"My mum and my gran’s health deteriorated": William Borland states reason behind stepping back from PDC ProTour for most of 2025

In the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, William Borland recently reappeared in front of the camera. It has been quiet for a while around the man of the legendary nine-darter at the PDC World Darts Championship, but he has not been idle. Behind the scenes, the past year has been dominated by family, health, work and the search for structure.

"I'm doing good mate. As I said, obviously not being so good off the tour, now back to Q-School, but everything else has been great, mate."

That we saw him so little on the Pro Tour was not a sporting choice, but a personal necessity. Borland calmly explains why he was missing so much this year. "Obviously I don't want to miss a lot, I want to be there. But my mum and my gran’s health deteriorated, so I had to take— it was between myself being selfish and either go to darts or have to look after my gran and my mum. So I took the decision to take two months off just to look after them, help them about until they got better."

That period was tough, but also necessary. "They're doing a lot better now. My mum’s still getting tests done for Alzheimer’s and stuff, but hopefully it doesn’t come to that. But for now they’re doing very well, they’re fit and healthy. We just need to wait until the tests come back."

Borland admits it's also a kind of relief. "It is kind of a relief, do you know what I mean? I didn't get to see them as much when I've been away and stuff. But then when I'm at home, I'm at work as well, so I'm not in the house as much as I used to be. But it takes a lot off my mind."

Once things were somewhat back on track at home, Borland became active again on the Pro Tour. "I’ve done the last eight Pro Tours and to be fair I got some great scalps, played some good darts, put hours on the board. Just unfortunately I had too much to do to try and get the Worlds. And then I gave the World Qualifier a good go, and it just wasn’t to be."

So this year he will not appear on the Alexandra Palace stage as a player. But he will be in attendance. "I'm going to be in the crowd, but I know I'll be there. A lot of people know that I'm working now in Arrowheads Darts Shop in Livingston, so that’s helped me as well. That’s given me some financial backing that I never had before, because when I was on the tour it was pretty much darts. Now I’ve got part-time work and the guys have been brilliant with me. We're all going down to Ally Pally, so I'm looking forward to that."

Heading into each PDC World Darts Championship, one clip is invariably rebroadcast: his magical decisive nine-darter against Bradley Brooks at the 2022 Championship. For many fans, Borland is the man of that one leg. "One million percent. It's good to be remembered for that, and what I did that night was absolutely unbelievable."

But he doesn't just want to be reminded of that one moment. "If you look at some results, I have got a game to be up challenging these guys. But the consistency— and I say it constantly in interviews— the consistent levels between me and the likes of Humphries, Littler, Aspinall, even Cammy at the moment, Cammy’s playing absolutely unbelievable… their consistent levels are so much better than mine. I just need to put the hard work in to get back to that kind of form that I got to the Worlds, and then who knows what can happen."

In any case, Borland's commitment is not in doubt. He laughs when he brings it up himself. "My mate George would tell you I'm more over-dedicated. I still play my local Monday night league darts with my mates. If there's an open tournament, I'll go there and support the pubs that put on the tournaments. I’m putting in a lot of hours— maybe a bit more. Maybe I need a bit of a break, but I don’t know. I'm playing hundreds to be fair."

In addition to his game, his daily life also changed. Borland currently works at a darts store in Livingston. "A lot of people know that I'm working now in Arrowheads Darts Shop in Livingston. That's kind of helped me as well. It's given me financial backing I never had before."

That job also changed the structure of his life – and it worked its way into his darts. "I’m not going to lie, I was probably getting a bit lazy. When my mum and gran weren’t doing well, I was just sitting in the house. Even before that, I never had a job— I was playing darts Monday to Friday and just being lazy. Now having that job, getting myself into a bit of a routine, having to be up early in the morning, keeping healthy as well… these are all good things that can only be improvements and probably help my game. Who knows, we’ll soon see."

Something has also changed material-wise. "I've got new darts from Winmau, they're going very well for me at the minute. I'm just trying to find that extra bit, and to be fair, it's coming back. The consistency is getting there. It's just having to do it on a daily basis."

The route back to the big stage is through Q-School, and Borland knows all too well what that means. "Yeah, one million percent. I'm going to Q-School to win my card back. I'm not with Matt anymore— we're still good friends and it ended on good terms. But it's a bit different having to do it all myself. I'm looking forward to it."

His experience helps, he thinks. "Yeah, 100 percent. When people ask me for advice on Q-School, I try and help them as much as I can. Q-School is probably the hardest tournament any dart player will play, no matter what level. There’s hundreds of people playing for, say, 10 cards, and someone has to go home disappointed. Hopefully that's not me."

At the end of the conversation, one more point comes up that Borland wants to make clear: he doesn't want to remain forever just “that guy from that nine-darter.” "No, 100 percent. It's always good to have that, but I know that I can compete against these guys. It's just, again, consistency levels— it's just to work on that and get better. And then who knows what the future holds."