Who Has Won the Most Premier League Darts Titles?

On the 4th of April, 2024, 17-year-old darts sensation, Luke Littler, won his second night of Premier League darts competition. That success was in fact his second win in a row in what was his first time in the tournament. The Runcorn ace looks set to take the darts world by storm in the years ahead and given his extreme youth could even challenge some of the seemingly unbreakable records set by Phil Taylor.

However, all this is very much in the future for the Nuke and right now he will be focussed on doing as well as he can in the 2024 Premier League. He might have two night wins to his name but, of course, he is yet to claim a Premier League Darts title and that will be his ambition, with a place in the play-offs the first target. Those take place on the 23rd of May, when Littler will look to add his name to those of the many darts legends that have won this high-profile tournament. But who has won the most Premier League Darts crowns? And indeed, who has ever won it?

Most Premier League Darts Titles

The Premier League Darts (PLD) tournament was only inaugurated in 2005 so lacks the history of some of the sport’s other events. However, due to its impressive prize money of £1m in total, split between just eight players, and the high quality of the field, it is hugely prestigious.

The tournament sees the best four players in the world joined by four wild cards and the format, which sees the event travel around the British Isles over 16 nights, before the play-offs decide the winner, has really captured the public imagination. The PLD is one of the sport’s three most important tournaments, forming the Triple Crown alongside the World Championship and World Matchplay. It has been won by all of the game’s 21st century greats and it is surely only a matter of time before Littler joins them.

Michael van Gerwen

The player with the most wins in the Premier League Darts is, perhaps surprisingly, Michael van Gerwen. There are not many events in the sport where the GOAT, Phil Taylor, is not the record title-holder but this is one. Mighty Mike has won a hugely impressive seven PLD titles and has made a further two finals.

MVG won his first crown in 2013 and so his seven wins have come in a very short space of time. Statistically this is his best big event, and his consistency has been truly incredible, with seven wins and two other finals in the last 11 seasons, his nine appearances in the final also a record.

He beat Taylor to land his first Premier League, edging the Power 10-8. That was the start of an incredible streak for the Dutch master. Although he lost the final in 2014 (10-6 to compatriot Raymond van Barneveld) and in 2015 (11-7 to Gary Anderson), he won the next four tournaments in a row, meaning he played in a record seven consecutive Premier League finals. MVG’s magnificent seven can be seen in summary below:

1. 2013 – beats Phil Taylor 10-8
2. 2016 – beats Phil Taylor 11-3
3. 2017 – beats Peter Wright 11-10
4. 2018 – beats Michael Smith 11-4
5. 2019 – beats Rob Cross 11-5
6. 2022 – beats Joe Cullen 11-10
7. 2023 – beats Gerwyn Price 11-5

He failed to make the final in 2020 or 2021 but other than that his performances in this tournament have been truly staggering. Despite his incredible success in darts, some feel that Van Gerwen has not quite fulfilled his potential and not quite proved to be the successor to the Power that many thought he would be. He has “only” won three World Championships but when it comes to the Premier League, MVG is the man Littler and all the rest have to try and beat.

Taylor Second But Six and Out

It is not often that Phil Taylor has to settle for being number two but when it comes to PLD titles, he does. The Power won the first four editions of this tournament and five of the first six. He added a sixth Premier League title in 2012 but that was his last and, of course, he has since retired, so it is safe to say that if anyone does better Van Gerwen’s tally, it won’t be him.

As previously detailed, the Power made the final in 2013 and 2016. However, on both occasions he lost to MVG. He competed in this event for the last time in 2017. He finished third in the table to make the play-offs but narrowly lost in the semis, going down 10-9 to Peter Wright.

Multiple Champions of the Premier League

The 2024 edition of the PLD is the 20th to be held and through the 19 completed tournaments, the two players named above have dominated. Van Gerwen and Taylor have won 13 out of 19 previous editions of the Premier League, leaving little room for anyone else.

Only one other player has multiple titles to their name and that is the Scot, Gary Anderson. The two-time PDC world champion beat Adrian Lewis 10-4 back in 2011 and then claimed a second crown 11-7 in 2015, inflicting a rare PLD final defeat on MVG. He has never lost at the final of this tournament, making him the only multiple champion with a 100% record in finals.

Other Champions

In total, just seven men have won this event, although in 2024 it would take a brave man to bet against that becoming eight, with a Luke – be that Littler or Humphries – likely to be very hard to beat. However, as things stand, the only other players to have claimed PLD glory are:

• James Wade, who won in 2009
• Raymond van Barneveld, 2014
• Glen Durrant, 2020
• Jonny Clayton, 2021

Of those, Wade is the only one to make multiple finals, losing in both 2008 and 2010, both to the Power. Additionally, 13 men have been unlucky enough to make the final but walk away as the runner-up. That number includes Mervyn King, Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock, Peter Wright and Rob Cross.