PHIL TAYLOR has revealed how Barry Hearn became his manager without the darts legend even knowing.
The Power is arguably the greatest player in darts history, winning 87 major titles during three decades of domination.
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Taylor’s record 16 World Championships may never be broken, despite the presence of aces like Luke Littler on the current-day scene.
He ended up being managed by sports supremo Hearn, who became PDC chairman in 2001 for nearly two decades.
During that time, Hearn was also in charge of representing Taylor.
However, the darts ace knew little about it.
And he was left stunned when Hearn informed him of the new role, revealing he had paid Taylor’s previous manager to take over responsibility.
Taylor told Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips: “I got a phone call, a strange number.
“I went ‘Hello?’. He went, ‘Phil, Barry Hearn’.
“I went, ‘Are you? When?’ He says, ‘Now.’ I said, ‘What do you mean? I’ve already got a manager.’
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“He said, ‘No, I’ve given him some money, he’s gone. I’m your manager now.’
“He asked if I wanted a contract and I said not really. I’ll be dead straight with him. If I did an exhibition for 50 quid down the road I’d tell him that I owe him a tenner.
“He was good as gold for me. He likes his penny’s worth out of you and he’s a workaholic.”
As for Hearn, he looks back at his time manager Taylor with great fondness — hailing the icon for making darts a global game.
Hearn said: “1981 Steve Davis winning the World Snooker Championship, without doubt, changed my life.
“There’s been a few that have come close. [Nigel] Benn vs [Chris] Eubank in 1990, when I had Eubank as my first real world champion and changed my leverage in the boxing world.
“Managing Phil Taylor in the darts and changing darts from a pub game to a global sport has been one of the most rewarding things in my life and Phil Taylor deserves credit for that because he was a legend.”
