By Jack Meney

Once, he was the champion of the world but now he feels like “no one even remembers my name”. Michael Smith is being branded as darts forgotten man after his so called fall off but he is determined to make his way back to the top after he qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts by finding success in the tour card holder qualifier. 

The Englishman has been absent from a few major tv events in the last year, events that you would always expect to see him be in and potentially be a favourite.Most notably, he failed to qualify for the World Matchplay, his first absence since 2013. His qualification for the Grand Slam makes it his first televised major since March.

It’s clearly been a challenging time for the ‘Bully Boy’ and if you want to pinpoint an exact time where it all started to go wrong, it would be when he made a surprise exit from the World Championships at the end of last year, when he lost to Kevin Doets. This loss saw him plummet out of the top 16, wiping close to 500,000 pounds off of his ranking, potentially being part of the reason why he didn’t receive an invite for the 2025 Premier League.

Today’s era of darts is competitive as ever, with so many top names. On paper, the two Lukes (Humphries and Littler) sit clear at the top of the hierarchy but apart from them, it is all very tight. This is clear when you hear the conversations about who will be selected for the 2026 Premier League, there are so many names that could fill the four remaining spots. This makes for a big challenge for Smith as the pool of players he will be coming against will be of a very high standard.

It’s very important for Smith to build on the momentum that he has gained from qualifying from this tournament as there is potentially the chance that his darts career could decline anymore if he keeps on making an early exit from the televised events that he plays in. 

It is more than just playing badly, it is the mental challenges that make winning games so much harder. Smith told Sky Sports how much his qualification meant for him, saying: “from three weeks ago crying in bed because I couldn’t talk, to then winning the qualifiers today felt unreal.”

It is often easy to forget that the stars that stand at the oche are normal people as well. Darts started as a pub sport, all about people getting together and playing a game. Players like Smith have hopes of success on the big stages but his struggles show he is relatable, as everyone faces their own challenges. This part of Smith reflects a wider community. His struggles and recent battles aren’t just personal, they’re part of a collective story of a sport that’s always thrived on belonging.

His first major since March won’t be an easy one as he finds himself in what could be described as the hardest group on the draw. He will play world number one, Luke Humphries, fan favourite Nathan Aspinall and American Alex Spellman. It could be difficult for Smith to deal with these difficult opponents with everything going on. He will be hoping that he can find some much needed success.