Incredible rise of Luke Littler from £2m winnings, record world title and MBE – one of seven darts stars to get honour
FROM Alexandra Palace to the Royal Palaces, what an extraordinary ride it has been for Luke Littler.
Two years ago, he was just a normal, kebab-eating kid from Warrington who dreamt of one day making money from darts.
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What has happened since is one of the most sensational stories in British sport.
A shock World Championship final run in 2024, turning pro, taking the oche by storm, global popularity, the 2025 world title at just 17 and more than £2million in prize money and sponsorship.
Littler has even had novelty kebabs named in his honour.
And now he will go, by royal appointment, to collect an MBE as part of the King's Birthday Honours list.
It is not often Littler swaps his darts shirts for a suit but, at 18 years old, he is one of the youngest people to be bestowed a gong by the Royal Family.
Littler's ranking rival and England World Cup team-mate Luke Humphries, 30, is also set to receive an MBE.
They are two of only seven darts stars to have been acknowledged for their exploits.
The late Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Trina Gulliver, Fallon Sherrock and Keith Deller are the other tungsten members of the British Empire.
Sixteen-time world champ Phil Taylor had been set to receive an MBE in 2001.
But his nomination was annulled after a controversial court case saw him found guilty of assaulting two female fans in the back of his camper van and fined £2,000.
Luke Littler reveals he's signed up to HUGE reality show alongside YouTuber mate
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Barry Hearn, the promotion mastermind behind darts' global rise, got an MBE in December 2021 and pins it to his cricket bat when he plays for Essex over-70s.
Honours committees have tended to be snobbish towards working-class sports like darts and snooker.
But with Littler's five major titles, added to eight for Humphries — and two PDC world crowns between them — there is no denying their incredible impact.
Particularly Littler. Grown men wear his shirts, emblazoned with his nickname The Nuke, while magnetic dartboards with his face on them sold out.
As an amateur, he reached the Ally Pally world final — aged 16 — losing to world No 1 Humphries.
Littler's rookie season was one of sport's most incredible debut years, seeing him voted second behind Olympic 800 metres champion Keely Hodgkinson in BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Littler has been a credit to the sport, constantly polite and co-operative with the press, the PDC and their sponsors.
This kid from humble stock — his dad was a taxi driver, his mum worked in a Yankee Candle shop — now joins the establishment.
Sir Luke Littler? That really does hit the bullseye.
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