PHIL TAYLOR has named his five greatest darts players of all time but remarkably left himself and Michael van Gerwen out of the list.

won a record 87 major titles and a

Pluto TV & MODUS Super Series Night Of Darts In LondonPhil Taylor left himself out of his top five list of darts players Credit: Getty Luke Littler to front live Netflix showLuke Littler managed to secure a spot in the top five Credit: PA

Taylor, 66, enjoyed a glittering professional career from 1987 to 2018, lifting 214 trophies to cement his status as the most successful player in history.

Mighty Mike is the second most recognised star with 48 PDC Premier titles, while his 90 ProTour triumphs are also a record, surpassing Taylor’s previous mark of 70 in February 2019.

Taylor wasted no time picking out the legends who left the biggest mark on him

He told Givemesport: “For me, I mean, I am old school. I’m back from the early 80s, really.

“I’ve got to go with Eric Bristow as one. John Lowe I would put as one of the greatest.

“Now, let me see, Dennis Priestley was brilliant at his time. Barney was great in his heyday.”

Unsurprisingly, Taylor also named , making the teenage sensation the only player from the modern era to feature in his selection.

Littler is now chasing a slice of history of his own as he bids to become the first player to win all 11 major titles in a single season.

List of all-time Darts World Champions

BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.

The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.

That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.

  • 1994 – Dennis Priestley
  • 1995 – Phil Taylor
  • 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
  • 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
  • 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
  • 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
  • 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
  • 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
  • 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
  • 2003 – John Part
  • 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
  • 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
  • 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
  • 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
  • 2008 – John Part (2)
  • 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
  • 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
  • 2011 – Adrian Lewis
  • 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
  • 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
  • 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
  • 2015 – Gary Anderson
  • 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
  • 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
  • 2018 – Rob Cross
  • 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
  • 2020 – Peter Wright
  • 2021 – Gerwyn Price
  • 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
  • 2023 – Michael Smith
  • 2024 – Luke Humphries
  • 2025 – Luke Littler
  • 2026 – Luke Littler (2)

Most World Titles

  • 14 – Phil Taylor
  • 3 – Michael van Gerwen
  • 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, Luke Littler
  • 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries

The Nuke has already swept up the opening SIX and needs just five more trophies to complete the unprecedented clean sweep.

Littler became the youngest world champion in history at 17 and has since added 14 TV titles to his remarkable haul before even turning 20.

Taylor added: “Obviously, I have got to go for young Luke now. He’s exceptional. He definitely would make the top five, of course he would.”