Darts star Nathan Aspinall once called for two players to be kicked out of the Premier League if they aren't excited to be included.
On Thursday evening, the 2026 Premier League darts season will get underway with the opening round in Newcastle's Utilita Arena.
Eight of the best players are set to feature in the 2026 season, including 2025 champion Luke Humphries, world no.1 Luke Littler and popular players like Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting.
However, with just eight players making the cut, there are of course plenty of top darts stars that weren't included in the Premier League this year.
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Among them, is Stockport's Aspinall, who once spoke out about the attitudes of two players who he believes don't deserve to be included in the Premier League darts lineup.
Aspinall's exclusion from the 2026 Premier League lineup saw him miss out on a place in the tournament for the first time since 2022, with the Englishman currently 14th in the PDC Order of Merit.
Since finding out he wouldn't be playing in the Premier League, Aspinall has admitted that he felt he deserved to get a spot in the lineup but had accepted the decision would move on.
In 2025, he faced a similar dilemma, with many thinking that his place in the lineup would surely be given to someone else.
And before he later found out that he did in fact make the cut, Aspinall spoke out against fellow top players Gary Anderson and Gerwyn Price for their lack of enthusiasm for featuring in the Premier League.
"You know what, it really grates on me (players saying they don't want to play in the Premier League)," Aspinall told Online Darts, via the Daily Mail.
"Really good mates with Gary Anderson, really good mates with Gerwyn Price, but if they don't want it, don't give it to them whether they deserve it or not.
"Why should they get that spot when people like myself, okay I've had a bad year and I don't deserve it, but I want it and I will bring something.
"I will give 110 per cent every single night on that stage. If they can't be arsed, why put them in? I just don't get it. I don't even know why the PDC would consider it.
"If they put them in it looks bad on the PDC in my opinion."
When the Premier League lineups were revealed not long after Aspinall's interview was released, it was revealed that he and Price had made the cut, but Anderson had not.
A year later, and Aspinall has joined Anderson in the group of players who are unlucky not to have received a wildcard place in the competition, while Price will feature for the eighth time.
Topics: Darts, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen
Ben McCrum