Aspinall played semi-professional football as a goalkeeper, having once been scouted by Manchester United's academy. He was offered a deal by Rangers but turned it down as his family did not want to move to Scotland. He played in Stockport County's academy until he was 15, joining Cheadle Town. He worked as a trainee accountant before quitting to become a professional darts player.[2]
Career
Aspinall began playing in PDC Development and Challenge Tour events in 2012. His first semi-final in those came in 2013, where he lost 4–2 to Max Hopp.[3] He won a two-year PDC Tour Card in 2015 through the Q School Order of Merit and qualified for the UK Open, where he beat Chris Dobey 5–1 and James Richardson 9–4, before losing 4–9 to James Wade in the fourth round.[4][5] Aspinall's first European Tour appearance was at the Dutch Darts Masters and he squeezed past Jamie Robinson and Vincent van der Voort both 6–5.[6] In the third round Justin Pipe eliminated him 6–4.[7] Aspinall won the seventh Development Tour event of 2015 with a 4–2 victory over Benito van de Pas.[8] He also lost in the final of two other events during the year.[9] Aspinall made his first televised appearance in the final of the 2015 PDC World Youth Championship, where he played the German Max Hopp. After 10 legs of holding throw, the final deciding leg was thrown by Aspinall, and despite having match darts, it was Hopp who won 6–5.[10]
While throwing a dart, Aspinall often stops to grip it differently. Commentators and others have suggested that this is due to dartitis. Michael van Gerwen indicated in 2022 that, during a match, he thought his opponent was suffering from this problem. Aspinall himself invariably denies during interviews that the hiccups have a mental cause.[11][12] However, he later openly admitted to having the condition, having first encountered it during a Premier League match against Peter Wright in 2023. [13]
Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Aspinall was selected as one of nine 'contenders' to replace him. He played a one-off match against Michael Smith on night six in Nottingham, losing 7–2.
Aspinall won his second televised title at the 2019 US Darts Masters, the first event on the 2019 World Series of Darts.[24] It was Aspinall's first World Series event, and the only one he was selected to compete in during the 2019 edition.[25] In the first round, he defeated Shawn Brenneman 6–2 before achieving wins over Rob Cross 8–5, and Peter Wright 8–7 in a last leg decider. Aspinall averaged 106.70 in the final, defeating Michael Smith 8-4. Aspinall received £20,000 in prize money for his victory.
He made his debut at the World Matchplay at the 2019 event. He was the first player to make his World Matchplay debut as a seed since Simon Whitlock in 2010. He lost to Mervyn King in the first round 10-5 despite averaging 103.
Aspinall followed his second world championship semi-final by reaching the semi-finals of the Masters, where he was beaten 11–10 by Michael Smith in a deciding leg.[28] He was selected for his Premier League Darts debut season as part of the 2020 lineup after competing as a 'contender' the previous year.[29] He qualified for the play-offs by finishing third in the league stage table.[30] He defeated reigning world champion Peter Wright 10–7 in the semi-finals to set up a clash with fellow Premier League debutant Glen Durrant in the final. Aspinall succumbed to an 11–8 defeat to Durrant.[31]
2021
At the 2021 World Championship, Aspinall came back from 2–0 down to beat Scott Waites 3–2 in the second round.[32] He was eliminated from the tournament before the semi-finals for the first time as he lost 4–2 in the third round to Vincent van der Voort.[33]
Aspinall finished third in the 2021 Premier League's league phase, losing 8–3 to José de Sousa on night 16 who took second place.[34] The two met in the play-off semi-finals, with De Sousa beating Aspinall 10–9 in a deciding leg.[35] He reached the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay,[36] where he was defeated 16–9 by Michael van Gerwen.[37] He then reached the semi-finals of the European Championship but lost 11–10 to Van Gerwen.[38]
2022
Despite suffering with tendonitis, Aspinall was able to win his opening match at the 2022 World Championship, recovering from 2–1 down to defeat Joe Murnan, who had a dart to win the match.[39] He was whitewashed 4–0 in the third round by Callan Rydz.[40] He then withdrew from the Masters due to injury.[41]
Aspinall reached the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay, where he was eliminated by Michael van Gerwen in a narrow 16–14 defeat.[42] He also won two ranking titles during the year. He claimed the Players Championship 13 title with an 8–6 triumph over Matt Campbell in the final.[43] He added a second Players Championship victory in the 22nd event, defeating Krzysztof Ratajski 8–3 in the final.[44]
At the World Grand Prix in October, Aspinall reached the final following a 4–2 win over Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals, setting up a match against Michael van Gerwen for the prize.[45] Despite briefly rallying from 4–0 down, he finally succumbed to a 5–3 defeat to Van Gerwen.[46] The next month, he reached his second major final of the year at the Grand Slam of Darts, where he lost 16–5 to Michael Smith.[47]
Aspinall was a quarter-finalist at the UK Open, where he was beaten 10–6 by eventual runner-up Michael van Gerwen.[50] He reached a sole 2023 European Tour final at the German Darts Grand Prix, losing 8–5 to Michael Smith.[51] During the 2023 Premier League, he achieved his first nightly win on night 12 in Rotterdam. He got past Michael van Gerwen and Dimitri Van den Bergh to reach the final, where he defeated Gerwyn Price 6–4.[52] He finished the league phase in fifth place, missing out on qualifying for the play-offs by failing to reach the final on night 16.[53]
Aspinall achieved two nightly wins during the 2024 Premier League. He picked up his first win on night five in Exeter, beating Peter Wright and world champion Luke Humphries before a 6–2 victory over Rob Cross in the final.[61] His second nightly win came in Rotterdam on night 12 where he defeated Michael Smith 6–4 in the final.[62] Aspinall missed out on qualification for the play-offs by losing to Smith 6–3 in their opening match on night 16, with Smith claiming the final place.[63]
In his defence of the World Matchplay, he was eliminated in the second round after an 11–8 loss to James Wade.[64] Prior to the tournament, Aspinall admitted that due to a tennis elbow-like injury, he would be taking a break following his title defence.[65] This resulted in him withdrawing from the World Series Finals in September.[66] At the Players Championship Finals in November, he defeated number one seed Chris Dobey 6–1 in the first round,[67] before exiting the tournament in a 6–3 defeat to Niels Zonneveld.[68]
2025
Entering the second round of the 2025 World Championship as 12th seed, Aspinall began his campaign with a 3–1 win over Leonard Gates. After the match, Aspinall stated that he wanted to prove how good he was and go deep in the tournament after facing scrutiny for recent poor performances.[69] He defeated Andrew Gilding 4–0 before dispatching Ricardo Pietreczko by the same scoreline to progress to the quarter-finals.[70][71] Aspinall was denied a third Alexandra Palace semi-final by Luke Littler, to whom he lost 5–2.[72]
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