Paul Nicholson gives his verdict on the Premier League

Was the Premier League Darts selection fair? Paul Nicholson discusses the inclusion of Stephen Bunting and Gerwyn Price and the omission of Nathan Aspinall, James Wade and Danny Noppert

By Paul Nicholson

Darts

Thu January 08, 2026 · 1d ago

Paul Nicholson dismisses whether the PDC picked the fairest possible Premier League Darts line-up for 2026 in his latest Sporting Life column.

This year's Premier League Darts line-up has finally been confirmed after several months of speculation and, as ever, darts fans have been quick to criticise some of the selections and omissions.

Obviously there's only eight spots so there's always going to be debate about the fairness of the PDC's picks, especially as only the top four are guaranteed by the rankings ladder.

Joining Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen in the 17-week season are Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price, so here's my verdict on each of those as well as thoughts on the big names that missed out such as Gary Anderson, Danny Noppert, James Wade and Nathan Aspinall.

JONNY CLAYTON

I think in some ways, Jonny is quite fortunate to be in this Premier League due to not having the most eye-catching of seasons, but on the other hand he would have felt hard done by to miss out after rising to fifth in the rankings following his run to the World Championship quarter finals.

He did win two events in Rosmalen this season, including one on the European Tour, but I think another key reason for his selection was how passionate he spoke about his dream of returning to the line-up. Some players don't seem as keen due to the travelling but in Clayton you have a player who is bang up for it and there can be no doubts that he can handle it and deliver some good performances for the crowd.

Although he doesn't garner the same headlines that other players do because the lack of controversy he brings to the table, he is a thoroughly lovely guy and a credit to the sport on and off the oche.He was in my line-up and I'm pleased he made the PDC's cut.

JOSH ROCK

Josh Rock was pretty much a no-brainer even though he got pushed out of the top eight in the ranking by Ryan Searle's superb run to the World Championship semi-finals.

Searle would be the first to admit that his run - coupled by the fact Rock was knocked out by one of the most ridiculous displays of finishing you'll ever see by Justin Hood - did skew the rankings somewhat and therefore didn't put the Northern Irishman's inclusion at risk at all.

Rock is the star that they've been waiting for in the last couple of years to get into the top 10 so they can pick him. The fixtures between him and Littler, Humphries and van Veen are particularly mouthwatering and you wouldn't be surprised to see these four involved for many, many years to come.

Another huge positive is the fact he's from Northern Ireland which means the night in Belfast is going to be absolutely electric, especially if Rock can bring his high octane A game to the party. He's really consistent ever year and made five ranking finals every year for the last three years and has won a title in each of them.

He can definitely cope with the demands of the Premier League and will be a huge hit.

GERWYN PRICE

Gerwyn Price is the lowest ranked player to be picked at number 12, which is lower than both Danny Noppert and James Wade but two places higher than Nathan Aspinall.Therefore there are plenty of fans out there that will say he's very fortunate to cling onto his spot and if I'm honest, he wasn't on my list.I thought maybe they would give him a year off to fire him up once again.

But, what they like about Price is that he did have a really good season overall when it comes to money and titles won even though he didn't really challenge in any of the big majors.

The one thing you'll always get from Price is this vibrancy and this ability to garner headlines. Whether he's losing or winning he's not a vanilla player and the PDC want someone who's a bit different and grabs everyone's attention.

He could probably play the best darts of his life in 2026 but I don't think we can say that about James Wade as confidently. That’s not a slight on James, it’s just that if these guys were a stock, you’d buy Price with more confidence right now.

STEPHEN BUNTING

This is the selection everyone is talking about and many fans seem to think Stephen Bunting is very fortunate. I think he was vying for the final spot alongside Nathan Aspinall and Danny Noppert. Nobody else was in the frame and there would have been debate over any of them.

We'll come to Aspinall and Noppert in a bit more detail later on, but their early exits at Ally Pally ultimately allowed Bunting to keep his place by the skin of his teeth.

It may be a debatable selection, but we can't pretend the only part of the season that matters is the end. Overall, 2025 was a superb season for Bunting, winning twice on the European Tour, twice on the World Series and twice on the floor.For most of the year Bunting's inclusion wouldn't have been doubted for a moment.

The reason he had such a difficult end to the season, particularly in the majors, is because he worked too hard in the first nine months.His schedule management is definitely something he'll have to work on in 2026 if he's to avoid running out of steam again, but I don't think it would have been fair to ignore everything he achieved in those first nine months.

He needs to make sure he returns to the Premier League fully recharged and ready to impress and prove the selectors right.

THOSE WHO MISSED OUT...

DANNY NOPPERT

As brilliantly as Danny Noppert performed in the majors this year reaching four semi-finals, he sadly didn't win anything. That wouldn't have mattered so much if he'd managed to get over the line in the epic with Justin Hood at the World Championship that both players deserved to win.

The way he'd been performing in the latter part of the season - and in that match - I reckon he could have gone on to enjoy a run to at least the semi-finals and at that point, he would have almost certainly been selected.

However, he ultimately lost in round two and put his place in jeopardy.He only made one final in the entire season and that was on the European Tour where he lost to Niko Springer, so with that in mind, how can he be picked ahead of players who have won titles?

Noppert has become a show-stopping dart player in 2025 and if he continues to climb the rankings, win titles and keep producing superb performances then maybe his time will come in 2027.

GARY ANDERSON

Obviously his run to the World Championship semi-finals caused a clamour for Gary Anderson to be picked for 'one last Premier League run' but ultimately he didn't want to be involved.

I spoke to him a few times at TalkSport during the World Championship and he really enjoys playing the floor events due to the people he hangs around with, while the Premier League would mean a lot of time on the road. Especially from where he lives.

I wouldn't necessarily say that he'll never do another Premier League season before he retires but I think at this point in time, he would rather focus his energies on floor events and the European Tour events he wants to do. I think he's trying to manage his time very carefully.

At world number six, he has the freedom to play anything he wants over the next couple of years and more PDC ranked majors without any pressure. So, he'll be more than content about his omission.

JAMES WADE

James Wade expressed his disappointment on social media about missing out on the Premier League but did he honestly do enough to get an invitation for it?

He won very little and was a serial runner-up.I think some of these dart players need to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror.

This is one of the most competitive fields in darts, if not the most competitive field of darts.

You've got eight spots, and you've got about 16 players thinking they should be in it. Now, realistically, did James Wade think that he'd done enough?

If he believes that, fair enough. But I think 99% of people around the world will say, no, not quite enough this time.

There was a time that making the final of the World Matchplay was enough to get picked but that was about 10 years ago. Not now.And once again he certainly didn't do enough at the World Championship, and that's something that has to change in future if he's to earn his spot.

NATHAN ASPINALL

Out of everybody who's been omitted, Nathan Aspinall is probably the one that's the most disappointed. When you think about what he did in the Premier League in 2025, how exciting it was to watch him every single week, and how much he gave to every single week he played, I think he'll feel very hard done by.

After reaching the play-offs despite all the controversy over his selection in 2025, he must have been thinking a good season away from the Premier League would easily be enough to seal his inclusion for 2026.Everybody loves Nathan's walk on but more than that, people love to watch him play darts. He had a great 2025. He won three times on the European Tour, including the very last one.

He was competitive wherever he went across the whole season and I'm sure leaving him out was the most difficult decision the PDC had to make. They have to look at multiple things.

How much money you won in the last year, how many tournaments you won and how entertaining you are. There are multiple people on that board, and it will come down to a vote of who wants who in.

It's not personal opinion, it's people trying to make the right choice, and it's never been more difficult.Someone has to lose out and it just so happens this time, Aspinall has to miss out, which should fire him up for 2026.