The creation of the European Tour prompted much speculation and comment when unveiled towards the end of 2011. Many players and their teams underestimated the impact of the new events whereas some others realised their impact immediately and encouraged their players to target them:
“I saw them as a huge opportunity for lower-ranked players. They were going to get a lot more chances at getting on stage in front of big crowds and even TV cameras. To us it was a no-brainer” (AIM180)
In the following years ( more than a decade now) 31 players, Luke Humphries becoming the latest, have claimed an event and many more have reached finals and semi-finals. It’s possible that the greatest legacy however is the amount of stage/camera/audience time that lower-ranked players have managed to earn.
As a final testament to the success of the tour one simply has to look at the number of events. From a handful in 2012 through to 13 weekends in 2019 – and from 2022 onward – the tour has proven a huge success, have a look below to see the names on the trophies and the rapid growth of the new format:
| PDC EUROPEAN TOUR ROLL OF HONOUR | ||||
| 2012 | ||||
| Austrian Darts Open | Wiener Neustadt | Justin Pipe | James Wade | 6-3 |
| German Darts Championship | Berlin | Phil Taylor | Dave Chisnall | 6-2 |
| European Darts Open | Dusseldorf | Raymond van Barneveld | Dave Chisnall | 6-4 |
| German Darts Masters | Sindelfingen | Adrian Lewis | Ian White | 6-3 |
| Dutch Darts Masters | Nuland | Simon Whitlock | Paul Nicholson | 6-1 |
| 2013 | ||||
| UK Masters | Butlins Minehead | John Part | Stuart Kellett | 6-4 |
| European Darts Trophy | Sindelfingen | Wes Newton | Paul Nicholson | 6-5 |
| European Darts Open | Dusseldorf | Michael van Gerwen | Simon Whitlock | 6-2 |
| Austrian Darts Open | Wiener Neustadt | Michael van Gerwen | Mervyn King | 6-3 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | Phil Taylor | Jamie Lewis | 6-1 |
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Dave Chisnall | Peter Wright | 6-2 |
| German Darts Masters | Sindelfingen | Steve Beaton | Mervyn King | 6-5 |
| Dutch Darts Masters | Veldhoven | Kim Huybrechts | Brendan Dolan | 6-3 |
| 2014 | ||||
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Gary Anderson | Justin Pipe | 6-5 |
| Dutch Darts Masters | Veldhoven | Michael van Gerwen | Mervyn King | 6-4 |
| German Darts Masters | Berlin | Phil Taylor | Michael van Gerwen | 6-4 |
| Austrian Darts Open | Salzburg | Vincent van der Voort | Jamie Caven | 6-5 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | James Wade | Steve Beaton | 6-4 |
| European Darts Open | Dusseldorf | Peter Wright | Simon Whitlock | 6-2 |
| European Darts Grand Prix | Sindelfingen | Mervyn King | Michael Smith | 6-5 |
| European Darts Trophy | Leipzig | Michael Smith | Michael van Gerwen | 6-5 |
| 2015 | ||||
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Michael van Gerwen | Gary Anderson | 6-2 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | Michael van Gerwen | Terry Jenkins | 6-3 |
| German Darts Masters | Munich | Michael van Gerwen | John Henderson | 6-5 |
| Dutch Darts Masters | Venray | Michael van Gerwen | Justin Pipe | 6-0 |
| International Darts Open | Riesa | Michael Smith | Benito van de Pas | 6-3 |
| European Darts Open | Dusseldorf | Robert Thornton | Kim Huybrechts | 6-2 |
| European Darts Trophy | Muelheim | Michael Smith | Michael van Gerwen | 6-2 |
| European Darts Matchplay | Innsbruck | Michael van Gerwen | Dave Chisnall | 6-4 |
| European Darts Grand Prix | Sindelfingen | Kim Huybrechts | Peter Wright | 6-5 |
| 2016 | ||||
| Dutch Darts Masters | Venray | Michael van Gerwen | Daryl Gurney | 6-2 |
| German Darts Masters | Munich | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 6-4 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | Michael van Gerwen | Dave Chisnall | 6-2 |
| European Darts Matchplay | Hamburg | James Wade | Dave Chisnall | 6-5 |
| Austrian Darts Open | Vienna | Phil Taylor | Michael Smith | 6-4 |
| European Darts Open | Dusseldorf | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 6-5 |
| International Darts Open | Riesa | Mensur Suljovic | Kim Huybrechts | 6-5 |
| European Darts Trophy | Muelheim | Michael van Gerwen | Mensur Suljovic | 6-5 |
| European Darts Grand Prix | Sindelfingen | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 6-2 |
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Alan Norris | Jelle Klaasen | 6-5 |
| 2017 | ||||
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Peter Wright | Michael van Gerwen | 6-3 |
| German Darts Masters | Jena | Michael van Gerwen | Jelle Klaasen | 6-2 |
| German Darts Open | Saarbrucken | Peter Wright | Benito van de Pas | 6-5 |
| European Darts Grand Prix | Sindelfingen | Peter Wright | Michael van Gerwen | 6-0 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | Michael Smith | Mensur Suljovic | 6-4 |
| European Darts Matchplay | Hamburg | Michael van Gerwen | Mensur Suljovic | 6-3 |
| Austrian Darts Open | Vienna | Michael van Gerwen | Michael Smith | 6-5 |
| European Darts Open | Leverkusen | Peter Wright | Mervyn King | 6-2 |
| Dutch Darts Masters | Maastricht | Michael van Gerwen | Steve Beaton | 6-1 |
| German Darts Grand Prix | Mannheim | Michael van Gerwen | Rob Cross | 6-3 |
| International Darts Open | Riesa | Peter Wright | Kim Huybrechts | 6-5 |
| European Darts Trophy | Gottingen | Michael van Gerwen | Rob Cross | 6-4 |
| 2018 | ||||
| European Darts Open | Leverkusen | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 8-7 |
| German Darts Grand Prix | Munich | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 8-5 |
| German Darts Open | Saarbrucken | Max Hopp | Michael Smith | 8-7 |
| Austrian Darts Open | Premstatten/Graz | Jonny Clayton | Gerwyn Price | 8-5 |
| European Darts Grand Prix | Sindelfingen | Michael van Gerwen | James Wade | 8-3 |
| Dutch Darts Masters | Zwolle | Michael van Gerwen | Steve Lennon | 8-5 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | Michael van Gerwen | Adrian Lewis | 8-3 |
| Danish Darts Open | Copenhagen | Mensur Suljovic | Simon Whitlock | 8-3 |
| European Darts Matchplay | Hamburg | Michael van Gerwen | William O’Connor | 8-2 |
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Michael van Gerwen | James Wilson | 8-6 |
| Dutch Darts Championship | Maastricht | Ian White | Ricky Evans | 8-5 |
| International Darts Open | Riesa | Gerwyn Price | Simon Whitlock | 8-3 |
| European Darts Trophy | Gottingen | Michael van Gerwen | James Wade | 8-3 |
| 2019 | ||||
| European Darts Open | Leverkusen | Michael van Gerwen | Rob Cross | 8-6 |
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Daryl Gurney | Ricky Evans | 8-6 |
| German Darts Grand Prix | Munich | Michael van Gerwen | Simon Whitlock | 8-3 |
| German Darts Open | Saarbrucken | Michael van Gerwen | Ian White | 8-3 |
| Austrian Darts Open | Premstatten/Graz | Michael van Gerwen | Ian White | 8-7 |
| European Darts Grand Prix | Sindelfingen | Ian White | Peter Wright | 8-7 |
| Dutch Darts Masters | Zwolle | Ian White | Michael van Gerwen | 8-7 |
| Danish Darts Open | Copenhagen | Dave Chisnall | Chris Dobey | 8-3 |
| Czech Darts Open | Prague | Jamie Hughes | Stephen Bunting | 8-3 |
| Austrian Darts Championship | Vienna | Mensur Suljovic | Michael van Gerwen | 8-7 |
| European Darts Matchplay | Mannheim | Joe Cullen | Michael van Gerwen | 8-5 |
| International Darts Open | Riesa | Gerwyn Price | Rob Cross | 8-6 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | Krzysztof Ratajski | Dave Chisnall | 8-2 |
| 2020 | ||||
| Belgian Darts Championship | Hasselt | Gerwyn Price | Michael Smith | 8-3 |
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Devon Petersen | Jonny Clayton | 8-3 |
| European Darts Grand Prix | Sindelfingen | Jose de Sousa | Michael van Gerwen | 8-4 |
| International Darts Open | Riesa | Joe Cullen | Michael van Gerwen | 8-5 |
| 2021 | ||||
| Hungarian Darts Trophy | Budapest | Gerwyn Price | Michael Smith | 8-2 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | Gerwyn Price | Mensur Suljovic | 8-0 |
| 2022 | ||||
| International Darts Open | Riesa | Gerwyn Price | Peter Wright | 8-4 |
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | Michael van Gerwen | Rob Cross | 8-5 |
| German Darts Grand Prix | Munich | Luke Humphries | Martin Lukeman | 8-2 |
| Austrian Darts Open | Graz | Michael van Gerwen | Danny Noppert | 8-5 |
| European Darts Open | Leverkusen | Michael van Gerwen | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 8-5 |
| Czech Darts Open | Prague | Luke Humphries | Rob Cross | 8-5 |
| European Darts Grand Prix | Stuttgart | Luke Humphries | Rob Cross | 8-7 |
| Dutch Darts Championship | Zwolle | Michael Smith | Danny Noppert | 8-7 |
| European Darts Matchplay | Trier | Luke Humphries | Rowby-John Rodriguez | 8-7 |
| Hungarian Darts Trophy | Budapest | Joe Cullen | William O’Connor | 8-2 |
| German Darts Open | Jena | Peter Wright | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 8-6 |
| Belgian Darts Open | Wieze | Dave Chisnall | Andrew Gilding | 8-6 |
| Gibraltar Darts Trophy | Gibraltar | Damon Heta | Peter Wright | 8-7 |
| 2023 | ||||
| Baltic Sea Darts Open | Kiel | Dave Chisnall | Luke Humphries | 8-5 |
| European Darts Open | Leverkusen | Gerwyn Price | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 8-7 |
| International Darts Open | Riesa | Gerwyn Price | Michael van Gerwen | 8-4 |
| German Darts Grand Prix | Munich | Michael Smith | Nathan Aspinall | 8-5 |
| Austrian Darts Open | Graz | Jonny Clayton | Josh Rock | 8-6 |
| Dutch Darts Championship | Leeuwarden | Dave Chisnall | Luke Humphries | 8-5 |
| Belgian Darts Open | Wieze | Michael van Gerwen | Luke Humphries | 8-6 |
| Czech Darts Open | Prague | May 12-14 | ||
| European Darts Grand Prix | Sindelfingen | May 26-28 | ||
| European Darts Matchplay | Trier | June 30-July 2 | ||
| German Darts Open | Jena | September 8-10 | ||
| Hungarian Darts Trophy | Budapest | September 22-24 | ||
| German Darts Championship | Hildesheim | October 13-15 |
European Tour Event Wins
| Michael van Gerwen | 36 |
| Gerwyn Price | 8 |
| Peter Wright | 7 |
| Michael Smith | 6 |
| Dave Chisnall | 5 |
| Phil Taylor | 4 |
| Luke Humphries | 4 |
| Ian White | 3 |
| Mensur Suljovic | 3 |
| Joe Cullen | 3 |
| Kim Huybrechts | 2 |
| James Wade | 2 |
| Jonny Clayton | 2 |
| Justin Pipe | 1 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 1 |
| Adrian Lewis | 1 |
| Simon Whitlock | 1 |
| John Part | 1 |
| Wes Newton | 1 |
| Steve Beaton | 1 |
| Gary Anderson | 1 |
| Vincent van der Voort | 1 |
| Mervyn King | 1 |
| Robert Thornton | 1 |
| Alan Norris | 1 |
| Max Hopp | 1 |
| Daryl Gurney | 1 |
| Jamie Hughes | 1 |
| Krzysztof Ratajski | 1 |
| Devon Petersen | 1 |
| Jose de Sousa | 1 |
| Damon Heta | 1 |
| Total Winners | 32 |
—–ENDS——
Images: PDC
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