Raymond van Barneveld officially resigns PDC Tour Card with emotional letter

Raymond van Barneveld has officially resigned his PDC Tour Card after penning an emotional letter to the PDC on Friday.

Van Barneveld crashed out of his final William Hill World Championship in the First Round after a shock defeat to America’s Darin Young last week, marking a devastating end to a glittering career for the Dutch darting icon.

Van Barneveld, a former postman in The Hague, put darts on the map in his homeland in 1998 when he became the first Dutchman to win a BDO world title at Lakeside.

Crowd favourite Barney went on to win a further three BDO world titles before joining the PDC in 2006 and quickly forming an iconic rivalry with Phil Taylor.

In 2007, the pair met in the last World Championship final to be held at The Circus Tavern, and it proved a career-defining night for Van Barneveld as he came from 3-0 down to win a sudden death leg and become a PDC World Champion

Van Barneveld is one of only three players to have won five world titles, and the former world number one won 29 PDC titles and also became the first player to achieve a nine-dart finish in both the Premier League (2006) and the PDC World Championship (2009).

A disappointing final season for the 52-year-old saw him drop out of the world’s top 32 and fail to qualify for a number of TV majors in his farewell campaign, while also suffering elimination from the Premier League in Rotterdam in March, hastily announcing his immediate retirement before reversing the decision the following day.

He ended all speculation of returning to PDC competition next season by withdrawing his Tour Card on Friday, addressing a heartfelt resignation letter to PDC Chief Executive Matthew Porter.

The letter read:

Thanks you dart fans all around the world for your support for all these years. But like I said earlier All Good Things Come To An End ❤️ I wish the PDC, all their staff and all the players a Wonderfull Christmas and a Happy New Year. pic.twitter.com/UMNKuwdZ9P

— Raymond van Barneveld (@Raybar180) December 20, 2019