The 2008

Whyte & Mackay Whyte & Mackay is a company producing alcoholic beverages based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned by Emperador Inc. (a subsidiary of the Alliance Global Group). History Charles Mackay (1850–1919) and James Whyte founded a company as whisky ...

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The prize money was increased by £75,000 compared to 2007. The overall fund was £340,000 with the eventual winner taking home £100,000. Phil Taylor continued his dominance of this tournament by taking the title for the fourth year in a row despite losing for the first time in 44 matches, losing the opening game 8–6 to newcomer James Wade and going on to lose twice more in his first four matches. Taylor beat Wade 16–8 in the final.

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

secured television coverage of the event until 2010, and

sponsored the tournament for the same duration – taking over from Holsten who sponsored the event in 2006 and 2007.Whyte & Mackay sign three year sponsorship deal
planetdarts.tv

Qualifiers

The World Grand Prix in October 2007 was the cut-off point for automatic qualification for the event. The top six players in the World Rankings after the tournament received an automatic place in the Premier League. The qualifiers were thus: * Phil Taylor * Raymond van Barneveld * James Wade *

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

Peter Manley Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twic ...

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

John Part John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...

(PDC wildcard) *

Wayne Mardle Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil ...

(Sky Sports wildcard)

Venues

Fifteen venues were used for the 2008 Premier League, including a first trip to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

for a night in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Prize money

The prize fund increases for 2008 – with the top prize of £100,000 matching the amount that the 2008 PDC World Champion received. The guaranteed prize for reaching the Premier League is now £20,000.

Results

League stage

31 January – week 1

SECC,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

7 February – week 2

Plymouth Pavilions Plymouth Pavilions is an entertainment and sports complex in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has an ice rink and indoor arena. The arena is used as an entertainment venue and also for corporate hire. The Pavilions is built on the site of the form ...

, Plymouth

14 February – week 3

MEN Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

21 February – Week 4

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to footb ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

28 February – Week 5

Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth

6 March – Week 6

Trent FM Arena,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

13 March – Week 7

Sheffield Arena Sheffield Arena, known for sponsorship purposes as Utilita Arena Sheffield, is a multi-purpose arena located in Sheffield, England. It is situated near Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centre. Opened in 1991 ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

20 March – Week 8

Brighton Centre, Brighton

27 March – Week 9

National Indoor Arena,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

† = ''Terry Jenkins replaced Adrian Lewis on 27 March show against Phil Taylor because Lewis was too ill to play. The next week, Lewis played his match against Taylor and James Wade, giving Jenkins the night off''.

3 April – week 10

AECC,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

10 April – week 11

Echo Arena,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

17 April – week 12

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-s ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

24 April – week 13

Odyssey Arena The Odyssey Complex, formerly Odyssey Centre, is a sports and entertainment complex located within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The complex originated in 1992 and came into fruition in June 1998. It opened in December 2 ...

1 May – week 14

Metro Radio Arena The Utilita Arena Newcastle (formerly the Newcastle Arena, Telewest Arena and Metro Radio Arena) is a large indoor arena in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Owned and operated by ASM Global and sponsored by Utilita Energy, it hosts mu ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Play-offs – 26 May

Cardiff International Arena Cardiff International Arena (formerly known as Cardiff International Arena & Convention Centre and later, for sponsorship reasons, Motorpoint Arena Cardiff) is an indoor exhibition centre and events arena located in Cardiff, Wales, and was ope ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Table and Streaks

Table

NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.

Streaks

NB: W = Won D = Drawn L = Lost N/A = Did Not Play

Player statistics

The following statistics are for the league stage only. Playoffs are not included.

Phil Taylor

* Longest unbeaten run: 10 * Most consecutive wins: 5 * Most consecutive draws: 1 * Most consecutive losses: 2 * Longest without a win: 2 * Biggest victory: 8-0 (''v.''

) * Biggest defeat: 3-8 (''v.''

)

James Wade

* Longest unbeaten run: 4 * Most consecutive wins: 4 * Most consecutive draws: 1 * Most consecutive losses: 1 * Longest without a win: 2 * Biggest victory: 8-1 (''v.''

) * Biggest defeat: 4-8 (''v.'' Phil Taylor)

Raymond van Barneveld

* Longest unbeaten run: 3 * Most consecutive wins: 3 * Most consecutive draws: 0 * Most consecutive losses: 2 * Longest without a win: 2 * Biggest victory: 8-1 (''v.''

) * Biggest defeat: 2-8 (''v.'' Phil Taylor)

Adrian Lewis

* Longest unbeaten run: 3 * Most consecutive wins: 1 * Most consecutive draws: 2 * Most consecutive losses: 2 * Longest without a win: 3 * Biggest victory: 8-2 (''v.''

) * Biggest defeat: 1-8 (''v.'' James Wade)

Wayne Mardle

* Longest unbeaten run: 5 * Most consecutive wins: 4 * Most consecutive draws: 1 * Most consecutive losses: 3 * Longest without a win: 6 * Biggest victory: 8-5 (''v.''

, ''v.'' Raymond van Barneveld, ''v.''

and ''v.''

) * Biggest defeat: 0-8 (''v.'' Phil Taylor)

Peter Manley

* Longest unbeaten run: 3 * Most consecutive wins: 2 * Most consecutive draws: 2 * Most consecutive losses: 3 * Longest without a win: 5 * Biggest victory: 8-3 (''v.'' Phil Taylor) * Biggest defeat: 1-8 (''v.'' Phil Taylor)

Terry Jenkins

* Longest unbeaten run: 4 * Most consecutive wins: 3 * Most consecutive draws: 1 * Most consecutive losses: 3 * Longest without a win: 9 * Biggest victory: 8-2 (''v.''

) * Biggest defeat: 1-8 (''v.'' Raymond van Barneveld)

John Part

* Longest unbeaten run: 1 * Most consecutive wins: 1 * Most consecutive draws: 1 * Most consecutive losses: 4 * Longest without a win: 4 * Biggest victory: 8-5 (''v.''

and ''v.''

) * Biggest defeat: 2-8 (''v.''

and ''v.''

)

References

External links

PDC confirm 2008 – 2010 Premier League

planetdarts {{2008 in PDC darts Premier League Darts

Premier League Darts Premier League Darts is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnightly fixture in small venues around the United Kingdom. The tournament ori ...