Will Phil Taylor Make a Comeback to Play Luke Littler?

 

Will Phil Taylor Make a Comeback to Play Luke Littler?

 

Since Luke Littler exploded onto the scene back in 2023, fans have been calling for the now 18-year-old to face-off against darts legend Phil Taylor in some type of exhibition.

Of course, it's not happened yet — and many doubt that it ever will.

However, last month Target Darts (@TargetDarts) tweeted out a promotional video that seemed to hint that a match between the two was officially in the works and "coming soon."

In the video posted to X on February 28, the two men are seen doing a video cut staredown where a "first time ever" face-off is being teased.

The video caught a lot of attention and left fans wondering what it meant. Was it a trailer for an up-coming match that the two have both agreed to do? Or was it simply a promotional video for some type of merchandise or other type of collaboration?

Nobody knows for sure, but what's clear from the reaction is that fans are desperate to see Taylor make a one-time comeback IN what would be a master vs apprentice-style match.

 

 

Will Phil Taylor Play Luke Littler This Year?

Based on the recent tweet from Target Darts — along with the fact that both Phil Taylor and Luke Littler have previously expressed interest in doing an exhibition together — there's a strong chance that they're going to cross paths this year.

Let's not forget that Target Darts sponsor both Littler and Taylor. They wouldn't have put a trailer video like that together for no reason, so all signs point to something being in the works.

Taylor has also been asked countless times about playing Littler in an exhibition, recently making a joke out of it in his response:

"I'd play him [Littler] in an exhibition, yeah. One leg of 301, I go first!"

If a match is indeed going to happen between the two, there will be concern about Taylor's health. After all, the darts legend hasn't played professionally since the 2018 World Darts Championship Final and has also recently retired from World Senior Darts (WSD) following lingering health issues.Ho

wever, now that the 64-year-old is fully retired from darts and is continuing to adjust to post-retirement life following hip-replacement surgery, you could understand if he was tempted to make a comeback one last time. After all, it would be more of an entertaining exhibition than an actual matchup — and there's no reason why Taylor wouldn't be able to get through it without experiencing any health blips.

 

Littler "Fancies His Chances" Against Taylor

Unsurprisingly, Luke Littler regularly gets asked in interviews about the prospect of him playing against Phil Taylor in an exhibition. The last time Littler was asked about this, he claimed, "I fancy my chances" and that a match between the two would happen "sooner rather than later". It was promising talk from Littler — and he's clearly interested in playing against his childhood hero in a one-off exhibition.

If an exhibition is going to happen, it will have to work around Littler's incredibly busy schedule, though. Littler is currently playing in the 2025 Premier League darts action and remains the red-hot favourite to win the tournament with 11/10 odds on bet365. According to BettingTools.com, bet365 is the best all-round betting site for darts, so plenty of darts fans will be using it over the coming months before the tournament eventually concludes in May later this year.

 

Bobby George: "He'd Get Slaughtered"

Bobby George: "He'd Get Slaughtered"

Countless former dart players and pundits have been giving their opinions on a potential exhibition face-off between Taylor and Littler. The darts legend Bobby George was also recently asked for his thoughts when he made an appearance on the talkBULL podcast, and he had this to say:

"You get to a certain age in your life in your sport, everyone has it, and your body doesn't allow you to play as you used to. If he played Littler now he'd get slaughtered, it'd be most embarrassing."

It's hard to disagree with Bobby George's sentiment. After all, Littler is the hottest darts player on the circuit and looks set to be the face of the sport for potentially decades to come. Taylor, on the other hand, hasn't played professionally for 7 years and has had some major health struggles in recent times. On paper, it's essentially a major mismatch, even though the match itself would be a lot of fun to watch.

 

Why an Exhibition Between Taylor and Littler Might Not Happen

Whether you're for or against the prospect of an exhibition between Phil Taylor and Luke Littler, there's a chance that it simply won't happen. If Taylor was 10 years younger, the exhibition would already be signed, sealed, and delivered. However, his health problems and age could turn out to be the deciding factor here, as nobody in the darts world wants to see the sport's greatest ever play get embarrassed by the young, up-and-coming new face of darts. At the same time, nobody wants to see Littler take it easy on Taylor, either, as this would make the exhibition a fairly pointless spectacle. This is where the dilemma lies — so it will be interesting to see how a potential exhibition would work if both parties did decide to agree to it.