Born in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, Priestley was originally a coal merchant by trade, and did not enter professional darts until he was almost 40 years old.

[1] Priestley then reached the semi-finals of the 1990 Winmau World Masters, losing to eventual champion Phil Taylor.

[1] Priestley has also been a three-times World Matchplay runner-up, losing to American Larry Butler in 1994, Taylor in 1995 and Peter Evison in 1996.

He did, however, notch up a further major televised title later that year – the inaugural PDC World Pairs partnering Bristow.

In his first-round tie against Jocky Wilson, he set a new record for the highest match average (102.6) at the championship, which stood until 2004.

In 1997, Priestley won the British Classic in Blackpool, notable for being the first BDO event which PDC players were allowed to enter – as a result of the Tomlin Order – since the 1993 split.

[1] Though Priestley has won a number of non-televised ranking events over the years, he has underachieved and on some occasions under-performed on the big stage; his failed turn his performances into further World title victories.

Indeed, Priestley was close to quitting darts in 2003, unhappy with his form over the previous couple of years and had problems with his eyesight.

During the early years of the PDC, Priestley and Taylor had an agreement where they would share prize money won at events.

The arrangement lasted between 1994 and 2000 and made sound financial sense given that, in Taylor's words, they "cherry-picked most tournaments" (contesting 5 of the 7 World Championship Finals in that time) and also struggled for exhibition work due to the dispute with the BDO.

The agreement eventually ended when the prize money grew to a level where the players could individually sustain a better living and this coincided with Priestley's sharp dip in form.

A barrage of 180s took Priestley to an early 2–0 lead in sets before Taylor's brutal scoring and ruthless finishing put him in command.

While Priestley started getting some motivational problems and struggled to remain at the top of the PDC ranks, Taylor had already cemented an era of unprecedented domination and consistent 100+ averages.

An average of 98 gave him a 5–2 semi-final win over top seed Peter Manley, while Taylor blitzed into the final without losing a set.

Although his last major victory over Taylor came in 1994, Darts commentators such as John Gwynne have noted that a vast number of their subsequent encounters have been close and exciting affairs – something not always reflected by the scorelines.

In the opening weeks, Priestley defeated Roland Scholten and Adrian Lewis, gained a draw against Taylor and had hard fought wins over Terry Jenkins, Colin Lloyd, and van Barneveld.

Although Priestley failed to maintain that form, his good start proved sufficient to earn him a semi-final place.

[citation needed] In February 2007, he won the UK Open South-West Regional tournament, beating James Wade in the final.

[citation needed] In 2012, Priestley qualified for the 2012 UK Open, where he lost in the fifth round to eventual winner Robert Thornton.

[1] He also qualified for his first European Tour Event, the Dutch Darts Masters, and was beaten 3–6 by Andy Smith in the first round.

[1] In November, Priestley reached the final of the Players Championship 17 in Crawley, where he was beaten 2–6 by Simon Whitlock, having defeated an in-form Michael van Gerwen 6–1 in the semi-finals, despite his opponent averaging 105.

His run to the final and successive quarter-final defeats in the last two events secured his qualification for the World Championship in December through the ProTour Order of Merit.

[1] Priestley only entered a handful of events in 2013 and his best finish came in May at the third Players Championship where he lost 6–2 in the quarter-finals to Robert Thornton.

[5] He was forced to withdraw from the John McEvoy Darts Classic in Ireland with pains in his abdomen having been diagnosed with the disease in the run up to the event.