Matthew Edgar (born 28 August 1986) is an English darts player who competes in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Prime Time", Edgar has won 2 WDF ranking titles and has won two titles on the PDC Challenge Tour. A former PDC Tour Card holder, he has played in ten UK Opens, and four World Championships (three PDC and one WDF).
Edgar joined the PDC in 2011, and qualified for the 2011 UK Open. He defeated Nigel Heydon, Andy Pearce and Martyn Turner on the way to the last 32, where he lost to Andy Boulton 9âÂÂ5.
In January 2012, he entered the Professional Darts Corporation Pro Tour 'Q School' qualifying tournament. On the first day, Edgar lost to Darren Whittingham 6âÂÂ4 at the final stage. After four days playing in the event in Barnsley, Edgar gained his professional tour card for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. His best results of 2012 came in two UK Open Qualifiers, where he lost in the last 16 to Johnny Haines and Richie Howson respectively. These results helped him to reach the UK Open for the second time where he was beaten in the second round by Kevin McDine. He could not advance beyond the last 32 in any of the rest of the events he played in the year.
Edgar went into 2013 ranked world number 81, and reached his first PDC quarter-final at the eighth UK Open Qualifier where he was edged out 5âÂÂ6 by Adrian Lewis. He was seeded 50th for the UK Open itself, meaning he began at the second round stage, with a 5âÂÂ4 win over Colin Osborne. He faced reigning champion Robert Thornton in the third round and led 6âÂÂ4, before going on to lose 7âÂÂ9. Edgar also qualified for two European Tour events during the year, losing in the first round of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy and beating Stuart Kellett 6âÂÂ1 at the German Darts Championship before being defeated 6âÂÂ2 by Paul Nicholson in the second round.
Edgar began 2014 outside of the world's top 64 and entered Q School in an attempt to win his place back, coming closest on the third day when he advanced to the last 32 but lost 5âÂÂ2 to Darron Brown. Edgar only had PDPA Associate Member status for the year ahead which allowed him to compete in UK Open and European Tour qualifiers as well as the Challenge Tour. He qualified for the UK Open and lost 5âÂÂ3 to Spain's Antonio Alcinas in the second round. Edgar was a runner-up in the first Challenge Tour event of the year when he lost 5âÂÂ4 to Jamie Robinson, but he went one better in the fourth event by claiming the title with a deciding leg victory over Mark Frost. He came within a match of qualifying for both the 2014 Grand Slam of Darts and 2015 World Championship but was beaten on both occasions.
On the second day of 2015 Q School, Edgar won seven matches ending with a 5âÂÂ0 whitewash of Andy Boulton to earn a new two-year tour card. He reached the quarter-finals of the third UK Open Qualifier, but was edged out 6âÂÂ5 by Adrian Lewis. Edgar also suffered a narrow defeat in the second round of the UK Open, 5âÂÂ4 against Jason Mold. The only European Tour event he could qualify for was the 2015 International Darts Open and he beat Darren Webster 6âÂÂ5, but was whitewahsed by Dave Chisnall 6âÂÂ0 in the second round.
A last 16 showing in the final qualifier saw Edgar enter the UK Open at the second round stage and he beat Mark Wilson 6âÂÂ4, before losing 9âÂÂ3 to Mark Webster. He had two last 16 finishes in Players Championship events, before reaching the quarter-finals for the only time this season at the final one by defeating Jelle Klaasen, Wayne Jones, Cristo Reyes and Robbie Green, before losing to Benito van de Pas 6âÂÂ2. It was this result which saw Edgar make his debut in the Players Championship Finals and he lost to Simon Whitlock 6âÂÂ3 in the first round.
With his tour card status now expired, Edgar entered QâÂÂSchool. He finished 13th on the Order of Merit, just one point shy of reclaiming his place. A host of injuries including a broken hand restricted the amount of entries available through the year which meant he did not qualify for 2017 UK Open, the first time in Edgar's career he did not qualify. There were positive signs in the Summer when Edgar won a second Challenge Tour title came beating Barrie Bates 5âÂÂ2 in the final.
Edgar re-gained his PDC Tour Card at QâÂÂSchool, finishing 9th on the UK QâÂÂSchool Order of Merit.
On the 2018 PDC Pro Tour, he competed in the 2018 UK Open Qualifiers.
At UK Open Qualifier 1 he defeated Adam Hunt 6âÂÂ5 in a deciding leg, Mick McGowan 6âÂÂ1, Mark Webster 6âÂÂ5 in a deciding leg and Mervyn King 6âÂÂ2 to reach the fourth round (Last 16), where he was beaten by Kyle Anderson, who averaged 107.32 to Edgar's 95.40, 6âÂÂ2.
At UK Open Qualifier 2, Edgar defeated Charlie Jackson 6âÂÂ5 in a deciding leg and Philip Borthwick 6âÂÂ4, then both Andrew Gilding and Cristo Reyes 6âÂÂ5 in last-leg deciders. This meant Edgar reached the Last 16 in successive UK Open qualifiers, where he lost to Justin Pipe 6âÂÂ5 in another deciding leg.
Edgar became the 23rd seed for the 2018 UK Open and entered in the third round. There, he achieved a 10âÂÂ4 win over John Henderson, reaching the fourth round for the second time in his career, but lost to Steve West 10âÂÂ7 in round 4.
In April Edgar made his return to the PDC European Tour at the 2018 German Darts Open, where he lost to Steve West 6âÂÂ2 in the first round.
Edgar did enough on the Players Championship circuit to qualify for the 2018 Players Championship Finals where he met Michael van Gerwen in the first round and lost 6âÂÂ2. He also managed to qualify for the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship through the ProTour.
In the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship, Edgar played Darius Labanauskas in the first round and lost 3âÂÂ1 despite winning the first set.
Edgar started the year off placed world number 68, so to maintain his tour card for next season he needed to jump 4 places in the rankings. He played in the 2019 UK Open where he made the third round before losing to Ryan Searle 6âÂÂ3. He qualified again for the Players Championship Finals that year and played Dave Chisnall in the first round. He lost 6âÂÂ2.
Edgar had not managed to do enough on the tour to qualify for the 2020 PDC World Championship. He entered the last chance Tour Card Holder qualifier and managed to come through it with wins over Tytus Kanik, Gary Eastwood and Christian Bunse, before beating Adam Hunt 7âÂÂ4 to book his place at Alexandra Palace. However, he lost to Darius Labanauskas once again.
He was unable to achieve qualification for a 3rd year running for the Players Championship Finals, however the day after the Players Championship Final at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, he qualified for the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship via the UK Tour Card Holder Qualifiers, beating Josh Payne 7âÂÂ2 in the last 8 to confirm his place in his 3rd successive PCC World Championship.
Edgar finally progressed past the first round of the World Championship in the 2021 edition by whitewashing Maik Kuivenhoven 3âÂÂ0 in sets. In round 2, he lost to Mensur Suljovià3âÂÂ1.
Matthew returned to PDC Q-School looking to regain his tour card. During the first 3 days, Edgar picked up 0 points, which left him needing to reach the Final on Day 4 as a minimum. The day brought the best out in Edgar, and he progressed to the Semi-Finals, the highlight being a 106.35 average against Kai Fan Leung in the Last 64. Unfortunately for Matt, he lost against Nathan Rafferty 6âÂÂ3 in the Semi-Final, leaving him outside of the Tour Card spots in the Q-School Order of Merit.
In 2023 Edgar won 2 WDF ranking events, the Iceland Masters and the Slovenian Open.
Edgar was the runner-up at the 2024 Welsh Open, he lost to Andy Davidson 5âÂÂ1 in the final.
Edgar qualified for the 2024 WDF World Darts Championship at the Lakeside Country Club virtue of being ranked 20th on their World Championship rankings race. He was drawn to play Dutch Open champion Jarno Bottenberg in the first round, who defeated him 2âÂÂ0 in sets.
Edgar practices with former world championship runner-up Kevin Painter. He has previously worked for Northampton Town as a sports coach. Edgar also runs a YouTube channel dedicated to darts called "Edgar TV Darts", where he regularly answers questions raised by followers and chronicles his journeys through various PDC and WDF competitions.
Before starting his darts career, Edgar was a professional wrestler and trained in mixed martial arts.
The Online Betting Guide, OLBG, began sponsoring Edgar in 2011 and have since sponsored the darts player intermittently for over 13 years. In 2024 they supported his journey to qualify for Lakeside 2024 at the WDF World Championships.
Edgar has one son.
PDC
WDF
PDC European Tour
PDC Players Championships