The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split in the game. Each organisation, the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) now organise their own World Championship in January. As a result, there is no longer a unified World Champion in the game. Phil Taylor has won 16 world titles, 2 in the BDO and 14 in the PDC version, and is widely considered the greatest player ever.

The BDO have organised their version dating back to 1978, when it was held at the Heart of the Midlands nightclub, Nottingham. The following year it moved to the Jollees Cabaret Club, Stoke, where it stayed until 1985. Since then it has been held at the Lakeside Leisure Complex at Frimley Green, Surrey.

The PDC version started in 1994 after "the split", with a field of players containing all active previous World Champions from the BDO. It was originally staged at Purfleet's Circus Tavern, Essex before moving to Alexandra Palace for the 2008 World Championship.

Men's winners[edit]

British Darts Organisation (current sponsors: Lakeside) Main article: BDO World Championship Year Winner Score Runner Up 1978 Leighton Rees 11–7 (legs) John Lowe 1979 John Lowe 5–0 Leighton Rees 1980 Eric Bristow 5–3 Bobby George 1981 Eric Bristow 5–3 John Lowe 1982 Jocky Wilson 5–3 John Lowe 1983 Keith Deller 6–5 Eric Bristow 1984 Eric Bristow 7–1 Dave Whitcombe 1985 Eric Bristow 6–2 John Lowe 1986 Eric Bristow 6–0 Dave Whitcombe 1987 John Lowe 6–4 Eric Bristow 1988 Bob Anderson 6–4 John Lowe 1989 Jocky Wilson 6–4 Eric Bristow 1990 Phil Taylor 6–1 Eric Bristow 1991 Dennis Priestley 6–0 Eric Bristow 1992 Phil Taylor 6–5 Mike Gregory 1993 John Lowe 6–3 Alan Warriner 1994 John Part 6–0 Bobby George 1995 Richie Burnett 6–3 Raymond van Barneveld 1996 Steve Beaton 6–3 Richie Burnett 1997 Les Wallace 6–3 Marshall James 1998 Raymond van Barneveld 6–5 Richie Burnett 1999 Raymond van Barneveld 6–5 Ronnie Baxter 2000 Ted Hankey 6–0 Ronnie Baxter 2001 John Walton 6–2 Ted Hankey 2002 Tony David 6–4 Mervyn King 2003 Raymond van Barneveld 6–3 Ritchie Davies 2004 Andy Fordham 6–3 Mervyn King 2005 Raymond van Barneveld 6–2 Martin Adams 2006 Jelle Klaasen 7–5 Raymond van Barneveld 2007 Martin Adams 7–6 Phill Nixon 2008 Mark Webster 7–5 Simon Whitlock 2009 Ted Hankey 7–6 Tony O'Shea 2010 Martin Adams 7–5 Dave Chisnall 2011 Martin Adams 7–5 Dean Winstanley 2012 Christian Kist 7–5 Tony O'Shea 2013 Scott Waites 7–1 Tony O'Shea 2014 Stephen Bunting 7–4 Alan Norris 2015 Scott Mitchell 7–6 Martin Adams

Professional Darts Corporation (current sponsors: William Hill) Main article: PDC World Championship Year Winner Score Runner Up 1994 Dennis Priestley 6–1 Phil Taylor 1995 Phil Taylor 6–2 Rod Harrington 1996 Phil Taylor 6–4 Dennis Priestley 1997 Phil Taylor 6–3 Dennis Priestley 1998 Phil Taylor 6–0 Dennis Priestley 1999 Phil Taylor 6–2 Peter Manley 2000 Phil Taylor 7–3 Dennis Priestley 2001 Phil Taylor 7–0 John Part 2002 Phil Taylor 7–0 Peter Manley 2003 John Part 7–6 Phil Taylor 2004 Phil Taylor 7–6 Kevin Painter 2005 Phil Taylor 7–4 Mark Dudbridge 2006 Phil Taylor 7–0 Peter Manley 2007 Raymond van Barneveld 7–6 Phil Taylor 2008 John Part 7–2 Kirk Shepherd 2009 Phil Taylor 7–1 Raymond van Barneveld 2010 Phil Taylor 7–3 Simon Whitlock 2011 Adrian Lewis 7–5 Gary Anderson 2012 Adrian Lewis 7–3 Andy Hamilton 2013 Phil Taylor 7–4 Michael van Gerwen 2014 Michael van Gerwen 7–4 Peter Wright 2015 Gary Anderson 7–6 Phil Taylor Englishman Phil Taylor has won a record sixteen World Championships.

Englishman Eric Bristow has won five World Championships.

By player[edit]

The following sortable table lists all winners of both versions of the World Championship (correct as of 4 January 2015).

Player	Total	BDO	PDC
Phil Taylor	16	2	14
Eric Bristow	5	5	-
Raymond van Barneveld	5	4	1
John Lowe	3	3	-
John Part	3	1	2
Martin Adams	3	3	-
Jocky Wilson	2	2	-
Dennis Priestley	2	1	1
Ted Hankey	2	2	-
Adrian Lewis	2	-	2
Leighton Rees	1	1	-
Keith Deller	1	1	-
Bob Anderson	1	1	-
Richie Burnett	1	1	-
Steve Beaton	1	1	-
Les Wallace	1	1	-
John Walton	1	1	-
Tony David	1	1	-
Andy Fordham	1	1	-
Jelle Klaasen	1	1	-
Mark Webster	1	1	-
Christian Kist	1	1	-
Scott Waites	1	1	-
Michael van Gerwen	1	-	1
Stephen Bunting	1	1	-
Gary Anderson	1	-	1
Scott Mitchell	1	1	-

Women's winners[edit]

British Darts Organisation (current sponsors: Lakeside) Main article: BDO World Championship Year Winner Score Runner Up 2001 Trina Gulliver 2–1 Mandy Solomons 2002 Trina Gulliver 2–1 Francis Hoenselaar 2003 Trina Gulliver 2–0 Anne Kirk 2004 Trina Gulliver 2–0 Francis Hoenselaar 2005 Trina Gulliver 2–0 Francis Hoenselaar 2006 Trina Gulliver 2–0 Francis Hoenselaar 2007 Trina Gulliver 2–1 Francis Hoenselaar 2008 Anastasia Dobromyslova 2–0 Trina Gulliver 2009 Francis Hoenselaar 2–1 Trina Gulliver 2010 Trina Gulliver 2–0 Rhian Edwards 2011 Trina Gulliver 2–0 Rhian Edwards 2012 Anastasia Dobromyslova 2–1 Deta Hedman 2013 Anastasia Dobromyslova 2–1 Lisa Ashton 2014 Lisa Ashton 3–2 Deta Hedman 2015 Lisa Ashton 3–1 Fallon Sherrock

Professional Darts Corporation (current sponsors: Unicorn) Main article: PDC World Championship Year Winner Score Runner Up 2010 Stacy Bromberg 6–5 (legs) Tricia Wright

By player[edit]

The following sortable table lists all winners of both versions of the World Championship (correct as of 1 January 2014).

Player	Total	BDO	PDC
Trina Gulliver	9	9	-
Anastasia Dobromyslova	3	3	-
Lisa Ashton	2	2	-
Francis Hoenselaar	1	1	-
Stacy Bromberg	1	-	1