Michael van Gerwen is undoubtedly one of the best darts players of all-time, and he’s now one of the veterans of the PDC tour.
After the retirement of Steve Beaton and the decline of Mervyn King and Simon Whitlock, Van Gerwen is actually one of the longest-serving players on the PDC tour along with James Wade.
Mighty Mike has been there and done it all in darts, and there have been a few suggestions that Van Gerwen could retire sooner rather than later.
Indeed, Matt Edgar reckons retirement could be on the horizon for Van Gerwen if he manages to secure a huge win against Luke Littler or Luke Humphries.
Richard Ashdown believes Van Gerwen isn’t enjoying his darts as much as he once was, but speaking to Live Darts after his opening win at the World Darts Championship, Van Gerwen was defiant as he claimed he’s not planning on retiring anytime soon.
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Michael van Gerwen makes retirement claim
MVG has refuted any idea that he will be retiring in the immediate future.
Van Gerwen has had injury issues recently, but that isn’t deterring him.
The three-time world champion says that he will keep playing for as long as he loves the game, claiming that he’ll be playing for at least another 10 years after re-signing his deal with Winmau.
“You never know, I still love what I do. As long as I love what I do we will see. What else would I do? That’s what I always ask myself. I don’t have enough hobbies to fill all that time. My kids and my wife are really important in my life, but darts is a really big part of my life, everyone knows that,” Van Gerwen said.
“So, no retirement anytime soon then?” The Dutchman was asked.
“I just gave you the answer, I just re-signed with Winmau for the next 10 years, so definitely not going to stop before that,” Van Gerwen said.
What age do darts players retire at?
Van Gerwen has previously claimed that he’s going to retire at the age of 40, as per Sky Sports.
“I know it’s difficult to give up. I’ve also said that I want to retire when I’m 40, but you can’t see into the future because things in the world can change so quickly,” Van Gerwen said.
“If I want to stop playing, I’d want to stop after a huge win.”
40 is a very young age for a top player to retire. After all, a lot of the previous World Champions have continued playing well into their 50s, and sometimes even their 60s.
| World Darts Champions | Age at retirement |
| Eric Bristow | 43 |
| John Lowe | 62 |
| Jocky Wilson | 46 |
| Dennis Priestley | 63 |
| John Part | 54* |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 57 |
| Peter Wright | 54* |
| Gary Anderson | 53* |
| Adrian Lewis | 39** |
| Phil Taylor | 57 |
| Glen Durrant | 52 |
| Steve Beaton | 60 |
Peter Wright and Gary Anderson are still going into their 50s, while Raymond van Barneveld is knocking on 60 and still going strong.
Even Eric Bristow played until the age of 43, and he was suffering with severe dartitis towards the end of his career.
Van Gerwen could easily have another 20 years in him, and he may well win a few more major trophies over the next two decades.