IN less than 12 months, Warrington teenager Luke Littler has gone from a darts prodigy with potential to a household name.
Shortlisted for the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year award, Littler is preparing for his second tilt at the PDC World Darts Championship and remarkably enters the 2025 edition as favourite.
He said: “It’s been an amazing year and to be in the running for Young Sports Personality of the Year tops it off. If I’ve brought more fans to darts, then that’s all that matters to me.”
Last year, in his maiden tournament, Littler went all the way to the final, capturing the hearts of the nation as a 17-year-old going up against, and beating, darts biggest names before losing to Luke Humphries.
Despite the defeat, Littler has garnered more attention than the world number one all year, and has delivered on the big stage too – winning the Premier League title, an event that some suggested Littler shouldn’t enter as it was too early in his fledgling career.
Now ranked number four in the world, Littler has won three major finals, including the Premier League and most recently, the Grand Slam of Darts. He also won in the World Series of Darts, and came out on top in the Bahrain Darts Masters and Poland Darts Masters competitions. His career earnings from darts now surpass £1m, and that’s without the endorsements and other deals he has received as a result.
Such is his stock, that a rookie darts trading card of Littler can be found on eBay for an eye-watering £300 – with more interest set to follow with the launch of the Panini trading card collection for the PDC World Championship, a first in darts.
A season ticket holder at Warrington Wolves, Littler was part of their recent kit launch for the 2025 season.
His interest in football, particularly Manchester United and playing EASportsFC, has opened up further opportunities and captured people’s attention too, while he was spotted in the crowd at Warrington Town’s recent win over Hereford.
There is now talk that Littler’s emergence may just be the first of many of his ilk. 12-year-old Jayden Walker hit the headlines this week after featuring in the televised MODUS Super Series’ Influencer Darts Showdown, scooping a doubles title after beating Humphries in an exhibition.
Darts supremo Barry Hearn told Sky Sports: “These kids, it’s their career. They actually know it’s going to take them some time so they’re not necessarily in a rush.
“They haven’t got the pressure on them of someone else who’s maybe got a wife, children, mortgages, all the usual pressures that exist. These kids haven’t got that. They’re just going at it like Luke Littler.
“So what are you going to do with your winnings? I don’t know. I’m going to go home and play my Xbox. That’s frighteningly dangerous.”
After being annihilated by Littler in the recent Grand Slam of Darts final, Martin Lukeman joked about Littler’s match preparations.
He said: “He has a Boost bar, a meal deal and a curry, walks up there and smashes them in like that!”
There have often been jokes about Littler spending his winnings on ‘FIFA points’, the in-game currency of the EASportsFC PlayStation game that enables you to buy packs of cards for your team.
He has a further chance to add to his career earnings thanks to Village Hotels, who have offered to put up £60,000 for every nine-darter Littler hits at the Alexandra Palace later this month.
With Littler too young to be eligible for the nine-darter prize bonus put on offer by tournament sponsor’s Paddy Power, Village Hotels have stepped up to ensure he doesn’t miss out.
Littler became the youngest player ever to hit a televised nine darter against Nathan Aspinall back in January, and then followed that up in the Premier League against Humphries in May.
A Village Hotels spokesperson said: “What Paddy Power and the PDC have done in supporting Prostate Cancer UK through The BIGGER 180 campaign has been remarkable, and the nine-darter bonus promises to make this year’s even bigger.
“But given what Luke has done in the sport already, and our close bond developed with the PDC since joining as a partner, we couldn’t see one of the biggest names miss out – so we wanted to do our bit.
“But if helps inspire Luke to hitting the magic number, and if it means more money goes to saving lives as part of the wider campaign, then it’ll be a small price to pay.”
Village Hotels have 33 locations throughout the UK, including one in Warrington where Littler appeared in the build up to the tournament, featuring affordable and stylish rooms, top-of-the range Health & Wellness Clubs and great food and drink in the Pub & Grill.
Luke Littler met up with Warrington borough Council Chief Executive and Warrington Wolves’ Deputy Chairman Prof. Steven Broomhead at the Village Hotel in Warrington.
Commenting on the rising star Prof. Broomhead said: “I enjoyed meeting Luke. I congratulated him on his continuing success , his positive advocacy for our town and his great support for the Wire. His success is truly remarkable . He is a really good role model for young people.”
Luke Litler with prof Broomhead – Picture John Hopkins
The 2025 PDC World Darts Championship gets underway on Sunday December 15, though Littler isn’t scheduled to be in action until December 21.
Seeded four, he will face the winner of the first round clash between Ryan Meikle and Fallon Sherrock, who was dubbed the ‘Queen of the Palace’ following her exploits in the 2019 edition where she became the first female to win a match at the event, before following it up with another win in the following round.
Nobody could have predicted the impact Luke Littler would have not only on last year’s event, but darts as a whole. Will he go one better and claim his first world title before he turns 18 next month?
