Phil Taylor received just £10,000 when he won his maiden World Matchplay title – and half of that went to his biggest rival, Dennis Priestley. The final was held at the Winter Gardens in 1995, during the early days of the PDC after the split from the BDO.
Unlikely Alliance
Taylor and Priestley were the sport's dominant duo, but with darts not awash with cash or sponsorship, they struck an unlikely alliance that involved splitting prize money. It was not a unique arrangement. Eric Bristow and John Lowe did the same, with Bristow breaking it off shortly before Lowe's legendary nine-darter in 1984 and missing out on a bumper pay day.
"It was in the olden days when the prize money wasn't very good. It was just so everyone got a bit of a payday," recalls Taylor. "It's not like it is now. Back then, the first prize at some tournaments would be a thousand quid. When you went to America, say, if you came runner-up in the tournament, you'd just get your money back. You only made some money if you won. You went for the [ranking] points."
End of the Arrangement
The arrangement was eventually prohibited when Barry Hearn took control of the PDC and increased both prize money and professionalism. Taylor, who was managed by Hearn, adds: "Barry came in and said we weren't allowed to share prize money anymore, otherwise we'd be in trouble."
Taylor won the World Matchplay a record 16 times, with his last triumph at the Winter Gardens coming in 2013, where the winners' jackpot was £200,000 from a prize pool of £1,000,000. Priestley never got his hands on the trophy (now renamed the Phil Taylor Trophy), finishing runner-up three consecutive times between 1994 and 1996 – losing each final to 'The Power'.
There is no need for such an arrangement nowadays, with prize money soaring in the wake of the Luke Littler effect and the PDC's lucrative new deal with Sky Sports. The winner of the 2026 World Matchplay will bank £225,000 out of a total prize pot of £1m. Even first-round losers will take home £12,500.
