Whenever Premier League Darts has come to Aberdeen, it has been a spectacle to remember.
From Raymond van Barneveld’s memorable nine-darter in 2010 to hometown hero John Henderson snatching a 6-6 draw with Michael van Gerwen in front of a raucous crowd in 2019, Aberdeen has always been treated to its share of darting drama.
Half of the 2020 calendar was played behind closed doors because of the pandemic and likewise in 2021, until the end of the run when Jonny Clayton emerged as Premier League champion.
But for 2022 it appears their UK tour will pick back up again and they are due to visit P&J Live in Aberdeen on April 21.
Sadly Henderson will not be able to earn the rapturous ovations he has got on previous occasions. The PDC did away with guest players for the 2021 tournament in favour of having 10 regulars, meaning Henderson will sit on the sidelines as he did for the World Championships.
Missing out on the worlds will have been a huge disappointment to Henderson, who won the World Cup with fellow Scot Peter Wright back in September.
But their should still be a packed field of quality when the Premier League arrives.
Reigning champion Clayton has been the story of 2021. He has won the Masters, Premier League, World Series of Darts and Grand Prix. That all came on the back of winning the World Cup with fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price last year.
World number one Price will be another looking to make his mark in the Premier League, after missing out last year due to contracting Covid-19 shortly before the tournament begun.
Wright and van Gerwen will be in there too, while Nathan Aspinall has made the play-offs in back-to-back years in the Premier League.
Gary Anderson, Dimitri van den Bergh and the enigmatic Jose de Sousa – the latter being blockbuster entertainment whenever you put him on – should also be likely picks.
UK Open champion James Wade has earned his place after an upturn in his form in 2021, which would leave just one vacancy at the top table.
Fallon Sherrock has been touted by many of darts’ biggest names, from Wright to Wayne Mardle and Adrian Lewis, as being worthy of a spot. She has been phenomenal for the PDC and darts in general with her stage performances, reaching the final of the Nordic Darts Masters and the quarter-final of the Grand Slam of Darts.
Sherrock played as a guest player in 2020 and would be a popular pick for a regular place this time around. However, there have been questions about whether it would be “too much too soon” for her, based on the fact she is not a PDC tour-card holder.
Ryan Searle impressed at the Grand Prix and was a beaten finalist at the Players Championship. He cracked the top 16 in the world in November and has a penchant for delivering big finishes.
Michael Smith and Rob Cross are proven Premier League players and have shown flashes of their true form again in 2021, particularly Smith with his incredible win over Clayton at the Worlds. Joe Cullen and Dave Chisnall have perhaps not done enough this year to snatch the final spot.
Of course, there is a possibility the field is expanded to 12, which would enable more of the best talent in darts to take to the stage in front of the Sky Sports cameras once more.
The full line-up will likely be confirmed in the new year but the return of the sport’s best players to Aberdeen will be a welcome sight.
