World Matchplay darts champ needed to give half of £10k prize to his greatest rival
Phil Taylor once received just £10,000 for winning the World Matchplay but he had to give half of his prize money to his biggest rival despite beating him
Phil Taylor split his World Matchplay prize money with Dennis Priestley(Image: Getty Images)
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 was The Power’s opponent for that Winter Gardens final in 1995. In the early days of the PDC, following the split from the BDO, they 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 wasn’t a unique arrangement.
Phil Taylor and Dennis Priestly dominated darts in the early PDC years
JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
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 as a result.
“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.”
Asked if such an arrangement led to any awkwardness if one player enjoys more success than the other, Taylor jokes: “Yeah, because I was the most successful one!”
Phil Taylor after winning the 2002 World Matchplay in Blackpool(Image: Getty Images)
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.
While 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’
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.”
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 the first-round losers will take home £12,5000.
