16 hours ago
Heanor darts shop success down to 'Luke Littler boom'
"Darts has historically been an old man's game in a smoky back room of a pub, but it's not like that anymore."That is the view of darts enthusiast Ryan Clarke - from his shop in Heanor, Derbyshire, which he opened in March, he has seen that change first hand. He attributes the massive surge in popularity in part to one man - Luke 'The Nuke' Littler - who became the youngest ever PDC World Darts Champion in January, aged 17."Some days we can't comprehend how busy it has been," Mr Clarke said, "a big part of it is what Littler has done."
The 2024 PDC World Darts final - where a then 16-year-old Littler lost 7-4 to Luke Humphries - saw a peak of 3.71 million people tune in to watch. This was up from 1.9 million the year surge in popularity has benefitted Mr Clarke's shop, he described the response in visitors as "absolutely unbelievable"."Personally, I think without the boom of Luke Littler, I don't know if we'd be here 100%."He added that there were "a lot of great players out there at there minute but the things that Luke's done for the sport is great."
A roofer by trade, Mr Clarke has played darts for about 15 years and takes part in a local league. The 32-year-old does not drink and wanted to practice and play in an environment without alcohol. "That is part of the reason why we set this up - just for a different environment and space to be playing darts in rather than having to go to the pub and everything that goes with it."He has also seen a change in the clientele."That's the beauty of this sport," he said. "Because everybody can play on a similar sort of level if the practice is put in... it's so inclusive, I think that's why it's also taken off in the way it has."
