# 2019 Premier League Darts

The 2019 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the fifteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 7 February at the Grimsby Auditorium in Grimsby and ended with the Play-offs at The O2 Arena in London on Thursday 23 May. It was also the last to feature Raymond van Barneveld, as he retired from professional darts after the following World Darts Championship, although he returned in 2022. He appeared a record 14 times in the competition.
Michael van Gerwen was the three-time defending champion after defeating Michael Smith 11–4 in the 2018 final. He won a fourth consecutive (and fifth overall) title by defeating Rob Cross 11–5 in the final.

## Format

The tournament format was modified for this season.
Phase 1: During the first nine nights, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine contenders. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom player is eliminated from the competition.
Phase 2: In the seven nights of weeks 9 to 15, each player plays the other seven players once. In a change from previous years, all players only play one match each night. Phase 2 matches have been increased to a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for a 7-7 draw. In previous years, the maximum number of legs was twelve. At the end of Phase 2, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition.
Play-off Night: The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs (best of 19). The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs (best of 21).

## Venues

| Newcastle | Glasgow | Dublin | Exeter |
| Utilita Arena Newcastle Thursday 7 February | SSE Hydro Thursday 14 February | 3Arena Thursday 21 February | Westpoint Arena Thursday 28 February |
| Aberdeen | Nottingham | Berlin | Rotterdam |
| BHGE Arena Thursday 7 March | Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Thursday 14 March | Mercedes-Benz Arena Thursday 21 March | Rotterdam Ahoy Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 March |
| Belfast | Liverpool | Cardiff | Birmingham |
| SSE Arena Belfast Thursday 4 April | M&S Bank Arena Thursday 11 April | Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Thursday 18 April | Arena Birmingham Thursday 25 April |
| Manchester | Sheffield | Leeds | London |
| Manchester Arena Thursday 2 May | FlyDSA Arena Thursday 9 May | First Direct Arena Thursday 16 May | The O$_2$ Thursday 23 May |

## Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.
Gary Anderson, who qualified as fourth on the Order of Merit, withdrew on 4 February, three days prior to the tournament beginning, with a back injury.
| Player | Appearance in Premier League | Consecutive Streak | Order of Merit Rank | Previous best performance | Qualification |
| Michael van Gerwen | 7th | 7 | 1 | Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018) | PDC Order of Merit |
| Rob Cross | 2nd | 2 | 2 | Semi-final (2018) | PDC Order of Merit |
| Peter Wright | 6th | 6 | 3 | Runner-up (2017) | PDC Order of Merit |
| Daryl Gurney | 2nd | 2 | 5 | 5th (2018) | PDC Wildcard |
| Michael Smith | 3rd | 2 | 6 | Runner-up (2018) | PDC Wildcard |
| Gerwyn Price | 2nd | 2 | 7 | 10th (2018) | PDC Wildcard |
| James Wade | 10th | 1 | 10 | Winner (2009) | PDC Wildcard |
| Mensur Suljović | 2nd | 2 | 8 | 9th (2018) | Sky Sports Wildcard |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 14th | 14 | 28 | Winner (2014) | Sky Sports Wildcard |
Nine invited players were chosen to appear on each of the nine Phase 1 nights in the slots which were available as a result of Anderson's withdrawal. The nine main players could earn league points if they won or drew against the invited players. The invited players would not earn any points in the competition.
| Player | Venue | Order of Merit Rank |
| Chris Dobey | Newcastle | 35 |
| Glen Durrant | Glasgow | 74 |
| Steve Lennon | Dublin | 36 |
| Luke Humphries | Exeter | 56 |
| John Henderson | Aberdeen | 19 |
| Nathan Aspinall | Nottingham | 34 |
| Max Hopp | Berlin | 30 |
| Dimitri Van den Bergh | Rotterdam (27 March) | 33 |
| Jeffrey de Zwaan | Rotterdam (28 March) | 43 |

## Prize money

The prize money for the 2019 tournament was set to increase to £855,000 from £825,000 in 2018. As the contenders picked up four draws between them it ended up being a total of £851,500.
| Stage | Prize Money |
| Winner | £250,000 |
| Runner-up | £120,000 |
| Semi-finalists (x2) | £80,000 |
| 5th place | £70,000 |
| 6th place | £60,000 |
| 7th place | £55,000 |
| 8th place | £50,000 |
| 9th place | £35,000 |
| 'Contenders' win (x0) | £5,000 |
| 'Contenders' draw (x4) | £3,500 |
| 'Contenders' lose (x5) | £2,500 |
| League Winner Bonus | £25,000 |
| Total | £825,000 |

## League stage

Players in italics are "Contenders", and will only play on that night.

## Play-offs – 23 May

The O2 Arena, London
| | Score | |
| Semi-finals (best of 19 legs) |||
| Michael van Gerwen 96.48 | 10–7 | Daryl Gurney 94.02 |
| Rob Cross 100.31 | 10–5 | James Wade 91.91 |
| Final (best of 21 legs) |||
| Michael van Gerwen 103.36 | 11–5 | Rob Cross 100.98 |
| Night's Total Average: 97.76 |||
| Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 130 |||
| Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 8 |||
| Night's 180s: 21 |||

## Table and streaks
### Table

After the withdrawal of Gary Anderson, nine invited players were added to replace him with one playing each week. After the first nine rounds in phase 1, the bottom player in the table is eliminated. In phase 2, the eight remaining players play in a single match on each of the seven nights. The top four players then compete in the knockout semi-finals and final on the playoff night.
The nine invited players are not ranked in the table, but the main nine players can earn league points for a win or draw in the games against them.
Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.
| # | Name | Matches | Matches | Matches | Matches | Matches | Legs | Legs | Legs | Legs | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring | Scoring |
| # | Name | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | LF | LA | +/- | LWAT | 100+ | 140+ | 180s | A | HC | C% |
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen W | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 107 | 67 | +40 | 40 | 208 | 123 | 41 | 101.94 | 132 | 49.08% |
| 2 | Rob Cross RU | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 102 | 76 | +26 | 39 | 190 | 117 | 54 | 99.69 | 164 | 44.16% |
| 3 | James Wade | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 104 | 84 | +20 | 38 | 274 | 150 | 44 | 97.87 | 161 | 43.70% |
| 4 | Daryl Gurney | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 93 | 86 | +7 | 33 | 226 | 130 | 45 | 96.72 | 140 | 40.26% |
| 5 | Gerwyn Price | 16 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 99 | 93 | +6 | 33 | 223 | 94 | 54 | 96.16 | 170 | 42.67% |
| 6 | Mensur Suljović | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 94 | 95 | –1 | 36 | 248 | 154 | 42 | 95.79 | 144 | 39.66% |
| 7 | Michael Smith | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 79 | 105 | –26 | 24 | 215 | 133 | 55 | 97.08 | 170 | 35.59% |
| 8 | Peter Wright | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 76 | 108 | –32 | 22 | 215 | 138 | 43 | 95.52 | 160 | 41.76% |
| 9 | Raymond van Barneveld | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 42 | 57 | –15 | 12 | 115 | 65 | 25 | 96.35 | 170 | 36.46% |
(Q) = Qualified For The Playoffs (E) = Eliminated From Playoff Contention

### Streaks

| Player | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | | Play-offs | Play-offs |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8A | 8B | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | | SF | F |
| Michael van Gerwen | W | W | W | L | D | W | L | W | W | D | W | W | D | L | W | W | | W | W |
| Rob Cross | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | D | W | W | L | | W | L |
| James Wade | W | L | D | W | W | L | D | D | W | L | D | W | D | W | D | W | | L | – | – |
| Daryl Gurney | L | W | W | L | L | D | W | W | W | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | | L | – | – |
| Gerwyn Price | W | D | D | D | W | L | L | L | W | D | W | W | D | L | D | W | | – | – |
| Mensur Suljović | D | L | D | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | D | W | L | L | | – | – |
| Michael Smith | L | D | L | W | L | W | L | W | L | D | L | L | D | L | D | L | | – | – |
| Peter Wright | D | D | W | L | W | D | D | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | | – | – |
| Raymond van Barneveld | L | D | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Contenders | D | L | L | D | D | L | L | D | L | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Legend: | W | Win | D | Draw | L | Loss | — | Eliminated |

### Positions by Week

| Player | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 8 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 | Phase 2, Weeks 9 to 15 |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8A | 8B | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Rob Cross | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| James Wade | 2 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Daryl Gurney | 8 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Gerwyn Price | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Mensur Suljović | 4 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Michael Smith | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Peter Wright | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 9 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |