Premier League Darts stars nearly came to blows before security guards stormed stage

Wherever goes, fireworks tend to follow.

The Welshman will be back on a stage tonight (Thursday), nearly six years on from one of his more memorable moments in the competition. A 2019 incident in Sheffield involved ‘Superchin’ Daryl Gurney, and required security guards to rush onto the stage to cool an angry post-match confrontation between the pair.

Both men were scrambling to make the play-offs in a high-stakes showdown, with Price producing a huge celebration after breaking throw to go 7-6 up in a 14-leg match. Gurney responded by taking the last leg against the darts as the match finished in a draw.

And when the Northern Irishman nailed his one remaining attempt at double-16, he thrust a pointed finger towards the back of Price’s head and then made a gesture as if he was lunging towards him.

Tensions rose even further during a handshake which involved pushing and pulling. Frosty words were exchanged with the players virtually head-to-head as they shook hands with match officials.

The Sheffield crowd started to boo as the confrontation was allowed to rumble on for approximately 30 seconds before two security guards stormed the stage to keep them apart. They then appeared to put their differences aside before leaving the stage.

It is not clear what exactly caused Gurney’s furious reaction, with some speculating it was Price’s celebration in the previous leg. Replays also showed that the Welshman may have slammed his glass down on the table before Gurney’s final dart.

“Daryl was the initial aggressor, I don’t know what Price did wrong,” said pundit Wayne Mardle in the aftermath. “We don’t know what was said. All we know is that, at the end, Gurney was the aggressor. Price had his back to Gurney.”

While 25th-ranked Gurney was not in contention to make the eight-player Premier League Darts line-up this time round, Price accepted a wildcard entry after previously stating he had no interest in playing the tournament.

‘The Iceman’ will kick things off against Chris Dobey in Belfast. Leading up to week one, Price explained why he had a change of attitude towards the Premier League.

“I had a little bit of a break,” he told . “I missed out on the Grand Slam [by] not qualifying for that. It gave me a lot of time to reflect on what I would be doing if I wasn’t playing darts, and there isn’t much to do.

“If I wasn’t in the Premier League, I’d be stuck in the house bored out of my skull. So it’s best to be out on the road again, and back doing it on the big stages in the Premier League. I’m looking forward to it now, and things change as time goes on.”