Mervyn King is back on the big stage after securing his Tour Card via Q-School in January, and he's already dishing out advice with his trademark humour. When asked to offer one piece of advice to viewers, King deadpanned: "Get a proper accountant." The quip comes amid his well-documented prior troubles with money, including a long-running conflict with tax authorities that saw his assets taken and accounts frozen.
The 60-year-old was visibly emotional when he clinched his Tour Card after losing it in 2024, ending a 14-year stint. "It was absolutely brilliant," King said. "As you say, I was very emotional. I slogged my guts out for four days and managed to fall over the line on the last day, double my points and just get my Tour Card. That meant the absolute world to me."
Reflecting on his early career, King recalled his first major title: the British Open in 1996, where he beat Wayne Mardle at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool. "There were about three and a half thousand men’s singles entries, so that was a huge major," he said. He later became Winmau World Masters champion in 2004, defeating Tony O'Shea in the final, and added the England Open five months later, again beating O'Shea. "So I probably wasn’t his favourite person — let’s put it that way," King joked.
King's favourite PDC moment came early in his switch: "Probably smashing Phil Taylor in the semi-finals of the Premier League. What happened after that in the final wasn’t so great, but there you go." He beat 'The Power' 10-6 in his first Premier League campaign, then lost the final to James Wade 13-8 while averaging in the mid-80s. He also lost Players Championship Finals finals in 2010 and 2020, the 2012 World Grand Prix to Michael van Gerwen, plus two Masters finals and the Champions League. King admitted the 2020 Players Championship Finals against Van Gerwen was his biggest missed opportunity: "I didn’t actually get a shot at the 45 in the deciding leg. But there were a couple of legs before that where I should’ve sewn the match up."
Currently ranked world number 112, King has a year and a half to earn enough money to finish in the top 64 and retain his Tour Card. Despite his age, he remains hopeful: "I hope so. It hasn’t quite gone my way yet, but I’m still hitting 100-plus averages, so the game is still there, even at 60 years old. If I can just find a longer stretch of form — because I used to be able to call on the gears whenever I wanted, and now they turn up when they want to, not when I want them to — then who knows? Maybe."
