27-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
James Wade feasts on out of date pizzas but World Matchplay finalist insists he's not past his sell by
The Machine has been magnificent in Blackpool and can now win a second Matchplay 18 years after his first triumph
Time-defying James Wade fancies another slice of Matchplay history after dining on out-of-date pizzas.
The Machine forged into a showdown with Luke Littler at the Winter Gardens with his epic semi-final success over Jonny Clayton.
Wade is the youngest-ever winner of the tournament having triumphed in 2007 as a raw 24-year-old who had burst onto the scene. Fast forward to 2025 and he's back in the showpiece aiming to lift the trophy again and prevent The Nuke from tagging his youngest-ever tag.
Wade might 'not care' about that statistic, but he does care deeply about his darts and has rolled back the years in Blackpool to maintain a superb season of form which is lifting him up the rankings again and banging him into the spotlight.
The Londoner isn't being snubbed for TV promos now as he heads into the crunch clash with Littler, but he's also keeping it grounded. Celebrations after the Clayton match were restricted as he said: 'Going back to my room. I've got some pizzas that are four or five days out of date. Hopefully they smell all right when I open them out of the fridge. Everyone thinks I'm joking, but I'm being serious.
'I'm just going back to my room to relax and enjoy myself. Not be too critical of myself. but really, really happy to win. So, so, so lucky to win that game, but it might make up for some of the times where I've been so unlucky. There you go.'
It was a titanic tussle that went 38 legs before Wade came through 20-18 and he said: 'To be fair, it's my own fault because I probably should have closed it off earlier. But you know, it is what it is. And there were so many moments where he would have turned me over if God was on his side and not my side. Just happy, don't want to harp on too much about who won and who lost, but I'm happy I won.'
Wade reckons 'stupidity' and 'ignorance' were keys to a big 161 finish that set-up the success and added: 'Desperation, rankings. It's nothing more than that. You're stubborn, you want to win and let's be honest, 'Jonny probably should have won that game, but I should have won it way before. Just happy to win. I'm exhausted, genuinely. Not very often I walk in after a game of darts, you know, we all go like, I'm tired. I am genuinely, absolutely bamboozled after that. I'm f****d. I'm knackered, I'm old.'
Wade's success ato bridge an 18-year-gap between first and latest would be an incredible storyline, but he's putting no extra store on it as, when asked what it mean to lift The Phil Taylor Trophy again, he said: 'No more different to what they all mean to me.'
