"I’ll defo be back at Q-School if I don’t finish top two on the Challenge Tour" - 58-year-old Derek Coulson outlines future plans in darts

Derek Coulson is a late bloomer in darts. Set to turn 58 years old on 17th June, he is looking to make his impact on the ProTour with ambitions of securing a Tour Card in the future after a lot of hard work was put in to get up to the level needed to compete. 

Coulson began competing on the Challenge Tour back in 2019 to 2021, but the experience taught him one very brutal lesson as he explained to Bang on Target: “I tried Challenge Tour between 2019 and 2021 to see where my level was, which turned out to be not good enough,” he said.

A harsh reality check for the Welshman who realised his level was not good enough to be competing week in week out with the other competitors. “The gap was because I didn’t feel I was good enough to compete at that level.”

Then, an opportunity arose. The World Seniors got him interested and motivated in the sport once more, seeing him put more time on darts and improved his level in the process. “I’ve always chucked a dart but never took it seriously,” he commented. “But then the Seniors came around with the pull of TV events. That’s when I put more time and effort in to my game.”

He competed in the 2025 World Seniors Darts Championship, taking out some big names like Mervyn King and John Henderson enroute to the semi-finals where Graham Usher ended his splendid run.

It got his name back out there and he was raring to continue pushing on. Sensing an opportunity, he gave the Challenge Tour another crack, and to great avail. Currently second in the Order of Merit, Coulson won his first ever PDC title in Challenge Tour 6.

It does not come as a great surprise to him with all the work put into his game in recent times. “No. With the work I’d put in to my game over the last 12-18 months I felt I’d get chances at titles this year.”

For being that high up on the list, getting the chance to compete in Players Championship events are becoming more common for Coulson. He has featured in all but four of the tournaments this year out of a possible 20, earning £16,500 in total. This leaves him 74th in the race to Minehead, ahead of the likes of Cameron Menzies, Peter Wright, Gian van Veen and Raymond van Barneveld.

In his mind, the players coming over from the Challenge Tour have somewhat of an advantage on the Tour Card holders. “I would say it’s definitely less pressure for us when called up,” he stated. “We still have the fall back of Challenge Tour, ADC, MODUS etc. Whereas the card holders don’t.”

He is not one for setting targets, which could possibly be getting his hands on a Tour Card one day. “I don’t really have ambitions or set targets. Just go with the flow and see how the next event goes. Obviously getting the opportunity to play on the ProTour is big, it’s another great test to see where my game is.”

All of this darting success has been balanced with his full-time job. “I’ve always been in full time work throughout my playing career, can be tough with time off but I’ve been lucky with that so far.”

Coulson loves playing darts, admitting that in his own words. A Tour Card would be the dream, and at the moment he could achieve that if he remains in the top two positions on the Challenge Tour by the end of the year. If not, Q School is the next destination.

“If my game is still in a good place at the end of the year, I’ll defo be back at Q-School if I don’t finish top two on the Challenge Tour,” he said. “Just love playing darts. There’s definitely positives not having a tour card with all the other opportunities out there now. But ultimately I think we all want a proper crack at it.”

He has proved in the past that he has the capability to challenge with some of the top talents, doing so on the MODUS Super Series where he broke an outstanding record. He is the first person to win all 15 matches in Group A, an incredible achievement.

“I knew the current record was 14 wins in Group A,” he said. “Obviously at the start of the week it’s about winning as many games to be in contention come Wednesday. But after Tuesday and being 10 from 10, it then starts to become a reality. It’s huge for me, so many cracking players holding records at MODUS, to be one of them is an honour.”