Along with Nathan Aspinall’s omission, the Professional Darts Corporation’s decision to hand a wild card to Stephen Bunting was among the biggest stories ahead of the 2026 Premier League.
Last season, Bunting finished bottom of the Premier League’s final standings, with just one nightly win. But can “the Bullet” surprise the doubters and play-offs this year?
Bunting’s 2025 season
Bunting started last year well with his first semi-final appearance at the World Championship since 2021. Following that tournament, he was announced as part of the Premier League lineup. It was his first inclusion for a decade.
He competed at the World Series of Darts for the first time since 2014 and won his first World Series title in Bahrain, beating Gerwyn Price in the Sakhir final.
Bunting won the Players Championship, beating Jonny Clayton in the best-of-15-legs final.
The Bullet faced backlash online following a post-match World Darts Championship interview in December. Having referred to himself as “the People’s Champion”, darts fans jumped on the statement on social media.
But Bunting clarified in a teary-eyed interview that the nickname came from what Sky and the PDC had said. Bunting was thankful for his fans and expressed his amazement at the more-than-100,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel.
Despite his titles, Bunting may have regrets about his overall season and particularly his 2025 Premier League results. Bunting finished 8th in the league stage with an overall match record of: played 22, won 7, lost 15. His 12 points were only half that of Price, who qualified for the play-offs in 4th.
This year, Bunting is considered an outside bet at 40/1 for the title, according to BetMGM UK Premier League Darts betting odds. World No 1 Luke Littler is seen as favourite and is odds-on to take home another trophy at many bookmakers. Littler last won the Premier League in 2024.
Fan favourite
Bunting said that his fans’ support on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube was “unbelievable”. He acknowledged that sometimes you can look too much at social media and there had been many negatives too. He described online commenters as “fickle” and said he needed to rise above criticism. Bunting faced particularly nasty abuse following a loss at October’s World Grand Prix.
But Bunting is grateful for the support elsewhere. He said darts crowds appreciate him, and that he’s aware of the support from those who attend events like the World Championship. The Liverpool native said he’ll always give time to his fans when they see him in public.
Premier League 2026
The top four players on the PDC’s Order of Merit automatically qualify for the Premier League. This season, Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian ven Veen and Michael van Gerwen qualified automatically.
Bunting joined wild cards Price, Clayton, and Josh Rock to form the 8-player lineup. Bunting was close to being an automatic qualifier, but after his third-round loss at the World Championship, others climbed above him on the Order of Merit.
The field includes four changes from 2025’s: only Littler, Humphries, van Gerwen, and Bunting remain.
Danny Noppert and Nathan Aspinall were the headline names to miss out. Aspinall thought he had a stronger season than “some” of the players who received invitations from the PDC. Pundits have suggested that Aspinall was unlucky, and that Bunting may consider himself fortunate to have made the 8.
Bunting’s trophy cabinet currently includes one PDC major, the 2024 Masters, and two World Series (Bahrain and Nordic, both 2025). He has four Players Championship trophies with the last two won in 2025. While his Premier League record was disappointing last time around, Bunting’s record on the big stages shows he can compete.
This Premier League season starts on February 5 in Newcastle.
Article written by Michael Cage
