There are plenty of darts fans out there who will tell you that the sport has never been in ruder health.
Take a look at the world rankings, and you’ll see quality operators from top to bottom… even the Challenge Tour, the second rung of the tungsten ladder, features the stars of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
For Dungannon’s Mickey Mansell, 2026 will be the 16th consecutive season as a PDC Tour card holder… an outstanding achievement for a late bloomer who’s still going strong at the sprightly age of 52.
A Good Year
It’s a testament to the strength in depth of the sport that Mansell hasn’t even been added to the World Darts Championship betting yet – despite finishing 2025 ranked 46 in the PDC Order of Merit.
The darts odds for the Worlds of course, focus on the likes of Luke Humphries (6/1) and Michael van Gerwen (22/1), but write off Mansell at your peril – he’s qualified for the World Championship in seven of the last eight years.
Alexandra Palace hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground for the 52-year-old, although he has reached the first round in four of his last five visits.
GATES GETS PAST MANSELL! 🇺🇸
It wasn’t a classic, but Leonard Gates gets the better of Mickey Mansell in a deciding set!
Mickey Mansell 2️⃣ – 3️⃣ Leonard Gates#Darts | #WorldDartsChampionship pic.twitter.com/vYLG664xol
— Online Darts (@OfficialOLDarts) December 19, 2025
The anomaly? December’s first round defeat to Leonard Gates, which was a huge disappointment for the Irishman. Poised at 2-2 heading into the fifth and decisive set, Mansell averaged 74 and had just a solitary dart at a double.
But for that frustration, Mansell could look back on another solid year in which he racked up £159,000 in Order of Merit prize money – confirming his sweet 16th season as a PDC Tour pro in 2026.
Slow and Steady
Even with his wealth of experience, Mansell still finds himself embroiled in feisty incidents on the stage.
Indeed, twice in 2025 did the Dungannon man become involved in spats with his fellow pros.
The first came back in October when Mansell took on Madars Razma at the Players Championship 32. The Irishman played beautifully in a 6-4 victory over the Latvian with a 102 average.
However, Razma appeared to take offence at Mansell’s deliberate throwing style – claiming that “I was sleeping and the audience was sleeping.”
Those sorts of comments are water off a duck’s back for the Dungannon-born thrower, but just a month later, he again found himself in a frosty exchange on the oche – this time against James Wade.
Meeting at the Players Championships in Minehead, the world number eleven Wade ran out a 6-3 winner.
But something appeared to have irked Mansell, who barely engaged in the customary post-match handshake. Wade offered little in the way of explanation afterwards, while Mansell took to X to vocalise his disappointment, albeit in cryptic fashion, at the incident.
Sometimes the less you say the better! & sometimes people talk more with there feet!! 🤬
— Mickey Mansell (@C10noeCyclone) November 21, 2025
Reflecting on his career, Mansell is humble but proud of his achievements. “I didn’t think I’d be here this long. There were no guarantees. I’ve played my way to stay here.”
With customary modesty, he claims to be “still hanging in”. But on his day, Mansell is a match for anybody… as more will find out as the PDC Tour season unfolds in 2026.
