Chris Mason names his top five darts players of all time as Raymond van Barneveld just misses out

Former PDC and BDO star Chris Mason has picked out his five greatest darts players in history and inevitably some huge names have missed out.

There tends to be little or no debate at all over who is the greatest of all time, with Phil Taylor still sitting at the top of the pile, with his 16 world titles unlikely to ever be surpassed.

Michael van Gerwen is racking up the titles at a serious rate and is a popular choice for second spot on the list, but the debate really gets started after that.

Mason agrees with the majority that Taylor and Van Gerwen are leading the way, and has filled his top five with other multiple world champions.

‘Number one: Phil Taylor, Two: Michael van Gerwen, Three: Eric Bristow, Four. Gary Anderson, Five: John Lowe,’ said Mason on ITV.

‘For me, it’s a lot to do with what I’ve seen myself, but also the longevity. The fact that John won three world titles in three different decades and was still ultra-competitive into his late 50s, early 60s.

‘Raymond [van Barneveld] would be number six.’

Missing out are a number of former world champions including Dennis Priestley, John Part, Jocky Wilson, Bob Anderson and Adrian Lewis.

Van Gerwen would love to be considered the greatest of all time, but has always ruled out matching Taylor’s record of world titles.

MVG has three World Championship wins to his name, and after claiming his second in 2017 he completely dismissed reaching 16.

‘That’s not posisble, I need to be realistic,’ the Dutchman told Sky Sports. ‘I’m probably going to play for another 12 or 13 years so I’d need to win every year and then I’m only catching up.

‘That’s not what I’m aiming for, I’m aiming for a minimum of five World Championship titles.

‘At this time of year there’s so many good dart players and you have to perform well week-in-week-out. It’s nearly impossible to get them titles, you never know what happens, but it’s really difficult.’