The 1990’s, the beginning of the end for one darts organisation (BDO) and the start of a new darting era with the PDC and Sky Sports.
The split is one of the most turbulent events in darts history but we’re not here to look at organisations, we’re here for the players.
The 80’s saw darts boom in popularity thanks to the leading cast of Jocky Wilson, John Lowe and Eric Bristow and while the 90’s couldn’t quite live up to that same standard, there were still some special players who made their mark.
In this article we’re ranking the best darts players from the 1990’s, a decade that was actually hard to compare as there were fewer tournaments split across the divisions and some of them were just DOMINATED by a certain player… 👀
SEE MORE RANKING LISTS ON DECENT DARTS
👉 7 best darts players from the 1970’s [ranked]
👉 7 best darts players from the 1980’s [ranked]
Best Darts Players From The 1990’s
7. Peter Evison
Peter Evison entered that darts scene in the late 1980’s and it wasn’t long before he established himself as a player to watch.
He came runner-up in the 1987 News of the World Championship and then in 198 had semi-final finishes in the Winmau World Masters and MFI World Matchplay.
1989 was his breakout year when he won the Winmau World Masters beating Eric Bristow (the most dominant player of the 80’s) in the final.
Unfortunately, the tournament was not televised like in previous years so he only received half the money that Bob Anderson did in 1988.
It’s not surprising then that Evison was one of the top players to move to the PDC in the 90’s.
Evison had semi-final finishes at the PDC World Championship in 1994, 1995 and 1997 whilst also winning the World Matchplay in 1996.
The Matchplay was special in particular as he beat Phil Taylor 8-1 and Dennis Priestly 16-14 on route to the title with 100+ averages in both games.
His success in the 80’s doesn’t count towards this article but his start to the newly formed PDC meant he was still one of the best players of the 90’s.
6. Raymond van Barneveld
It’s worth mentioning that Raymond van Barneveld is one of the best players of the 2000’s, his accomplishments in the 1990’s were late on and it was the beginning of a long and successful career.
Having said that, Barney still makes this list for good reason.
A runner-up finish at the 1995 BDO World Championship announced him to the world as the first European to make it to a World Championship final and this was the origin story for a player that would later inspire a whole nation.
Barney also had a semi-final finish the same year at the Winmau World Masters and European Masters, both BDO majors but it was then a few years before he really got going.
He went back-to-back in 1998 and 1999, becoming the first European player to win the BDO World Championship and would end the decade ranked world number one in the BDO in consecutive seasons.
He would also see great success in non-major tournaments winning the Swedish Open, British Open, Canadian Open, Denmark Open, Norway Open and Belgium open at the back end of the decade.
While it may not have been his best era, Barney definitely established himself as one of the best players in darts at the turn of the century.
5. Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton, aka “The Bronzed Adonis” is a darts legend and a bit of a cultural icon as well.
Known both for his darting ability and good looks, Beaton was like the Becks of the darts world in the 1990’s.
Before moving over to the PDC in the 2000’s, Beaton was one of the best in the BDO throughout 1990. He won the BDO World Championship in 1996 and had two semi-final finishes in 1993 and 1997.
He also won the World Masters in 1993, finished runner-up in 1994 and was runner-up in the Zuiderdiun Masters in 2000.
Beaton had success on TV but he was most impressive on the circuit. He won dozens of titles throughout the 90’s including the Dutch Open, Belgium Open, Denmark Open, British Matchplay and British Pentathlon.
This was alongside several titles representing England in pairs and team events with the WDF.
His prime was in the 90’s and he joined the PDC in the 2000’s so people always wondered how he would have fared had he moved earlier.
Still, Beaton performed in any tournament at that time and he was undoubtedly one of the best players of the 90’s regardless of organisation.
4. Richie Burnett
Similar to Beaton, Richie Burnett was very successful in the BDO during the 90’s before moving over to the PDC in the 2000’s (to moderate success).
Wales had developed some top talent over the years and Burnett was another addition to that list.
From 1994-1998, Burnett went to several major finals in the BDO and established himself as the world number one in 1995.
Burnett won the 1995 BDO World Championship before finishing runner-up to Steve Beaton the following year and was runner-up again in 1998.
Burnett Also won the Winmau World Masters in 1995 before finishing runner-up again the following two years.
Burnett had a knack for getting to finals but unfortunately the mid to late 90’s had a tournament drought as a result of the BDO/PDC split.
Had Burnett had the same number of tournaments available to him as the players in the 80’s, he likely could have racked up many more major titles to his name and same goes for Beaton.
He was arguably the player most impacted by the split during that era because on the circuit he was on fire winning the Dutch Open, Denmark Open, Welsh Open (consecutively), British Matchplay and had dozens of runner-up finishes.
He maybe doesn’t get talked about enough due to dartitis struggles later in his career but a young Burnett reality was a top player.
3. Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington had a deceptively good darts career during the 90’s.
That sounds like a backhanded compliment but it’s because the two players ahead of him on this list are looked at as the main pair in the 90’s but Harrington was consistently in the mix when you look at his tournament history.
Harrington started his career in the BDO in the early 90’s and started claiming Open titles at a rapid rate. Belgium Open (x2), Denmark Open (x2), French Open (x2), Swedish Open, Austrian Open and several runner-up finishes had him basically explode onto the scene.
He won the Winmau World Masters in 1991 during this relentless run at the Opens and then moved to the PDC in 1994. He reached the quarter-final of the 1994 PDC World Championship and semi-final of the World Matchplay.
The following year, he was the second seed heading into the 1995 PDC World Championship and finished runner-up to Phil Taylor.
Harrington would still see success in the PDC winning the World Matchplay in 1998 and 1999 whilst finishing runner-up at the inaugural PDC World Grand Prix, again losing out to Taylor in the final.
Side note – not quite sure on the technicalities but Harrington once again started entering Opens (and winning them) at the end of the decade, he really was a beast when playing the floor tournaments!
Harrington definitely got overshadowed by Taylor and Priestley in the 90’s but when it came to accolades, he was right up there with the best of them.
2. Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley was a coal merchant who made it to the final of the News of the World Championship in 1989, he then turned professional in darts at the ripe old age of 40.
The Menace is one of the greatest ‘what if’ stories in darts. Despite starting his career at an age when some players were retiring from it, Priestley still saw massive success.
He won the BDO World Championship the first time he entered it in 1991 beating Eric Bristow in the final, the greatest player to come out of the 1980’s. He then won the Winmau World Masters in 1992 before moving to the PDC in 1994.
Priestley then reached a dual milestone by becoming the first ever winner of the PDC World Championship beating Phil Taylor in the final and also becoming the first player to win a World Championship in both divisions.
He had a slow and methodical throw but his consistency and composure was top tier. Priestley looked like he would dominate the 90’s, however, his fortunes turned drastically.
Phil Taylor established himself as the best player while Priestley would find himself runner-up in seven major finals throughout the 90’s.
He went to four more World Championship finals and lost all to Phil Taylor, whilst also finishing runner-up at three World Matchplays.
There’s no doubt that were it not for Taylor, Priestley could have pushed Eric Bristow for World Championship titles but despite the defeats, he was still easily one of the most successful and best players in the decade and also of all time!
See also – 7 darts players who would have had better careers if Phil Taylor DIDN’T exist
1. Phil Taylor
The best player in the 1990’s is also the best and most successful darts player of all time, Phil Taylor.
Eric Bristow sponsored Phil Taylor to turn professional in the late 1980’s. In 1990 Taylor would win the BDO World Championship and World Masters and kickstart one of the most dominant careers of any sportsman.
He would win the BDO World Championship again in 1992 before joining the breakaway PDC division in 1994.
As mentioned earlier, it was Dennis Priestley who won the initial duel between the pair but Taylor would then go on to win the next eight world championship titles in a row.
He would win the first three World Grand Prix titles from 1998-2000 as well as the World Matchplay in 1995 and 1997.
During his career Taylor won 16 x World Championship titles and 16 x World Matchplay titles.
His most dominant era came in the 2000’s when the PDC introduced more major tournaments but Taylor was still the dominant force throughout the 90’s.
We’ve talked up some of the other players’ accomplishments on this list but that doesn’t seem necessary for Taylor, his dominance speaks for itself really…
SEE MORE PHIL TAYLOR ON DECENT DARTS
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Honourable mentions go to Alan Warriner and Ronnie Baxter.
Alan Warriner was a BDO World Championship runner-up in 1993, a Winmau World Masters runner-up in 1998 and PDC World Matchplay runner-up in 1997.
He would win the World Grand Prix in 2001 but without a major title in the 90’s, he narrowly missed out on this list.
Baxter didn’t make the list because he was runner-up in two BDO World Championship finals at the end of the decade whereas Barney won them.
Baxter also had a World Masters runner-up finish and World Matchplay (PDC) runner-up and was a top player in the 90’s.
He’s definitely one of the nearly men in darts though and should have won more (see article below 👇) based on his deep tournament runs.
Please note that non-major title statistics for this article were sourced via Darts Database, major tournament titles were sourced via relevant Wikipedia pages.
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