'I won the World Matchplay 16 times - this is how I gained an edge over other players'

Few have hit the jackpot in the Las Vegas of the North as often as Phil 'The Power' Taylor. Darts' greatest thrower forged an inseparable love affair with Blackpool and the World Matchplay during his years presiding over the PDC, winning the competition an unfathomable 16 times.

Taylor has often admitted that while the World Darts Championship may be the largest event on the darting calendar, the Matchplay is its darling, partly down to the time of year it is staged. Just two words were needed from the 16-time champion of the world to describe how he views the Matchplay: "My favourite."

He continued: "One of the reasons why I love the Matchplay so much is that it was played in summer. The World Championships are in the middle of winter. And it's freezing.

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"You can't go out. You can't do anything. You've got your heating on. Whereas in Blackpool, the windows are wide open, and you can sit outside. You can sunbathe if you want! It was fantastic."

Taylor first tasted Matchplay glory during its second ever running in 1995, and kept up the habit of making the Winter Gardens a happy hunting ground. Winning at any venue in any sport 16 times is no mean feat, and Taylor shed some slight insight into what made him so potent when it came time to defend or regain his title in July.

"I was one for always pushing forward," added Taylor. "So, I always took a mattress topper with me, a single mattress topper, no matter where I went in the UK. I took my own pillows, because I've got good pillows. I took cooking equipment into my room sometimes. I didn't want to risk anything.

"I watched a program about bodybuilders, and they never ate out of restaurants when they were ready for a competition, just in case they got food poisoning. So, I thought, 'That's clever. They're right.' I'd go to the butcher and buy fresh meat and fresh eggs, things like that, and cook my own food.

"I watched cyclists and saw what they did. A cyclist would take a mattress topper wherever they went and make their bed exactly how they would at home. I thought, 'That's bloody clever, that.'

"Then, I'd go out and buy three or four pairs of the same shoes. So, I'd wear one pair on the Monday, because the soles would be fresh and then wear another pair on Tuesday, Wednesday, and then revert back to the first pair. Just little things like that might give you that one per cent extra."

Despite the Winter Gardens gifting Taylor a great deal of memories that will last a lifetime, one particular victory at the iconic venue's oche stands out.

"I think my favourite win there of all time has got to be the last one when I was retiring," he admitted. "Because that was, I think, the hardest rounds I've ever played."

Before The Power stepped away from the PDC in early 2018, he made what was expected to be his final appearance at the Matchplay in July of 2017, and, aged 56, he didn't disappoint.

"It was Gerwyn Price in the first round. Raymond van Barneveld, Michael Van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis and then the final was Peter Wright. It was a tough," added Taylor.

The Power swept through the field eight years ago, and added one last notch to his Matchplay belt by destroying Wright 18-8 in the final, averaging a whopping 104.

"I think the odds were about 40 or 50 to one to win the tournament. Then coming back and doing that, winning it. I won it quite easily, to be honest!" he quipped. "I was relaxed. I never felt under pressure there. Never once felt anything. The weather was fantastic. You'd just toddle down the venue in the afternoon, and then just have two or three hours' practice, then go on stage. It was lovely."

In light of his affinity for the Matchplay, the competition's silverware was renamed the Phil Taylor Trophy after his PDC swansong in 2018, but physical accolades aren't really The Power's thing.

When asked where he was when he found out the PDC would rename the Matchplay trophy after himself, Taylor lightheartedly replied: "I don't know actually. I'd probably have been at home!

"It's lovely, though. Absolutely lovely," he continued, touching on having the accolade named after him. "They gave me the original Matchplay trophy, you know, which Target [the manufacturer who sponsors Taylor] have got.

"Because I don't really have trophies or anything. My grandkids have got them, or my daughter's got them, or somebody's got them. But I haven't got any trophies. Barry Hearn always used to say to me, 'You can't eat trophies.' He'd say, 'Money's better in the bank. You can eat with that. You can buy food with that.'"

In May, Taylor officially hung up his darts for good, stepping away from all forms of throwing. Looking back on his career, though he won all there was to win, he still feels he could have been triumphant more often.

"I did all right [at the Matchplay]," he joked. "I did okay. Looking back now, I think I could have been better. You know, once you're retired, you can look back at your career and think, 'Do you know what? I wish I'd have tried that, I wish I'd have tried this.'

"But, it's too late now, it's been and gone. But I always think I could have done better. Definitely [could have won more] World Championships. I probably could have done 20, I think. But we did okay.

"I haven't even got a set of darts now. Or a dartboard. I've got a dartboard in the back room. But it's still in the box. I was so dedicated and everything. I've never missed darts once, though, honestly," he continued. "I couldn't perform like Phil Taylor could perform. So it broke my heart a little bit. My body had changed.

"I mean, I'm 65 this year. It got harder and harder for me, and I couldn't perform. And people were paying money to come and see me, all these supporters and everything. It broke my heart not to perform like I can. And I thought, 'I can't do this anymore. This is not right.' If I do something, I have to do it properly. I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

"So, I do other things. I enjoy my life now. I see my grandkids a lot more. And the best thing in the world is staying and sleeping in your own bed. Which I'd never been able to do for 30 years, and I love it!"