Top 75 Phil Taylor Quotes

There are a few things I lost which I shouldn’t have lost. I know what I did wrong. I was lazy.

My parents had nothing – just basic wages for all their hard work.

In 1990 I qualified to play in the World Championships for the first time. I was ranked 125-1 to win but I knew I could do it.

You get about 20 people in the audience calling you a cheat. It hurts your feelings.

I would never dream of telling them how to play but it would be amazing if England won the World Cup.

There are certain things I wish I could turn back the clock for.

I love liver and onions or a roast dinner.

I treat Adrian Lewis as if he were my own son.

Stoke’s a depressed area, so people are working hard to get out of it.

You can get spoilt in this game, you know. You reach the point where you get a new car and don’t get excited about it. You get complacent, and that’s what you’ve got to watch for.

Down the years, I have always enjoyed playing Raymond van Barneveld. There is always a frisson of excitement in the air, an edge to the contest that makes the sap rise, but it stops short of pure enmity.

Max Hopp has a good style, lovely throw.

I watched my children grow up, then they left home and had their own children. You miss them.

When I see myself on TV, it’s like watching a film with Bruce Willis in it. You think it’s somebody else. It’s weird.

I’m good friends with Robbie Williams because we both grew up in Stoke and our dads went to the same pubs. His dad, Pete, is like my second dad, I can talk to him about anything and I see him most weeks. And Rob is brilliant, a really generous, lovely bloke.

The baggage of celebrity can be very heavy.

I’d ban drinking from darts.

Do I miss the darts? No, not at all. It has been great not to get up in the morning and have to be dedicated anymore. That is the best part.

Everything goes with age. Your eyesight, your energy levels.

I can sit down and watch the Discovery channel and see something on nuclear submarines that gets me thinking about torpedoes and darts . Or I can see a documentary about someone preparing for a big challenge and I’ll use the same techniques. You always need to aim to get better.

My mum and dad always brought me up like that. You go to work, you do your best.

Made a fortune, made millions but it’s not everything.

I worked as an engineer before going into ceramics, making insulators. It was my job, so I got it done. But I also had a lot of pride in myself.

Every time I watch myself on TV I have to go on a diet.

I’ll never be able to stop working or playing darts.

Sometimes getting beaten isn’t such a bad thing. It gives me a chance to look at myself in a new way.

Money brings jealousy and bitterness.

It can be a quick career if you don’t perform properly. If some of these pros don’t do something to reinvent themselves, they’re going to go down the rankings as quick as anything.

I believe I’ll still be winning world titles at 50 and beyond.

I eat, breathe and sleep darts.

When we were travelling in different countries I felt like I was jetlagged eight months of the year.

I would have been a fantastic captain in a football team or a manager because I would have motivated people.

It’s good to remember where you come from.

People will know if you are telling the truth or lying. If you are doing commentary, why not tell the truth?

I’m a quiet man.

The games you lose are the games you can remember.

I’ve got a small gym in my house so I can work my arms and shoulders.

It’s hard to keep a marriage when you’re on the road all the time.

When I was 30 I became world champion and that’s when I started to make a living.

If I want to keep playing, I’ve got to take care of myself.

I do get addicted to stuff. I tried playing golf and I was soon going twice a day.

These youngsters coming into the sport are bright lads. They see how much money there is now and they realise you’ve got to be fitter and stronger than the others.

I want to win, I’ve still got the fire in the belly to win, it’s just the old utensils are not working as good as they used to.

I have always been 100% regimental and I haven’t done what I should do and sometimes you can be a casualty of your own success.

Some tournaments are played in one day – you might start at nine o’clock in the morning and it won’t end till one o’clock the next morning.

Without me there wouldn’t be a PDC.

I’m just a working class man who’s done well for himself.

Dad didn’t earn a big wage but even if he was really ill he’d go to work.

I am on a fat-free diet for most of the year, but before ‘the worlds,’ I tend to relax on the diet a bit to concentrate on darts.

The world is a dangerous place and I’ve had a nice fanbase without any of the hassle.

We had this little yard, and during the summer holidays, when my mum and dad were working, I spent hours bowling a golf ball at a stick. Just bowling, bowling, bowling. And I got to where I could hit the stick every time, repeating the same action. That’s where the darts came from.

You can’t teach people to win, it’s in you, you’ve either got it or you haven’t.

If you cut the fat out of your diet you feel more energetic, for sure.

You know what, December’s a funny time of the year, because the weather changes, the central heating comes on; sometimes you can get colds and coughs and flu.

I used to have to go to the board and hit three 180s before I’d allow myself to go to bed. Sometimes, I’d do it in five minutes but, on a bad night, it could take an hour.

Money doesn’t mean anything. It’s just money.

I used to go into the practice room when I played county. Sometimes I wasn’t playing until five or six o’clock in the afternoon, and I was there at 9 A.M. The cleaners were hoovering around me.

My attitude it that you don’t give in.

If I’m on a bus and an old lady gets on, I get up.

People are determined to play well against me because they don’t want to look silly and lose 6-0. But then, when I’m playing my best, it’s weird. Their heads drop and it’s like they’re suddenly frightened.

You can’t afford to be lazy in this business, and in the past I’ve used all the travelling and the hotels as an excuse not to stick to exercise regimes and looking after myself.

After I left school at 16 I had three jobs: I worked in a ceramics factory, where I made toilet handles, I repaired cars for people and in the evenings and weekends I worked in a bar. I had to do them all to make ends meet.

I don’t get an eighth of the attention of David Beckham, but it’s still pretty heavy.

You don’t realise the power of TV, it’s all over the world obviously, and it’s lovely.

When I first started doing exhibitions, you’d have 20 people down the pub, if you were lucky.

When I won the worlds in 1990, I won 70 out of the next 72 or 74 tournaments.

In any sport, you need a rival.

During the year, when I’m not doing major tournaments, I’ll go to the gym for about two to three hours in the morning and practise darts in the afternoon.

It’s not just the winning I like, it’s the affection you get for winning. It’s a lovely feeling, that.

That first world title has to be the most wonderful moment and to beat Bristow, the No 1 in the world, was the ultimate. There’s not many matches I remember, but I do remember that one, remember playing really, really well. Bristow was so upset he wouldn’t talk to me for a few weeks after I beat him.

Well, when you’ve got nothing, you’re always looking forward to having something.

I hate suitcases. With a passion.

I used to body build six or seven days a week. I was really, really fit. I wasn’t naturally talented but I was fanatical at it. That’s the problem with me, I’ve got a one-track mind.

I don’t know why I am liked. I think it’s probably because I’ve just been normal, not been flash or tried to hurt anybody. I’m not one for going out and going to nightclubs. I’d rather stay in and watch a good movie.

I love winning. It is a fantastic feeling.