The year 2026 will be one that Nathan Aspinall remembers for the rest of his life.
The 34-year-old will get married to his childhood sweetheart Kirsty later this year… assuming he comes through his Ibiza stag do, at which fellow dartists Joe Cullen and Chris Dobey will be in attendance, unscathed.
So it’s a good year for the Asp away from the oche.
But on it? The signs are positive for the Stockport thrower as he looks to brush off the disappointment of being snubbed for the prestigious Premier League.
Worlds domination
For a player with two PDC majors to his name and a highest ranking of fourth in the world, it’s a mystery why Aspinall has struggled so much on the Alexandra Palace stage at the World Championships.
Just one quarter-final appearance since 2020, amidst a host of disappointing early exits from the tournament, is a curious run indeed.
The Asp is available at 66/1 in the World Darts odds for 2026/27, which is representative of his relative woes in the capital.
The darts betting, headed by the likes of Luke Humphries (6/1) and Michael van Gerwen (16/1), reveals the strength in depth at the top of the sport, but Aspinall knows that he has the talent and pedigree to mix it with the very best.
After slipping to 15th in the world, the 34-year-old has been overlooked for this season’s Premier League – something which will have hurt a player who’s most at home on the TV stage in front of packed arenas.
Particularly hurtful is missing out on a hometown trip to the Manchester Arena in April; Aspinall was born in Stockport and is an avid Manchester United fan, even having trials for the Red Devils as a youngster.
The Asp revealed that he was told of his omission by text message, while sitting on a plane next to Stephen Bunting – one of the players who was, with some controversy, selected instead.
“He [Bunting] got a text message at 3.15pm saying he was in, I got a text at 3.21pm saying I wasn’t in,” the former World Matchplay champion confirmed.
“I have accepted the decision, we move forward, and it gives me the hunger and fight to not miss out again.”
So far during the 2026, Aspinall has showcased that the fire is back in his game…
Knocking on the door
He started like he meant to go on at the curtain-raising World Series of Darts events in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, reaching the semi-finals of both – it took an average in excess of 100 from Van Gerwen to down the Asp in Riyadh.
He then made the final of Players Championship 1 in Hildesheim, losing out to James Wade 6-8, before the action headed back to England for the first two televised ranking events of the campaign.
Aspinall will have been disappointed with his return from the World Masters, losing out in the second round in Milton Keynes, before running into a steamroller of a performance from MVG at the UK Open, who averaged 101.89 over 18 classy legs in a 10-8 victory.
So, it has very much been a mixed bag at the start of 2026, although some of Aspinall’s defeats have come at the hands of a red-hot opponent – a sign of the times in the increasingly-competitive landscape of the PDC.
But there has been success to draw upon too, so the Asp has every right to feel that this could be his year – both in darts and his personal life.
Featured image: Free to use from Unsplash
