“He was just completely lost. Mentally he was just finished” – Former manager opens up about the lowest point in Raymond van Barneveld’s career

Raymond van Barneveld has been around in darts for many years, but 2019 was perhaps the toughest year of his career. ‘Barney’ went through a difficult spell in his private life due to his divorce from his then-wife Silvia, and that carried over into his darts career. His former manager Jaco van Bodegom recently looked back on that difficult period in the Darts Draait Door podcast.

According to Van Bodegom, the five-time world champion was no longer able to perform at his absolute peak because of the divorce, which led him to decide to quit darts in 2019. "A lot was really happening in his private life as well," the ex-manager said. “He was going through a divorce and many other things were happening too.”

That was a very tough and emotional time for both Van Barneveld and Van Bodegom. "I'm really not a crybaby, but we were sitting at breakfast in front of Ahoy (where Van Barneveld played in the Premier League, ed.) with tears in our eyes. How are you supposed to play darts tonight, friend? All sorts of things had come out again, at least for us. So I think: yeah, this just isn't fun anymore,” he explained.

“But he had to, you know, and he couldn't talk about it either. There are certain things you just can't talk about. So it was quite tough, I think. But now it's different. Now he can make the choices himself."

After his last Premier League appearance, in March 2019 against Michael van Gerwen, it seemed the curtain had finally fallen for Raymond van Barneveld. The five-time world champion announced his retirement. He later reversed that decision. At the time, he said he packed away his darts mainly because of Van Bodegom. The latter sees it differently. “I didn't want him to stop, but I could see that things hadn't been going well for quite some time. He was just completely lost. Mentally, I mean, because he can certainly play darts. But mentally, he was just finished."

He continued: “He has been messing around so much with his physical condition," van Bodegom continues. "You go through all sorts of things in your home and family life, and then it is difficult to keep playing a game like that. Then it becomes mentally tougher. It just wasn't working anymore. He was going through a divorce with Silvia, and things weren't going very well with Silvia. Things weren't going very well with Raymond himself. Sponsors were pulling out. It just wasn't working anymore. Your body isn't 35 anymore either. At that moment, it was the best decision, but then COVID came along."

And Van Bodegom still believes that calling it a day at that time was the right choice. "I can substantiate why that was the best choice. And I think, once again, if COVID hadn't happened, that would have been the very best thing that could have happened to him as well," he concluded.