Stephen Bunting becomes first player to speak out about 2025 Premier League Darts line-up amid fan criticism

Stephen Bunting has broken his silence on being included as part of the 2025 Premier League of Darts line-up by the PDC.

The 39-year-old enjoyed a superb season on tour, culminating with a maiden semi-final appearance at the World Darts Championship.

The 2014 BDO champion won his first major televised PDC title at the 2024 Masters, and reached the final of the Grand Slam of Darts.

Bunting - a popular inclusion among fans - joins an all-star cast list for the Premier League which includes Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross as automatic qualifiers due to their positions in the Order of Merit.

Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price and World Championship semi-finalist Chris Dobey were the other three stars selected by the PDC.

Taking to Twitter after the line-up was announced, Bunting wrote: "WOW WOW WOW just WOW. Absolutely delighted to have been selected for this year's Premier League. Roll on 6th February... #LetsGoBuntingMental"

Image: Twitter/@sbunting180

While Bunting's selection was met with delight from darts fans, there was some controversy over the other picks made by the PDC.

Many believed that Damon Heta, Dave Chisnall, UK Open winner Dimitri van den Bergh and World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker were all unfortunate to miss out.

Two-time world champion Gary Anderson also failed to make the cut despite a strong season on the Pro Tour, though 'The Flying Scotsman' was eliminated in the second round of the World Championship.

Peter Wright also missed out, with a quarter-final appearance at Ally Pally not enough to secure his place after a challenging 2024 season overall.

All eight players named for this season's Premier League have featured in the non-ranking tournament before, with Bunting named as a full-time participant for the first time since his inaugural season in 2015.

Dobey, who made his full-time debut in 2024, also reacted to his selection, posting to Instagram: "Delighted to be selected in this year's Premier League line-up. So grateful for another opportunity. Time to get to work."

The Premier League will commence on Thursday, February 6 and run for 16 weeks before the play-offs take place on Thursday, May 29 at the O2 Arena in London.