Phil Taylor on box sets, bed times and backache at 64 years old

01/17/2025 02:58 AM

‘Being old is horrible,’ says Phil Taylor ahead of going to see a back specialist for the unexpected pain caused by a hip operation, but at the same time he is loving retirement.

The 16-time world champion turns 65 later this year and, while he is still and will always be involved in darts, he is enjoying life off the road.

‘I enjoy being at home now,’ Taylor told Metro. ‘Sleeping in your own bed, get up when you feel like it. I like being in bed early. I used to go to bed late now it’s 7.30-8 o’clock, it’s great. I love it.

‘I’ve got a lot of properties I rent out so if any of them need anything doing I’ll go and sort them out. Go shopping most days, just normal things.

‘Watch me box sets, I like them. The Good Fight, I’m watching that at the minute, it’s great! It’s good if you get the chance.’

The Power may have hung up his arrows, but will never fully retire as his status in his sport is just too monumental.

He will be commentating at the MODUS Legends League Finals Night this Saturday on Pluto TV, while he is advertised as a VIP host at the World Seniors Darts Championship next month.

Asked if there is a reason why he is so rarely seen on coverage of PDC events, he said: ‘Yeah, I’ve never been invited!’

Not that he’s too fussed, saying it was never his aim to move into media after putting his darts down: ‘Not really. I don’t want to be away from home like I was before.

‘The schedule like it is now I’d never be at home. I’m 65 this year. If it comes up to do the odd one I’d do it, but not full-time.’

Taylor remains a giant name in British sport but his low-key retired lifestyle suits a wildly successful player who always tried to keep his feet on the ground.

On how he dealt with the mental strain of being at the top of his sport for almost three decades, the Power says the key was keeping away from his own cash.

‘I just always paid myself a wage. I’d only ever got a little bit of money. I didn’t class myself as rich,’ he explained.

‘So every tournament there was a means for it. If it was say a Players Championship, which was £10,000, I’d say that’s my gas, electric and car tax paid for. I’d win the next one and think that’s the food bill paid for. So everything I was playing was for a reason.

‘Even though I’d got probably two or three million in the bank I still thought that I was getting my bills paid, to have nothing to worry about. That’s how I was. That one’s a holiday I’ve paid for. Kids were always after something, so something for them. I always kept my feet on the ground as much as I could.’

Taylor has a remarkably straight forward view on things, which was a huge help in his dominance of darts for such a long period.

His friend Ronnie O’Sullivan has spoken out about the mental toll top level snooker has taken on his mind, pulling out of the Masters this month as a result.

Asked if the pressure ever truly got to him, Taylor said: ‘No. I never let it really.

‘I never looked forward during the games either. I knew who I’d got first round so I’d prepare for him. I loved it if I got a decent player in the first round because it made you practice harder. But I never looked beyond that.

‘Just play one game at a time. It’s exhausting if you’re thinking too far in front.’

Quizzed on the struggles of other players, Taylor’s remedy is a straight forward one too.

As 2023 world champion Michael Smith tumbles down the rankings to number 16 and misses out on the Premier League this year, Taylor says he just needs to have a rest before getting back on the practice board.

‘I’m not surprised, nothing surprises me anymore,’ he said on Bully Boy’s poor couple of years. ‘He’s been around a long time, lot of travelling, lot of hotels, late nights, early morning, a lot of darts. It’s took his toll on him.

‘He’s got to go home and think about how he puts it right. It’s what any dart player or any sports person has to do, everyone has ups and downs, it’s how you bounce back. I sound like Rocky Balboa here!

‘It’s how you bounce back, if you’ve got the mental strength to do it. Michael’s got it, he’s got the ability so it’s only in his mind at the minute. Have a rest and get back on the treadmill.’

It is the treadmill that has kept Taylor away from making a return to darts, that and health issues, but the allure of his arrows will never fully go away.

‘You just go into a little bubble when you’re playing properly and practice right, you go numb,’ he reminisced. ‘You’re not worried about anything, you’re not nervous, everything works. You throw your darts and they glide in.’

If that sounds like he misses playing, Taylor insists he does not, with recent hip and eye operations firmly keeping him away from any suggestion of chucking tungsten in anger again.

‘No, not now,’ he said. ‘I’m 65 this year and seeing a back specialist! Me hip’s alright. I’m seeing a specialist for my back now because it’s given me a backache, it’s driving me crackers. Being old is horrible!

‘I had new lenses fitted. Like a cataract operation, that’s gone great. I can read anything now. I had a cataract on my right eye, which I didn’t know, so my eye sight is great now.

‘But I couldn’t do all the driving now. I’m loving being at home.’