1996 World Matchplay

The 1996 Webster's World Matchplay was the third time the World Matchplay darts tournament had been held in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool between 28 July–3 August 1996.

Phil Taylor was the defending champion, but got knocked out by eventual champion Peter Evison by a convincing scoreline of 8–1 in the second round, with Evison averaging over 100. Evison would go onto to record another ton-plus average in the final against Dennis Priestley (who appeared in his third consecutive - and final - World Matchplay final).

Prize money
The prize fund was £48,000.

Seeds
There were eight seeds for the competition.


 * 1) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Phil Taylor
 * 2) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dennis Priestley
 * 3) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alan Warriner
 * 4) Jamie Harvey
 * 5) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Lowe
 * 6) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bob Anderson
 * 7) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rod Harrington
 * 8) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Keith Deller

Results
Players in bold denote match winners.

Preliminary round
(best of 9 legs, but need a 2 leg difference.)

Last 32
Third place playoff (best of 21 legs) (4) Jamie Harvey 10–11 (6) Bob Anderson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿