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TheCircus Tavern is an entertainment venue inPurfleet,Essex, England, that hosts functions, cabaret acts and is also a nightclub venue. First opened in 1974, it is most famous as having been a long-time venue of thePDC World Darts Championship. Its capacity is 1,100 seated.

The Circus Tavern was the venue of the PDC World Darts Championships from its inauguration event in 1994, up until 2007, and broadcast onSky Sports.Phil Taylor reached the final in all 14 of thePDC World Darts Championship tournaments that were held at the Circus Tavern, winning 11 of those 14 finals (he lost toDennis Priestley in 1994,John Part in 2003, andRaymond van Barneveld in 2007). The last World Championship match held at the Circus Tavern was the2007 PDC World Darts Championship final, where Barneveld came from 0–3 down in sets to defeat Taylor, 7–6 in sets, after a sudden death leg. Many consider this match to be the greatest in the history of darts.^{[citation needed]} At the time of the match, it was not known that it would be the last World Championship to be held at the Circus Tavern.

On 2 April 2007,Barry Hearn announced that the2008 PDC World Darts Championship would be held at theAlexandra Palace inLondon.^[1]

Other darts events were held at the Circus Tavern in the three years following. In 2008, the Circus Tavern was the venue for the opening round and the play-offs of the BetFred League of Legends, broadcast onSetanta Sports. In 2009 and 2010, thePlayers Championship Finals were held at the Circus Tavern, broadcast on ITV, featuring the top 32 players from the previous year's Players Championship Order of Merit. In 2019, theBDO signed a contract to hold theWorld Masters at the Circus Tavern.

There were also two other televised darts events held at the Circus Tavern:

• "The Battle of the Champions" on 29 June 1997, broadcast onSky Sports. This event featuredDennis Priestley defeatingJohn Part 3–0 in sets in the battle between the 1994 World Champions,Eric Bristow defeatingAlan Evans 3–0 in sets in a Legends match between two old rivals, and reigning PDC World ChampionPhil Taylor defeating 1995 BDO World ChampionRichie Burnett 4–1 in sets in the Main Event.
• "The Showdown" on 21 November 2004, broadcast onSky Box Office. This event featuredEric Bristow defeatingJohn Lowe 6–1 in legs in a Legends match between the two old rivals,Roland Scholten defeatingWayne Mardle 6–5 in legs in the second match, and the Main Event between the reigning PDC World ChampionPhil Taylor and the reigning BDO World ChampionAndy Fordham. Originally intended to be best of 13 sets, Taylor was leading 5–2 when Fordham suffered breathing difficulties and was forced to retire.

Since 2022, the Circus Tavern has hosted the World Seniors Darts Championship.

• Official website

51°29′09″N0°14′46″E / 51.4859°N 0.2461°E /51.4859; 0.2461

• Sports venues in Thurrock
• Buildings and structures in Thurrock
• Darts venues
• Purfleet
• Darts in the United Kingdom

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