Who is Phil Taylor, King of the Ally Pally?

Wednesday, January 2, 2013
8:35 AM

Phil Taylor produced some of the finest darts of his stellar career to clinch his 16th world title with victory over Michael van Gerwen in a high-quality Ladbroke World Darts Championship final at Alexandra Palace.

Below is a brief biography of one of the finest men to have graced to oche.

1960: August 13 - Born Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.

1988: Wins first title at the Canadian Open. The win comes after being given £10,000 sponsorship from darts legend Eric Bristow on the condition Taylor gives up his job to concentrate on darts full time.

1990: Wins first BDO World Championship title, beating his mentor and top seed Bristow 6-1 in the final to claim the title at odds of 125/1.

1992: Wins second BDO world title.

1994: After a group of players break away from the BDO, Taylor loses to Dennis Priestley in the first final of the PDC World Championship.

1995: Wins his first PDC world crown, beating Rod Harrington 6-2. Goes on to win eight consecutive PDC crowns. Also wins first of 13 World Matchplay titles.

1998: Wins first of 10 World Grand Prix titles.

1999: Beats BDO world champion Raymond van Barneveld 21 legs to 10 in a one-hour challenge match.

2000: December - Awarded MBE.

2002: May - Has MBE revoked after being found guilty of sexual assault.

August 1 - Claims first televised nine-dart finish against Chris Mason in World Matchplay.

2003: Run of world title victories is ended as John Part beats him 7-6 in the final.

2004: Regains PDC world title with 7-6 win over Kevin Painter. Goes on to win 2005 and 2006 titles.

2005: Wins inaugural Premier League Darts title.

2007: Taylor loses 7-6 to Van Barneveld in PDC World Championship final. Taylor later describes it as the best final he has played in.

2008: Fails to reach PDC final for first time, losing 5-4 to Wayne Mardle in quarter-finals.

2009: Gains revenge over Van Barneveld with 7-1 win to reclaim PDC crown.

2010: January - Wins 13th PDC world crown with 7-3 win over Simon Whitlock.

May 24 - Becomes first player to hit two nine-dart finishes in one game, against James Wade in the Premier League.

December - Runner-up in BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

2011: Inducted into PDC Hall of Fame.

2013: Beats Michael van Gerwen 7-4 to make it 14 PDC world championships and 16 titles overall.