Darts' fiercest rivalries: from the Crafty Cockney to the floorboard feuds that defined the sport

Darts has long offered more than precision and nerve. Its elite circuit has produced rivalries that blend high-class skill with theater and petulance. From the close quarters of the oche to the roar of thousands of fans, players have learned that a tense moment can define a career as surely as a perfect 180. Over the decades, feuds and flashpoints have given the sport a reputation for drama that rivals any other in its niche. These rivalries have spanned generations, from the larger-than-life personalities of the 1980s to the analytics-driven clashes of the 2010s and beyond.

Few examples loom larger than the mentor-protégé relationship between Phil Taylor, known as The Power, and Adrian Lewis. Taylor dominated darts for years with 16 world titles and a willingness to guide the next generation. Lewis, who grew up in Stoke alongside Taylor and whose parents sought mentorship, rose to the sport's upper echelon, even winning the World Championship in 2011. The dynamic, though, was never simple. Lewis later said: It’s time to stop calling me Phil’s protégé - all I’ve ever done is to practise with him, but I used to practise with my dad and nobody calls me his apprentice. Taylor, for his part, hinted at how tips were shared and how their bond frayed under the glare of large trophies. How much of my success is down to Phil? He passed on a few tips, like going to bed early and a few things I should be doing as a professional, but I had qualified for three tournaments on the circuit before I had even met him. The relationship grew warmer at times—Lewis won his first world title in 2011 with Taylor in his corner—but the friction showed when Lewis later questioned who deserved credit for his rise, even as the pair remained affectionate in public.

Two of the sport's heaviest hitters also traded mind games and memorable public burnings. Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld clashed at the highest level for years, with Barney's Dutch flag on stage becoming a flashpoint that turned the crowd against him and back into the story of the match. The most infamous handshake moment came in 2012 at their World Championship semi-final. Taylor won 6-4, but the moment after the match drew headlines. Barneveld clung to Taylor's hand in a way that many described as a standoff rather than a hug. Taylor later said he deeply regretted his behaviour and apologized to Van Barneveld. In his book Staying Power, he wrote that turning the final into England v Holland was his biggest mistake and that the row was amplified by the crowd’s reaction. He recalled thinking that carrying on with the hand gesture was not helping Barneveld, and that it was doing wonders for him. The rivalry, though heated, also yielded moments of sportsmanship and mutual respect that kept fans engaged and the sport’s narrative combustible.

The Crafty Cockney versus Old Stoneface defined the 1980s. Eric Bristow, The Crafty Cockney, was the flamboyant, quick-throwing showman, while John Lowe, Old Stoneface, was the calm, methodical grinder. Lowe twice staged standout comebacks against Bristow in big-pressure matches, including a 6-0 deficit overturned to win 7-6 in one memorable confrontation. The two also faced off in the sport's defining era, with Bristow dominating the late 70s and 80s. Bristow's influence extended beyond the board when the prize-money-sharing agreement between the two broke down just before Lowe's historic nine-darter. Lowe recalls that Bristow told him they could no longer share prize money: One week before, he told me he couldn't share prize money anymore. He said, We can’t share anymore, my manager thinks I’m a better player than you. Lowe said Bristow's decision cost him roughly £51,000, and he described a moment when Bristow rang to offer a drink at the hotel bar after the incident. Lowe would go on to beat Bristow in the 1987 World Championship final, cementing the pair's complex legacy in darts' history.

The Price is Right: Gerwyn Price versus Gary Anderson encapsulated a newer breed of darts feud. The 2018 Grand Slam of Darts final saw Price rally from behind to win 16-13 after trailing 11-8, a performance that helped cement his ascent. The pageantry, however, carried consequences: Price was fined £12,000 and given a suspended ban for behaviour during the event. The tensions persisted, and the 2020 World Championship final between the two was notable for a lack of congratulatory moments from Anderson, signaling an ongoing rift that kept the audience talking.

Adrian Lewis has had his share of combustible moments. In 2006, during a widely cited clash with Peter Manley, Lewis stormed off after Manley was accused of muttering behind him and attempting to unsettle him. Both players were fined, but Manley later insisted that the incident left Lewis with a sizeable cash-in-hand reward: I ended up with £50,000 in the bank so I was alright at the time. He added that Lewis’s on-stage reaction reflected a larger truth about the sport’s psychology, where real rivalries bleed into the players’ routines and headlines.

Lewis would again be at the center of controversy years later, when a dispute with a rival known as Wade over a creaky floorboard intensified the atmosphere on stage. Wade accused Lewis of using the rotting floor to disrupt his rhythm, while Lewis strode around the red carpet and even dragged the referee to the same spot in a moment that underlined how a single physical cue could become a flashpoint in a match.

The tension did not end there. In 2021 Lewis faced off against Peter Wright, and a supposedly loose floorboard again became a focal point of the contest. Lewis accused Wright of taking him out of his rhythm by pointing out the floorboard, and Wright’s defenders argued that the floorboard was simply part of the stage's quirks. The exchange produced the familiar mix of mind games and public barbs that have become a staple of modern darts competitions. As Lewis himself summed up in the wake of so many run-ins, Trouble does seem to follow me around, I can’t deny it, but it’s only because I’m a genuine person who wears my heart on my sleeve and people try to take advantage of that. I will always speak my mind.