Darts is a non-contact sport.
Players take turns throwing at the dartboard and it can be hard to put your opponent off their game without the use of gamesmanship. The famous saying goes “play against the board, not the player”…
Despite the limited interaction time between players, it can still get incredibly HEATED during competition.
While it’s truly a rare occurrence for a fight to break out over a darts match, even at amateur level, there have been many occasions where the top players came very close!
Below are 10 of the biggest bust ups in darts history. Some players appear more than once on the list and unbelievably, they appear in some of the incidents that we’ve decided to leave out 😅
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Biggest Bust Ups In Darts History
Daryl Gurney vs Gary Anderson – 2018 World Grand Prix
In the 2018 World Grand Prix quarter-final, Gurney who won the title the year prior, beat Anderson 3-0 in convincing fashion.
After shaking hands though, Gary Anderson appeared to take issue with something Gurney had done during the game and called him out on it while collecting his belongings from the player table.
Gurney appeared baffled at the accusation before telling Anderson to ‘get off the stage’.
The pair continued to exchange words and it appeared that Gurney was gesturing to Anderson that if there was a problem they could sort it out backstage…
Justin Pipe vs Kevin Painter – 2012 World Grand Prix
This bust up was both momentarily heated followed by being momentarily hilarious!
Justin Pipe won the match at the 2012 World Grand Prix and gave a very animated celebration, bounding around the oche…
Kevin Painter wasn’t too happy about it and the pair had a heated moment. This resulted in Pipe then further extending his celebration with an attempt at breakdancing.
This is one of the wildest celebrations we’ve ever seen in darts and also the strangest of de-escalation.
Adrian Lewis vs Peter Manley – 2006 World Championship
Adrian Lewis was known for a fiery temper, admitting he should have won more in darts but his mindset didn’t match his ability.
See more – Adrian Lewis thinks he should have won more in darts
Peter Manley was known to ‘rile’ certain players up. This combination between the pair peaked at the 2006 World Championship quarter-final where Lewis walled off the stage during the game.
Midway through the match, Lewis gestured to the ref and Manley in a frustrated manner and it looked like he was accusing Manley of something.
Manley wouldn’t make eye-contact with Lewis and while Lewis can be seen shaking his head he decides he’s had enough and walks off the stage.
Manley is just left throwing some practice darts not sure what is happening. It’s fair to say that Lewis storming off is more out of character than his later confrontations, so Manley got away quite lucky!
Gerwyn Price vs Daryl Gurney (Part 1) – 2019 Premier League Night 15
Both Gerwyn Price and Daryl Gurney appear multiple times on this list as historically two of the most hot-tempered and antagonising players in darts.
Following their match in the 2019 Premier League Darts campaign, the players clashed following the post-match handshake.
The handshake resulted in pulling and pushing before both players went head-to-head in a heated exchange of words.
When watching it in real time, this is one of the rare occasions when you genuinely thought a fight was going to break out between players.
Security had to come between the pair as each time one went to walk away, it escalated again.
It seemed to come out of nowhere, unlike other Price incidents where we see a lot of tension on the oche. In his post-match interview he even said:
“I don’t know what was going through his head”
Gerwyn Price vs Daryl Gurney (Part 2) – 2025 World Matchplay
Several years after their initial incident, Price and Gurney would make a round 2 at the 2025 World Matchplay.
It started with Gurney trailing 6-2 in the first to 10 leg contest. After taking out the D16 to make it 6-3, Gurney could be seen mocking Price’s celebration – to which Price just shakes his head in the background.
Price would go on to win the match 10-7 and after hitting the match dart, he let out an ‘extended and audible’ celebration.
Gurney would again mock him to the crowd and when the pair went to shake hands it looked like an aggressive handshake as the pair would get in each other’s face again.
They would exchange some brief words at the oche and then it seemed to calm down with neither player escalating the situation.
It was revealed by media afterwards that Daryl Gurney was ‘fuming’ backstage and had to be held back by security from confronting Price further.
Wonder if this rivalry will give us a trilogy of bust ups between the pair and rival that of Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier… 👀
Cliff Lazarenko vs Jocky Wilson – 1985 World Matchplay
Darts in the 80’s was incredibly rowdy, especially with players allowed to consume alcohol on stage.
The atmosphere never seemed tense though. Far more bust ups have come post 2000’s with the increase in prize money available possibly a big reason.
One incident will stay in the memory though which is the 1985 MFI World Matchplay when Jocky Wilson refused to shake Cliff Lazarenko’s hand post match.
This led to a now infamous clip where ‘Big Cliff’ flips him off on stage.
Considering this was live on ITV on an afternoon session, it made big headlines at the time and probably also didn’t help with darts ‘image’ back then either…
Mark Webster vs James Wade – 2017 European Grand Prix
In a European Tour event in Germany in 2017, Mark Webster won a deciding leg against James Wade to win the match 6-5.
While shaking hands with the match officials, Wade appeared to say something briefly to Webster.
The pair then exchanged words and referee Russ Bray could see it start to get heated and tried to pull Webster back from the confrontation.
The Welshman, however, was clearly annoyed and continued to get in Wade’s face as he tried to leave the stage.
It was revealed that Webster was struggling with dartitis at the time and while we don’t know what was said, Webster hinted that Wade made a comment about his throw during the match – hinting that it was intentional to put Wade off.
Adrian Lewis vs Jose Justicia – 2018 UK Open Qualifier
This was a true bust up as Adrian Lewis would receive a £3,000 fine and three-month ban for his confrontation with Jose Justicia at the 2018 UK Open Qualifying event.
The pair had a few exchanges during the match where Lewis seemed unhappy about where Justicia was standing at the oche.
It escalated quickly though as Lewis got in Justicia’s face and with his finger raised, nudged Justicia in the chin while saying:
“Don’t you try to p**s me off, I’m telling you now”
This continued and even after winning the match, Lewis would not let the situation go and would have to be escorted away by security.
All throughout, Justicia was looking completely baffled by the situation…
Phil Taylor vs Raymond van Barneveld – 2013 World Championship
After winning the 2013 World Championship semi-final match, Phil Taylor let out an emotional and extended celebration before collecting his darts and going to shake hands with his opponent Raymond van Barneveld.
While shaking hands, Taylor was making his way to the players table, however, Barney seemingly not done with the exchange (though smiling), didn’t release his grip and ‘yanked’ Taylor back towards him.
Like we say, he was smiling and went to put an arm around him but Taylor was visibly fuming with the interaction and pushed him away immediately.
This seemed very much like a heat of the moment interaction but it was definitely a strange one as both seemed to be instigating each other without actively wanting a confrontation.
Taylor’s celebration seemed excessive but it was away from Barney, whilst Barney clearly yanked Taylor forcefully but with a smile on his face… 🤔
Gary Anderson vs Gerwyn Price – 2018 Grand Slam of Darts
Arguably the most viral bust up of all time came between Gary Anderson and Gerwyn Price at the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts Final.
This would be his first PDC major title for Gerwyn Price and the occasion had tempers flaring as the pair would have a heated exchange during the 15th leg.
It later came out that Gary Anderson accused Price of unsportsmanlike conduct with over-exaggerated celebrations in order to put him off.
How did Price respond?
Well, he just kept winding him up basically every time he won a leg. Giving him a ‘shush’ gesture along with a ‘mouthy’ hand gesture.
Anderson was visibly furious during the 27th leg of an incredibly closely contested match in a first to 16 leg race. He stepped back from the oche mid throw and was ranting after he finished the throw.
How did Price respond to this?
In the next leg he hit a good cover shot with 2 x T19’s and then bumped into Anderson while celebrating before collecting his darts. It wasn’t even a checkout, they were only midway through the leg.
He then just kept celebrating as though he’d won the World Championship 🤷🏻♂️
Anderson isn’t one to shy away from conflict but this was a bit much and Price was later fined £21,500 and received a suspended three-month ban for the incident.
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