event I'll mention was over 100 in every game bar one (where he beat van Gerwen 6-1) ending with a dominating final display. van Gerwen himself in Munich was unplayable, averaging well over a ton for the tournament prior to beating van Veen in the final. Littler naturally gets several mentions - the two Minehead tournaments were really impressive, hitting averages of 108, 107, 106, 104 and 101 in the UK Open only narrowly dropping below once against Ratajski, while at the PC Finals he went 104, 107, 102, 107, 108 and 103 to not drop below a hundred once. And, of course, his world title defence saw him highlight just how dominant he is right now, losing just four sets. Wade's Matchplay run was a real surprise, not just in making the final but the way he did it, only falling under a 100 once where he beat van Veen, coming through a hugely tough overtime game in the semi before sticking around with Littler for quite a long time. Other worlds performances saw Hood reach the quarters with levels of play that made him look like a clear top 32 player, if not higher, while Searle didn't drop a set until midway through the quarter final and was only stopped by the eventual champion. But I've got to give it to Gian - in a season where Littler won almost everything and Humphries was doing most of the other mopping up, to claim your first major in the way he did it with two extremely tight wins over world class opposition in the final session is enough to take the pick for me.
Match of the season
2017 - Rob Cross v Michael van Gerwen, World Championship
2018 - Gary Anderson v Mensur Suljovic, World Matchplay
2019 - Peter Wright v Noel Malicdem, World Championship
2020 - Michael van Gerwen v Joe Cullen, World Championship
2021 - Michael Smith v Jonny Clayton, World Championship
2022 - Dirk van Duijvenbode v Ryan Searle, Players Championship Finals
2023 - Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen, World Championship
2024 - Luke Littler v Gary Anderson, Grand Slam
Nominees - Gerwyn Price v Josh Rock, Players Championship 12, Jeffrey de Graaf v Stephen Bunting, Players Championship 24, Luke Littler v Josh Rock, Flanders Darts Trophy, Martin Schindler v Chris Dobey, Austrian Darts Open, Jonny Clayton v Danny Noppert, Dutch Darts Championship, Luke Humphries v Jonny Clayton, World Masters, James Wade v Jonny Clayton, World Matchplay, Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price, World Grand Prix, James Wade v Ricky Evans, World Championship
Winner - Justin Hood v Danny Noppert, World Championship
Another one where I think I need to give a lot of call outs. Starting with two Players Championship finals, both were 8-7 last leg deciders, Price seeing off a 110 average from Rock to claim his, while de Graaf got his first despite running into Bunting averaging 106. Littler/Rock in Belgium was another final that went all the way with both breaking 100, while the Schindler/Dobey and Clayton/Noppert games were kind of similar - both 6-4 so not quite so tense, but both players averaging obscenely high numbers. The World Masters final was a swingy job which went the distance, looking like Clayton would make an unlikely huge comeback only for Luke to hold his nerve at the end. Another Clayton loss was the epic Matchplay semi, both him and Wade maintaining 100+ averages for 38 legs. Price/Littler was another comeback special, Gerwyn flying out of the blocks with a 6-1 run to go 2-0 up in sets, only to have Littler come back, avoid match darts by Price, and finish in a deciding leg with a 152 out. Lastly we've got the Wade/Evans epic where it looked like Evans had done the hard work so many times, only to squander a 1-0 and 2-1 sets lead, do similar in the final set on a leg by leg basis, and then just manage to fall over the line with a great 99 out that looked real unlikely. But it has to go to the Hood/Noppert classic, Justin going into a big early lead, only for Danny to come back and get us to an epic swingy final set that went all the way to a sudden death leg.
Most disappointing season
2017 - Benito van de Pas
2018 - Rob Cross
2019 - Raymond van Barneveld
2020 - Adrian Lewis
2021 - Jeffrey de Zwaan
2022 - Ian White
2023 - Josh Rock
2024 - Jose de Sousa
Nominees - Kai Gotthardt, Mike de Decker, Dimitri van den Bergh, Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Dave Chisnall, Florian Hempel
Winner - Jim Williams
I made a last minute audible with this one as I was going to originally give it to Chizzy, who's had an absolute nightmare of a season, repeating the previous season's complete ineffectiveness on television but this time pairing it with a really mediocre Pro Tour/Euro Tour season which sees him nearly out of the top 32 on the Pro Tour rankings. In the end however, I opted for Jim - it doesn't seem that long ago that he was really close to making the difficult majors, but this year he ended up with less than ten grand worth of winnings on the floor and losing his tour card. That seemed unthinkable a couple of years back, but that's the new reality. Others to have poor seasons include Gotthardt, who I gave a lot of credit to twelve months ago but somehow earned even less than Williams did, de Decker, who had a really mediocre season which ended with being on the end of the biggest upset of the world championship, while his compatriot only made the worlds on account of his historic money and didn't qualify for anything else, and unlike de Decker, didn't even win a set at the worlds. Michael Smith has been working through injuries in fairness, but continues to slide down the rankings and may well end up being unseeded for the next worlds which given how recently he won that is crazy. Wright looks to be completely past his best at this stage, and while that's been something that's been said for more than a season or two now, there has in the past always been something that makes you think there's still the occasional good game in there. This season? Not so much. Finally, Florian was one of the few players inside the top 64 to not make the worlds after a floor season with very few high points, and it's cost him his tour card as a result.
Best young player
2017 - Justin van Tergouw
2018 - Luke Humphries/Leighton Bennett
2019 - Keane Barry
2020 - Callan Rydz
2021 - Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
2022 - Josh Rock
2023 - Luke Littler
2024 - Wessel Nijman
Nominees - Gian van Veen, Mitchell Lawrie, Charlie Manby, Cam Crabtree, Jenson Walker
Winner - Beau Greaves
Feels like it's been a fairly quiet year for younger players, if we discount Mitchell coming from more or less nowhere to a WDF worlds final and looking like, after 2026 will be a lost year because Development Tour eligibility reasons, an elite talent already. Manby has had real flashes and looked very competent in the worlds, while Cam's had a really solid first year in the tour, won the Dev Tour, looking good. Gian we know all about while Jenson was also very high up on the Development Tour rankings and has done quite a lot on the WDF senior circuit. But I'm going to give it to Beau - hard to think she's just turned 22 today (as I write, this might not get finished today), she's looked extremely competent on the Challenge Tour, finished only behind Crabtree on the Development Tour, been solid in the Pro Tour events she's played, beat Littler in the world youth and only stopped by the other (senior) world finalist to claim that title, fantastic UK Open showing, Grand Slam was extremely encouraging - she's at a top 64 level already, and the time is now to go pro, and thankfully she is doing.
Most disappointing news of the season
2017 - Phil Taylor still not getting it quietly
2018 - Everything to do with the UK Open
2019 - Everything to do with the BDO
2020 - Kyle McKinstry and Wessel Nijman match fixing
2021 - Everything to do with the European Tour/European Championship
2022 - Retrospective awarding of a World Championship place to the Women's Matchplay winner
2023 - PDC wrecking the European Tour going forward
2024 - PDC wrecking the European Tour going forward even more than they did last year
Nominees - PDC/WDF STILL not having every tournament on Dart Connect, seniors tour going busto, Lourence Ilagan missing the Grand Slam, John McDonald retiring
Winner - Dom Taylor learning absolutely nothing
I mean this is an obvious one. Taylor's an incredible talent, but has basically cost himself his tour card and the entirety of 2026 in terms of being able to continue to develop to where his game is just because he can't control himself. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is. In terms of other bad news, 2025 hasn't been awful - them still not moving the Euro Tour and other majors, even if they duplicate sportradar data, onto Dart Connect is absurd, that the efforts to get a seniors' circuit didn't work is unfortunate for those that thought it might have been a sustainable revenue stream outside of the PDC system, there's been others that have missed big events (Springer for one) but Ilagan missing this seems a lot more huge as there's really not too many opportunities for players in his sort of spot to get multiple shots to test themselves. Meanwhile McDonald I think could have gone on for longer, but he'll pick his time and he has done, seems like a super nice guy and it's all the best for the future.
Personal highlight of the season
2017 - Mensur Suljovic wins the Champions League
2018 - Ian White claims a European Tour title
2019 - The explosion in quality from non-traditional areas
2020 - The PDC's efforts to get some sort of calendar on
2021 - Matt Campbell winning his tour card
2022 - Danny Noppert claiming a major title
2023 - A full return for the Asian Tour
2024 - Paul Lim making the Lakeside final
Nominees - Bunch of new title winners, PDC worlds being upset central, Gian van Veen winning a major title, expansion of the Euro Tour to new places
Winner - Jermaine Wattimena winning a brace of titles
To be honest, I've had a bit of a disconnect with the sport over the past year, and there's not been a huge amount that's seemed really great to me. Maybe, and I'll say it quietly, the same player winning everything is boring and going back to a late 90's/early 00's era of darts is not a good thing? That there's been a lot of players getting their first titles at all levels, and seeing a lot more upset results than I thought I would at the worlds made for an interesting tournament. It was great to see the Euro Tour being announced for new places coming forward, one being obvious, the other less so but what seemed like weird expansion places have worked in the past, while Gian getting a massive breakthrough was a great story. But I'm going to give it to Jermaine - to have been where he was, drop out of the top 32, work his way back and then finally get a senior title (then another!) and move to the highest he's been in the rankings playing the best darts of his career? Superb.
Best new tour card holder
2017 - Richard North
2018 - Danny Noppert
2019 - Glen Durrant
2020 - Damon Heta
2021 - Alan Soutar
2022 - Jim Williams
2023 - Gian van Veen
2024 - Dom Taylor
Nominees - Justin Hood, Wesley Plaisier, Sebastian Bialecki, Adam Lipscombe
Winner - Niko Springer
Could be only one really. Always looked like he'd have a good season, but as the only player new or old to play his way into the European Championship, rather than being gifted a spot, which he pretty much did before he actually won one, makes it an easy choice. Justin had a great worlds and an extremely strong level of play throughout the season, while Plaisier has looked very solid and also pulled off a big win at the worlds. Bialecki managed to win a title, while Lipscombe has looked steady and shown the occasional flash to do a lot more, giving himself a decent chance of retaining his card beyond 2026.
Most improved player
2017 - Daryl Gurney
2018 - Jeffrey de Zwaan
2019 - Nathan Aspinall
2020 - Devon Petersen
2021 - Martin Schindler
2022 - Martin Lukeman
2023 - Radek Szaganski
2024 - Kai Gotthardt
Nominees - Gian van Veen, Gemma Hayter, Justin Hood, Jamai van den Herik
Winner - Bradley Brooks
Few players who have made big steps up this season. van Veen came into the year without having even won a senior title, but leaves with a major, in the Premier League and stats at an elite level. Hayter was moderately unknown at the start of the year but improved to a level where she managed to qualify for the worlds, while van den Herik was more or less completely unknown but did the same after looking extremely strong on both the Challenge and Development Tours, as well as on the main Pro Tour when called up. Hood has pushed on a lot from the levels he was at when he was more or less just someone who'd looked steady on the Challenge Tour. But it's got to go to Bradley - he's been around for a while on and off the tour, but announced he'd improved quite a bit with his Q-School performance to win his card back, and has looked at a clear top 32 level since then, winning a first title and looking like another one who'll be pushing well up the rankings in 2026.
Player of the year
2017 - Rob Cross
2018 - Gary Anderson
2019 - Michael van Gerwen
2020 - Gerwyn Price
2021 - Jonny Clayton
2022 - Michael van Gerwen
2023 - Luke Humphries
2024 - Luke Littler
Nominees - Luke Humphries, Beau Greaves, Gian van Veen
Winner - Luke Littler
Can pretty much only be one really. The clear world number one, the clear best player statistically, and not just the world champion but also the winner of pretty much everything in the sport in 2025. Humphries and van Veen did a decent job of cleaning up what Luke didn't win, while Greaves' complete dominance of the Women's Series with an absurd (ongoing) winning run coupled with very solid displays on the other secondary tours to finally claim a card is also worthy of a mention. But none of them come close to Littler, who's the first player to retain this title, question is how long does he hold it for?
Back for a bit of a Q-School round up when I get the chance. Think I got 4 picks right in the UK and 3 in the EU (I might legitimately have picked de Zwaan had I seen Vandenbogaerde get a reprieve, but clearly have no way of proving this), pretty much hit the bar with Harrysson and Lennon for another couple but close is not correct obviously.
