"This was really something unique" - Vincent van der Voort recalls memories of first ever Premier League trip to Holland

Tonight, the 11th matchday of the Premier League Darts 2025 takes place in Rotterdam. With Viaplay, Vincent van der Voort reminisced about the first time ever, in 2016 more specifically, that a playing day of the Premier League Darts took place in the Netherlands. The former pro darts player is still impressed by the atmosphere that prevailed in the venue anyway.

In 2016, the final matchday of the regular phase of Premier League Darts was held in Ahoy. Raymond van Barneveld played there in front of his own crowd 6-6 draw against Peter Wright. The rise of the Dutchman was a real goosebump moment as the entire venue loudly chanted his name.

"I have won many titles, but a night like this I have never experienced in my career. An indescribable feeling. Truly bizarre. It was probably the best moment of my career," Van Barneveld said at the time.

"I remember Raymond standing on stage that first leg with tears in his eyes," said Viaplay presenter Koert Westerman. "Even Barry Hearn (PDC chairman) was clearly impressed by what was happening in Ahoy."

"Especially that first year was huge," adds Vincent van der Voort, whose good friend Michael van Gerwen won 7-5 over Phil Taylor on that night.

"We were also not used to being there in the Netherlands, such a huge darts event," he said. "Everyone in the hall was dressed in orange and there was a great atmosphere. Ticket sales also ran like a train, within ten minutes all 10000 tickets were sold."

However, Van der Voort has been around in the darts world for a long time and is used to some things. "Even my wife was impressed," he says. "She has been to just about every tournament with me, but she had never experienced anything like that before either. That was really something unique."