James Wade has been called a 'serial runner-up' by a former PDC tour card holder after his comments surrounding the 2026 Premier League picks.
Wade missed out on selection for the eight-player invitational event, with the competitors having been announced by the PDC on Monday.
With Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen qualifying through their positions in the top four of the two-year Order of Merit, that left four PDC invitees to join them in the field.
Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton, Gerwyn Price and Josh Rock were all selected.
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That meant the likes of Wade, Danny Noppert, Ryan Searle and Nathan Aspinall - who all potentially had genuine arguments to be selected - missed out.
Wade reached two major finals in 2025, losing to Littler in the UK Open and World Matchplay.
In his immediate reaction to the Premier League picks being announced, 'The Machine' wrote on Twitter that he was 'disappointed, but proud of the work I put in this year chasing one goal getting back to the Premier League'.
He added: "I trusted my performances in the big moments, two major finals and two major quarter-finals and I'll keep backing that process."
In his subsequent column for the Daily Star, Wade said that he 'feel[s] lost' over his exclusion, explaining that 'it feels like a gut punch'.
"Unfortunately, the World Championship [Wade lost in the second round to Ricky Evans] has been somewhat of a curse for me," he wrote.
"The PDC seems to focus solely on the World Championship and overlooks the previous eleven months.
"I don't want to criticise the players selected for the event, but besides Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, I believe I've been one of the most consistent players throughout the season."
But former PDC tour card holder Paul Nicholson, who reached the World Championship quarter-final in 2009, has hit back at Wade over his remarks and says he was a 'serial runner-up' during 2025.
Speaking to Sporting Life (via Oche180), Nicholson said: "Did he honestly do enough to get an invitation for it? He won very little and was a serial runner-up.
"I think some of these dart players need to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror ... you've got eight spots, and you've got about 16 players thinking they should be in it.
"Now, realistically, did James Wade think that he'd done enough? If he believes that, fair enough.
"But I think 99 per cent of people around the world will say, no, not quite enough this time.
"There was a time that making the final of the World Matchplay was enough to get picked but that was about 10 years ago.
"And once again he certainly didn't do enough at the World Championship, and that's something that has to change in future if he's to earn his spot."
The 2026 Premier League Darts will take place from Thursday, February 5 to Thursday, May 28. You can purchase hospitality tickets on Seat Unique or watch live on Sky Sports via NOW TV.
Topics: World Darts Championship, Darts
Ryan Smart