"I don’t know, it depends how good I am...unless I win a million": Jonny Clayton sets retirement caveat after reaching Ally Pally last eight

Jonny Clayton had to dig deep in the fourth round of the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship. Really deep. After his 4-2 win over Andreas Harrysson, the Welshman faced the cameras with a broad smile, but it was one shaped by relief, pride and emotion.

The victory that sends him back into the quarter-finals meant the world to him. “It meant everything, to be honest,” Clayton said. “I’ve not been that nervous for a very long time.”

A lot of that came down to the opponent in front of him. Harrysson may have been a relatively unfamiliar name for some viewers, but Clayton’s respect was obvious.

“Every time I seemed to lift my head, he was hitting doubles,” he said. “So I was thinking to myself: keep your head down and hope he misses. But no, what a player. What a nice guy. What a player.”

Clayton is a seasoned presence on the biggest stages in darts, but this match felt different. The pressure was heavy, not just because of the sporting stakes, but because of everything attached to it. Clayton admitted he had been thinking about the wider picture.

“Yeah, of course I have,” he said when asked if he had overthought the occasion. “So would anybody else. It’s 100 grand in the bank to start off with, and world number four could be… and there could be good things to come next year with invitations. So yeah, obviously there were things in my mind. But I’ve done my job today and I’m glad of that.”

At times the tension showed, as he searched for rhythm. Clayton explained the simple plan he had set himself early on. “I lost the bull, and my aim was to win the first set and put him straight under pressure,” he said. “So I won the first set and then he won the second, and the pressure’s gone. It’s been an eye-opener up there tonight.”

Clayton was clear about the moment he felt the match swing his way. “Yeah, I think the fifth set,” he said. “Andreas was 2-0 up and all of a sudden he was missing. I’m thinking he’s given me chances, and that’s the luck you need. I took my chances, and I think that won me the match.”

It was a bruising contest, with multiple sets decided in final-leg shootouts. Clayton felt his experience helped him stay just that bit calmer in the biggest moments. “Yeah, I think experience showed a little bit,” he said. “I could relax a little bit more than him maybe. But he’s a great player. I’m not going to run Andreas down because he was fantastic.”

The win has also boosted Clayton’s position in the provisional world rankings, and he joked about the younger names closing in. “Yeah, it’s a great place to be,” he said. “I’ve got two young kittens behind me now in van Veen and Josh Rock, so this whole card is still there. So yeah, who knows?”

Clayton also admitted he will have to raise his level again on New Year’s Day, with Ryan Searle waiting in the quarter-finals. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that was my best performance, but I was nervous as hell,” he said. “I’ve got to play my best game because he’s playing very well. Hopefully it’s going to be a belter.”

Clayton expects no tactical games in that quarter-final. “With Ryan, we both play the same kind of game,” he said. “We get up, we get on with it, and it’s total respect towards each other.”

He also praised Searle’s mindset. “Ryan is one of these… he gets up there, gets on with it,” Clayton said. “If he wins, he’s through to the next. If he loses, he forgets about it and tries again.”

Premier League darts came up repeatedly, and Clayton did not hide what it means to him. “Oh, I love it. It’s the best tournament,” he said. “You’re playing against the elite week in, week out. You get to Finals Night and you’ve obviously done a very good job through those 16 weeks. It means everything to me.”

One of the night’s biggest talking points came when Harrysson threatened a nine-dart finish via 180, 171, then a shot at three bullseyes. Clayton said he could hardly believe what he was watching. “When he went up, I thought, ‘Wow, if that had gone in, it would have been the best shot ever on TV,’” he said. “It was unlucky he hit the 25 first, but that’s the way it goes.”

Clayton also laughed about his own rare moment of caution, when he chose a safer route on a finish after checking what Harrysson had left. “Yeah, I did have a sneaky look to see what he had left, so I thought just go 18,” he said. “Usually the first thing that comes into my head, I go for… but yeah, I went for the 18. I played safe for once.”

Clayton spoke warmly about Harrysson both as a person and as a competitor, despite only having met him recently. “I met him the other night after we both won, and that’s the first time I met Andreas,” he said. “He’s a genuinely nice guy.”

He also backed Harrysson to go on and earn a PDC Tour Card. “Yes, I do,” Clayton said. “He’s shown what he’s about. I think he can go to Q-School and get his card, and I think he’s going to upset a lot of players next year because he is very, very good.”

Asked what he said to Harrysson on stage afterwards, Clayton returned to the key theme of the night: fine margins. “A bit of luck, to be honest,” he said. “In sport you need that bit of luck and I got that there. He gave me a chance and I took it, and that was my luck today.”

Clayton also touched on the idea of how long he wants to keep playing, and what will decide it. “I don’t know. It depends how good I am,” he said. “If I lose the love of the game… I enjoy playing on that stage and everything that comes with it. I hate travelling, probably like everybody else, but I enjoy the buzz on the stage. So as long as I’ve got that, I’ll be here for a while.”

Any sign of that love fading? Clayton smiled. “No, not yet. Unless I win a million”