Rod Harrington, born in Boreham on 30 December 1957, was one of the most recognisable players from the early years of modern professional darts. Known as ‘The Prince of Style’, Harrington combined class on stage with a distinctive appearance, often wearing a suit and waistcoat, and enjoyed considerable success in both the BDO and, later, the PDC.
Harrington began his career when professional darts was still entirely dominated by the BDO. In the early 1990s, he emerged as one of the leading players on the international circuit, winning the Belgian Open in 1991 and 1992, the Denmark Open twice, the French Open in 1991 and 1993, and the Swedish Open in 1991. The absolute highlight came at the 1991 Winmau World Masters, where he defeated Phil Taylor in the final. Taylor already had a world title to his name but was still at the beginning of his historic journey. Harrington made his BDO World Championship debut a year later, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Mike Gregory. In 1993, as the fourth seed, he suffered a first-round exit, losing 3–2 to Wayne Weening.
In the early 1990s, a large number of leading players broke away from the BDO to join the World Darts Council, later the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Harrington made the switch as well and competed in each of the first ten PDC World Championships. He reached the quarter-finals at the inaugural event in 1994, then made the final in 1995, where he lost 6–2 to Phil Taylor, who claimed his third world title. Harrington reached the quarter-finals again in 1997, the semi-finals in 1998 (losing to Taylor), and the semi-finals in 2001 (losing 6–5 to John Part).
Harrington’s greatest PDC triumphs came at the World Matchplay in Blackpool. In 1998, he broke Phil Taylor’s dominance at the tournament by defeating Ronnie Baxter in the final, a match remembered for a spectacular 125 checkout completed via treble 15, double 20 and double 20. A year later, he defended his crown by beating Peter Manley in the final, becoming World Matchplay champion for the second consecutive year. For a long time, he and Taylor were the only players to successfully defend a PDC major title, until Raymond van Barneveld won the UK Open for a second consecutive time in 2007. Harrington also reached the final of the inaugural World Grand Prix in 1998, losing to Taylor, and the final of the World Pairs Championship in 1997 with Richie Burnett, where they were beaten by Raymond van Barneveld and Roland Scholten.
During the first half of 2001, Harrington underwent three knee operations, which significantly affected his performances. He started the 2002 World Championship as the third seed but fell outside the world’s top 16 by the following year. At the 2003 World Championship, he lost to Alan Warriner-Little in the first round. His final attempt to reach the World Championship came ahead of the 2007 event, when he lost in the first qualifying round, after which he ended his professional playing career.
After retiring, Harrington became a director within the PDC and a well-known analyst and commentator for Sky Sports. He also managed Colin Lloyd, who went on to become world number one. In 2022, his time with Sky Sports and the PDC came to an end. In 2015, his son Ryan Harrington made his UK Open debut, reaching the last 64 in both 2015 and 2016. In January 2018, Ryan secured a PDC Tour Card at Q-School, earning a place on the PDC Pro Tour for the following two seasons. He returned to the UK Open later that year for his third appearance, again reaching the last 64. At the end of 2019, Ryan lost his Tour Card. Rod Harrington was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame in 2019.
