Announcements

ST HELENS darter Stephen Bunting is one of nine challengers who will feature in the opening nine nights of the 2020 Unibet Premier League have been confirmed.

Bunting, who has experience of the Premier League, will appear at week six of the tournament at Liverpool.

Clock Face's Michael Smith had already been named as one of the Premier League's nine competitors.

In a return to last year’s popular format, another nine players will compete under the re-branded 'Challengers' banner, with John Henderson and Fallon Sherrock already confirmed as guest players for the opening two nights.

Scottish crowd favourite Henderson is set to get the campaign off to a bang at the new P&J Live in Aberdeen, before history-maker Sherrock becomes the first woman to star in the Premier League in Nottingham.

The Premier League roadshow then rolls on to Cardiff and Dublin where Welsh number two Jonny Clayton and Irish World Cup runner-up William O’Connor will make their Premier League debuts respectively.

World Youth Champion Luke Humphries will feature in Exeter.

Two-time televised semi-finalist Chris Dobey will hope to enjoy another memorable night in Newcastle, before Dutch duo Jeffrey de Zwaan and Jermaine Wattimena entertain the sea of orange in Rotterdam.

Points won by Challengers will not count towards the league table, however their opponents will retain any points gained from the matches. Challengers will receive financial bonuses for winning or drawing their matches.

Following the opening nine nights of fixtures, the player placed ninth on the Premier League table following Judgement Night in Rotterdam on March 26 will be eliminated from the competition.

The remaining eight players will then battle it out from Nights Ten to 16 in the race to win places in the Play-Offs at The O2 on Thursday May 21, with newly-crowned World Champion Peter Wright and world number one Michael van Gerwen among the regular nine players.

Fans in Belfast and Glasgow will also have the chance to welcome home local heroes in Daryl Gurney, Gary Anderson and Wright, while Gerwyn Price will entertain a passionate Welsh crowd in Cardiff.

Nathan Aspinall and Glen Durrant are the new additions to the Premier League line-up in 2020, while former finalists Rob Cross and Michael Smith are among the returning stars.

The 2020 Unibet Premier League will be played from February 6 - May 21 2020 at venues across Europe.

The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, on PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.

2020 Unibet Premier League field

Michael van Gerwen

Peter Wright

Gerwyn Price

Rob Cross

Michael Smith

Gary Anderson

Daryl Gurney

Nathan Aspinall

Glen Durrant

2020 Unibet Premier League Challengers

John Henderson (Aberdeen, Night One)

Fallon Sherrock (Nottingham, Night Two)

Jonny Clayton (Cardiff, Night Three)

William O'Connor (Dublin, Night Four)

Luke Humphries (Exeter, Night Five)

Stephen Bunting (Liverpool, Night Six)

Chris Dobey (Newcastle, Night Seven)

Jeffrey de Zwaan (Rotterdam, Night Eight)

Jermaine Wattimena (Rotterdam, Night Nine)