The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World Darts Council (WDC). Sports promoter Eddie Hearn is the PDC chairman.
The Ladbrokes UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. The event is often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts" as it has an unseeded open draw made after each round, and entry is open to players at all levels of darts. One-hundred-and-sixty players compete in the multi-board event over eight-stages before the PDC’s Top 32 enter the tournament in the fourth round. The tournament has a prize fund of £600,000; the victor’s prize is £110,000.
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC used to invite the best performing players from its rival, the British Darts Organisation. There have been two previous head-to-head matches between the champions of the two organisations and a few overseas tournaments have also featured BDO v PDC clashes, but this tournament is the first of its kind to be held in the United Kingdom. This arrangement lasted until the BDO's collapse into liquidation in 2020 and it is unclear whether any other organisation will be invited in future.
Jamie Harvey is a Scottish former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments. Originally nicknamed “The Tartan Terror” he later used the nickname Bravedart for his matches – a play on the lead character from the film Braveheart. As darts began to introduce entrance tunes for its players during the 1990s, Harvey used to come to stage whilst the tune "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" was played.
The Circus Tavern is an entertainment venue in Purfleet, Essex, England which hosts functions, cabaret acts and is also a nightclub venue. First opened in 1974, it is most famous as having been a long-time venue of the PDC World Darts Championship. Its capacity is 1,100 seated.
The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players have gone on to win at least 30 titles on the PDC Pro Tour. Michael van Gerwen has won the most Pro Tour titles winning 90. Phil Taylor is second on the list winning 70 events. Gary Anderson is in third winning 37 events and Peter Wright in fourth winning 34 events, as of September 2024.
The European Championship is a PDC darts tournament which was created to allow the top European players to compete with the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit. Since 2016, the tournament has taken place at the end of October, and features the top 32 players on the PDC European Tour Order of Merit.
The 2008 PartyPoker.net European Championship was the inaugural edition of the Professional Darts Corporation tournament, which thereafter was promoted as the annual European Championship, matching top European players qualifying to play against the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit.
The 2009 coral.co.uk Players Championship Finals was the inaugural edition of the PDC tournament, the Players Championship Finals, which saw the top 32 players from the 2008 PDC Players Championship Order of Merit taking part. The tournament took place between 30 January–1 February 2009 and was held at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet, England – the former venue of the PDC World Darts Championship.
The 2011 PartyPoker.net European Championship was the fourth edition of the PDC tournament, the European Championship, which allowed the top European players to compete against the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit. The tournament took place at the Maritim Hotel in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 28–31 July 2011, featuring a field of 32 players and £200,000 in prize money, with £50,000 going to the winner.
The 2012 Cash Converters Players Championship Finals was the fifth edition of the PDC darts tournament, the Players Championship Finals, which saw the top 32 players from the 2012 PDC Players Championship Order of Merit taking part. The tournament took place from 30 November–2 December 2012 at the Butlin's Resort Minehead in Minehead, England. This was the second Players Championship Final to be held before the PDC World Championship.
The 2013 Speedy Services UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the eleventh year of the UK Open tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, England, between 6–9 June 2013, and has the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw is staged after each round until the final.
The 2013 Cash Converters Players Championship Finals was the sixth edition of the PDC darts tournament, the Players Championship Finals, which saw the top 32 players from the 2013 PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit taking part. The tournament took place from 29 November–1 December 2013 at the Butlin's Resort Minehead in Minehead, England.
The February 2011 Perform Players Championship Finals was the third edition of the Professional Darts Corporation tournament, the Players Championship Finals, which saw the top 32 players from the 2010 PDC Players Championship Order of Merit taking part. The tournament took place between 3–6 February 2011 and was held at the Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England, which hosted the event for the first time, after two years at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet.
The 2015 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the thirteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competing in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held for the second time at the Butlin's Resort in Minehead, England, between 6–8 March 2015, and had the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw was staged after each round until the final.
The 2015 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship was the fifth edition of the PDC World Youth Championship, a tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation for darts players aged between 16 and 23.
The 2016 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the fourteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competing in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held for the third time at the Butlin's Resort in Minehead, England, between 4–6 March 2016, and has the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw will be staged after each round until the final.
The 2018 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the sixteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held for the fifth time at the Butlin's Resort in Minehead, England, between 2–4 March 2018, and has the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw was staged after each round until the final.
This is a timeline of the history of darts on television in the UK.
The 2021 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship was the eleventh edition of the PDC World Youth Championship, a tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation for darts players aged between 16 and 23. In a change from previous years, the whole tournament was played at Butlin's Minehead, Minehead, on 28 November 2021. The final took place on the stage, before the final of the 2021 Players Championship Finals.
Luke Humphries 
