All aboard
Fans flock to darts shop after Luke’s final heroics
Kids think ‘he’s only 16, I could do that’... nine out of 10 customers mention Luke
CARL HOLDEN, OWNER OF ST HELENS DART SHOP
DARTSMANIA has gripped the town where World Championship star Luke Littler honed his skills.
Takings are up £50,000 on last year at one darts shop, as youngsters aim to emulate the 16-year-old prodigy. Carl Holden, 54, owner of St Helens Dart Shop, once helped Luke refine his technique and supplied his equipment free of charge. Now he says “The Nuke” has indirectly paid him back by prompting scores of kids to buy a dartboard. Carl said: “Luke Littler has captured a generation of new darts players. Kids are thinking ‘he’s only 16, I could be like that’. “Nine out of 10 people who come in mention him. He’s a bit of a freak, we taught him a little bit and there was just no holding him back then. Once he had everything in place, he just found everything mightily easily.”
Luke, from nearby Warrington, reached the final at London’s Alexandra Palace last week, before losing to Luke Humphries.
Since Luke shot to fame by becoming the youngest player ever to reach the latter stages, Carl estimates he has sold 125 darts kits to youngsters.
He said: “We’ve done double what we took two years ago.”
The local darts academy, where Luke trained, has turned away 40 budding players as their books are full.
Interest in the sport in the Merseyside town was already high after local lad Michael Smith, 33, won the world title last year. Dave Chisnall, 43, also from St Helens, reached the semi-finals in 2021.
WARRINGTON WOLVES star Joe Philbin is taking inspiration from teenage darts sensation Luke Littler ahead of the new Super League season.
Luke ‘The Nuke’ is a huge Wolves supporter and follows his hometown team religiously home and away from the terraces.
With Sam Burgess having taken over as head coach, hopes are high that Warrington can re-emerge as a serious force in 2024.
Hardman prop Philbin, 29, has spent his entire career with the Wolves and watched Littler take the PDC World Darts Championship by storm on his debut.
The 16-year-old fell just one win short of becoming the sport’s youngest world champion when he lost 7-4 to Luke Humphries in last week’s final at Alexandra Palace.
Philbin said: “Luke captured the imagination of a nation, didn’t he? The viewing figures on Sky Sports were incredible.
“I look back and think what I was like aged 16… I’d have been shaking like a dog! But Luke was throwing those treble 20s and double 10s as cool as a cucumber.
“That was a result of over 10 years’ hard work, so he’s certainly no overnight success. It was brilliant and, while I was gutted he didn’t win the final, I feel Luke’s going to have a long and successful darts career.
“And he’s a huge Warrington Wolves supporter – he jumps on the coach to away games at the Tavern Sports Bar.
“Seeing what he’s achieved is inspiring and my little lad cannot stop shouting ‘180!’. He’s obsessed with the darts now, thanks to Luke.”
Warrington have been working with Littler for the past 18 months and sent two of their players – Matty Ashton and Josh Thewlis – to Ally Pally to support the teenager in his semi-final win over Rob Cross.
Philbin revealed: “Matty Ashton said to Luke, ‘Now you’ve made all this cash, you’ll be watching Warrington from a corporate box next year’.
“But he said, ‘Not a chance, I’ll be in the South Stand, singing with the rest of the Wolves fans’. That’s the type of guy he is.
“Cross-sport promotion is very good and you only have to look at the UFC in America.
“They have cameras zooming in on whoever is at the events, which is a successful blueprint.
“For me, rugby league is one of the best sports in the world and we just need eyeballs on it.
“I’ve got friends in other countries who’ve been to a game and become hooked. Having people like Luke at games can only help rugby league grow.”
Philbin is in his testimonial year at Warrington, who have not been champions since 1955.
He added: “As a player, Sam was such a fierce competitor. That probably suits my style, so I’m excited to play under him.”
■ HULL KR have signed winger Joe Burgess, 29, on a year deal following his split from Salford.