TAYLOR REVEALS DARK ARTS FROM BIG RIVAL
19/07/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
PHIL TAYLOR has lifted the lid on a cheeky bit of dark arts dished out by Peter Manley after their fiery PDC World Matchplay semi-final showdown.
‘The Power’ arguably has the greatest streak in darts by winning 16 Matchplay titles from 17 finals.
87-times major winner Taylor’s success at the Winter Gardens spanned 24 appearances from 1994 until his victorious Blackpool farewell in 2017 aged 56.
But it was in 1999 when things boiled over between the Taylor and Manley.
Manley got the better of Taylor in a heated 17-14 semi-final triumph to book his place in the final — where he lost to Rod Harrington.
Former world No. 1 Taylor revealed how Manley tried to get under his skin after their clash at the oche.
He said: “Peter Manley beat me and then he asked me to sign the board.
“He said ‘will you sign the board for one of the kids in the audience?’
“That turned my career around because after that I won everything.
“He’s done that as a kind of mind game, a mickey take.
“When your competitive it’s not fun, you get the hump with him.
“Now, I mean, I love him to bits now, you know what I mean, we’re like really good friends.
“It’s difficult when you are playing each other, because he was on all the time, and I used to snap at him.”
Taylor also disclosed mind-games he conducted himself against big rival Kevin Painter ahead of a clash at the major tournament.
Stoke-on-Trent thrower Taylor wound up his rival during the bull-up with his antics to gain an early psychological edge before a dart had even been thrown on the big stage.
He added: “The best one I ever did, it was me and Kevin Painter.
“It was Kevin to throw first, because you alternate the throw.
“Kevin went bull, I went bull. I think we had five on the trot and then it was me, it was Kevin to throw.
“He hit 25, I hit bull and I went you can go first Kevin. He went berserk. Are you kidding me? After all that, he went mental.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
