Between 1993 and 2020 professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

had two rival bodies which staged tournaments and had separate pools of players, the

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...

(BDO) and the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

(PDC). Both staged its own world championship. In practice, players had to choose which organisation to represent, but many switched between the two, which often caused controversy. This situation arose following an acrimonious

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

in the early 1990s between the leading players and the BDO. Darts had boomed in popularity during the 1980s, with as many as 23 televised events in 1983. However, by the end of the decade this had fallen to just one. This, combined with general disillusionment at the BDO's management of the sport, prompted 16 top players to break away and form their own body. Four years of legal action followed, culminating in the 1997

Tomlin order A Tomlin order is a court order in the English civil justice system under which a court action is stayed on terms that have been agreed in advance between the parties and are included in a schedule to the order. As such, it is a form of consent ...

, which confirmed the existence of both bodies, and established that players were free choose which one to play for. This list documents the players who made the decision to switch from one organisation to the other. In general more players switched from the BDO to the PDC than vice versa, attracted by the greater prize money and better competition offered by the PDC. The BDO folded in 2020, but many of their events were subsequently revived by the

World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the natio ...

, so the split in darts remains.

World Darts Council foundation

The sixteen darts defectors who formed the WDC were as follows: Since then, many darts players have left the BDO to join the PDC, although some players rejoined the BDO either from finding it difficult on the PDC circuit or lack of sponsorship. The PDC had new talent of their own. However some players left them to join the BDO.

World Darts Council foundation

Players who transferred from the BDO to the PDC

BDO darts players who joined the PDC before returning

PDC darts players who joined the BDO before returning

References