Having lost to Wayne Jones (2002), Erik Clarys (2003) and John Walton (2004) he notched his first ever win at the World Championship against Tony David in 2005, before falling to Vincent van der Voort in the second round.
A first round loss again followed to Per Laursen in 2006, but his best run at the event came in 2007 when he progressed to the quarter finals before losing 4–5 to Mervyn King.
On the eve of the UK Open in June 2007, Eccles announced that he would be switching to compete on the PDC circuit.
He made his debut to the World Championship in 2008, losing to Adrian Lewis 4–3 in the third round having led 2–0 and missing darts to lead 3–0.
In the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship, Eccles, the number 30 seed, faced Dutchman Remco van Eijden.