‘I was a Two-Time World Darts Finalist

Mervyn King was once one of the top players on the world darts circuit. Playing for the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and later the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), he rubbed shoulders with some of the greats of his era. However, ‘The King’ now wants to warn younger players about the need to be financially responsible with their ‘winnings’ from the sport after recently being made bankrupt.

King, now 58, and his wife Tracey fear they may lose their home after the High Court of Justice in London declared King insolvent at the beginning of the month. While his wife is sick with worry over where her, Mervyn and their three large dogs will go if their house is seized, Mervyn appears far more philosophical about the situation, acknowledging that their problems are all of his own making.

In a recent interview with The Sun, he reasoned: “Tracey is worried that we’re going to lose the house. But if we do, we do. There’s nothing I can do about that. It’s all down to the official receiver and what he wants to do.”

King is a former two-time world championship finalist, having been twice beaten at the last hurdle while in the BDO. In 2002, he lost to Tony David, before being beaten by Andy Fordham in 2004. A move to the PDC followed in 2007. King would find himself in the latter stages of big competitions there, too. He made it to the semi-finals of the 2009 world championships, ultimately losing to the legendary Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.

Mervyn King’s Money Woes Explained

‘The King’ admits he made big mistakes in his career

Although he fell short at world championship level, King still banked plenty of prize money over his career – and failed to pay tax for more than 20 years on those earnings. King openly admitted to being “quite naive” when it came to tax – viewing his prize money as “winnings rather than earnings”. He stated:

“I actually thought with it being winnings, I didn’t have to pay tax on it, because it wasn’t earnings as such. The trouble is you think the gravy train will last forever and it doesn’t. I cannot turn back time, unfortunately.”

Realising that he wouldn’t be able to avoid his tax obligations forever, King opted to come clean to authorities over his tax debt after taking up a job as an Amazon delivery driver during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was better than them finding me and saying, ‘Excuse us, Mr King, why haven’t you paid tax for 20 years?’. Because I think I’d have been straight inside. Now it’s all going to be cleared one way or another — whether I lose everything and the house goes. If it does, then at least it’s back to square one and I’ll start again.”

Asked why he was going public with his story, King stated: “I want to hopefully try to help any up-and-coming youngsters so they don’t end up in the same predicament as I did. If I can help one youngster, then it’s worth doing.”

While King takes responsibility for his own personal circumstances, he argues that darts as a sport should do more to help its players when it comes to financial matters.

“From either organisation — the BDO or PDC — there was little or no help at all for guidance. They paid your prize money and left you to it. When I found out I should be paying tax, I was already x-number of pounds in debt to HMRC. It gets to a couple of years down the line and I’m in even more debt to HMRC. You think, ‘How the hell am I going to be able to pay this?’. It has been a very scary thing.”

King lost his professional Tour Card at the end of 2024, but is eligible to continue earning money from darts via both the Challenge Tour and the senior darts circuit. In the meantime, he has some words of advice for others in a similar situation.

My message is: don’t do what I did. Don’t hide your head in the sand when you realise you’re in a bit of a slump with HMRC.”