“When he was in tears, he almost said: this was my last chance” – Mervyn King’s emotional PDC comeback was fueled by financial problems

The tears shed by Mervyn King after his successful Q-School campaign symbolised more than sheer sporting relief. According to former pro Mattew Edgar, the emotional PDC comeback by “The King” was driven mainly by deep worries about his financial future. Approaching sixty, after a year full of setbacks and a personal bankruptcy, reclaiming his Tour Card felt like a pure necessity for King.

The veteran reportedly owed more than £500,000 to the UK tax authority HMRC. That tax debt arose after King admitted he had not realised during his career that he had to pay tax on his prize money.

According to Edgar, King’s intense reaction highlights a harsh reality within professional darts: older players who have barely thought about their financial future. On the Mission Darts Podcast, he painted a bleak picture.

"I know most darts players. How many of them have planned years ahead? ” Edgar wonders. “I know who has, but how many of them have ever planned that far ahead to the point where they have pensions?

“Now, with Mervyn King, we can assume that if there was issues in regards to tax filing, we can assume that there’s probably not that much planning gone into things like pensions. Which means he becomes a worker for a lot longer, that the retirement age changes and moves further away.”

Edgar sees in King’s emotions above all the fear of not being able to generate sufficient income away from the oche. “Is Mervyn King selling a lot of darts right now?" he asks aloud. “He’s not seen on TV that much, and that we know is something that helps promote sales. “He’s not big on social media. Yeah, it’s not the most marketable of darts because it’s not something people would traditionally use."

According to the former pro, King did have a distinctive story around his equipment. “Mervyn King’s darts, I believe, he made originally out of wood, wasn’t it? “It was a woodcraft project. And when he had dartitis and the bobbily dart helped him get over dartitis. So great story behind the dart. But a story behind the dart only works if there’s a way to tell the story that people listen to."

He used a metaphor to make his point: “A great story can be written, but if no one reads it, it’s, you know, if a tree falls in the woods, isn’t it?"

According to Edgar, King still had alternatives. “He could have still continued playing on the Modus Super Series. He could have done it. But the amount of income that’s available now on the PDC, £1,250 for a win, for one win. The sponsorship opportunities that come because of the potential access he’s got to major tournaments."

Still, he doesn’t think Q-School was literally the last chance, even though King himself came close to saying so. “So, I don’t think this was last chance saloon, but I think he nearly said it. Because when he was in tears, he went, this is like a last chance. Then he quickly moved it to Q-School. It’s been a long, tricky time and all this. I think in a way, he believed that if he didn’t get through Q-School this year, he was pretty much done for.”