Circus Tavern
The Circus Tavern is an entertainment venue in Purfleet, Essex, England which hosts functions, cabaret acts and is also a nightclub venue. However, it is most famous as having been a long-time venue of the PDC World Darts Championship.
The Circus Tavern was the venue of the PDC World Darts Championships from its inauguration event in 1994, up until 2007. Phil Taylor reached the final in all 14 of the PDC World Darts Championship tournaments that were held at the Circus Tavern, winning 11 of those 14 finals. The last World Championship match held at the Circus Tavern was the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship final, where Raymond van Barneveld came from 0–3 down in sets to defeat Phil Taylor, 7–6 in sets, after a sudden death leg. Many people consider this match to be the greatest in the history of darts. 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 the 2008 PDC World Darts Championship would be held at the Alexandra Palace in London.
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. In 2009 and 2010, the Players Championship Finals were held at the Circus Tavern, featuring the top 32 from the previous year's Players Championship Order of Merit.