Luke Littler, “The 16-year-old from Warrington,” as Sky Sports called him, played “the 2024 final against Luke Humphries on his debut year” at the PDC World Darts Championship: “a sensational final at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday night,” January 3, 2024. He was “defeated 7-4 by world No 1 Luke Humphries,” but “Littler received a hero’s reception at the end of the match and he is the story of the tournament,” Sky Sports wrote. He had done it “aged just 16 in his debut year as a professional,” BBC Sport later recalled.
A year later, on January 3, 2025, BBC Sport reported “a crushing 7-3 victory over Michael van Gerwen” for the “Warrington teenager,” “to become the youngest ever PDC World Championship winner. The 17-year-old ...” In 2025, BBC Sport wrote, “He has won five major titles.” By September 2026, it said, “At just 19, Luke Littler has won almost every major trophy in darts,” and “But increasingly so have whistles and boos during his performances.”
At Alexandra Palace in December 2025, “Littler was jeered by a section of the crowd during his last-16 win” over Rob Cross, Sky Sports reported; PA called it “Monday’s other last-16 clash,” and that Monday was December 29. “It is what it is,” he said at his press conference. “They [the crowds] want the underdog to win and they want the favourites to go out.” To PA, he put it this way: “because they want the underdog to win or they want the game to go on even longer.” And he told Sky Sports, in words it published on December 31: “The fans are behind you, they’re not in front of you, and what’s in front of you is a dartboard and that’s what you’ve got to do.” He also said, PA reported: “I can still learn a lot. I can learn how to deal with the crowd.”
Days later, on January 3, 2026, came the final, against Gian van Veen. Littler went on to “thrash Gian van Veen 7-1,” BBC Sport reported, “letting out a roar as he turned to a crowd that had backed him throughout the final,” and “tears flowed as he was congratulated by Van Veen.” Sky Sports wrote of “The tears that then fell as the moment was realised.” “The 18-year-old Englishman becomes just the fourth player to win the title in back-to-back years, joining Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson,” BBC Sport wrote.
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- Darts fans fell in love with him at 16, but two years later, some booed him. Sky Sports (January 3, 2024): “The 16-year-old from Warrington”; “Littler received a hero’s reception at the end of the match and he is the story of the tournament.” Sky Sports (December 29, 2025), on “the 18-year-old”: “Littler was jeered by a section of the crowd during his last-16 win.” 13
- His name is Luke Littler. BBC Sport: “Warrington teenager Littler.” 2
- On his World Championship debut, the Warrington teenager reached the final. Sky Sports (2026): “the 2024 final against Luke Humphries on his debut year.” Sky Sports (January 3, 2024): “a sensational final at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday night.” BBC Sport: “reach the PDC World Darts Championship aged just 16 in his debut year as a professional.” 819
- He lost to Luke Humphries, but the crowd gave him a hero’s reception. Sky Sports: “Luke Littler defeated 7-4 by world No 1 Luke Humphries in final”; “Littler received a hero’s reception at the end of the match.” 1
- A year later, he crushed Michael van Gerwen to win it. BBC Sport (January 3, 2025): “a crushing 7-3 victory over Michael van Gerwen.” 2
- Still only 17, he was the youngest PDC world champion ever. BBC Sport: “to become the youngest ever PDC World Championship winner. The 17-year-old ...” 2
- Then he won almost everything, and some crowds turned on him. BBC Sport (September 2026): “At just 19, Luke Littler has won almost every major trophy in darts”; “But increasingly so have whistles and boos during his performances.” BBC Sport (January 3, 2026), on 2025: “He has won five major titles.” 97
- In December 2025, part of the Ally Pally crowd jeered him. Sky Sports: “Littler was jeered by a section of the crowd during his last-16 win,” over Rob Cross at Alexandra Palace. PA (The42, December 29, 2025): “Monday’s other last-16 clash.” 36
- “They want the underdog to win,” he said. Littler, at his press conference (Sky Sports): “It is what it is. They [the crowds] want the underdog to win and they want the favourites to go out.” PA: “because they want the underdog to win or they want the game to go on even longer.” 35
- “The fans are behind you, they’re not in front of you, and what’s in front of you is a dartboard.” Littler, to Sky Sports (December 31, 2025): “The fans are behind you, they’re not in front of you, and what’s in front of you is a dartboard and that’s what you’ve got to do.” 4
- Days later came the final. BBC Sport (January 3, 2026): “Littler masterclass seals back-to-back world titles.” 7
- This time, the crowd backed him all the way. BBC Sport: “letting out a roar as he turned to a crowd that had backed him throughout the final.” 7
- He won seven sets to one, then the tears came. BBC Sport: “thrash Gian van Veen 7-1”; “tears flowed as he was congratulated by Van Veen.” Sky Sports: “The tears that then fell as the moment was realised.” 78
- Back-to-back world champion, at 18. BBC Sport: “The 18-year-old Englishman becomes just the fourth player to win the title in back-to-back years, joining Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson.” 7
Sources
- World Darts Championship: Luke Littler’s dreams ended by Luke Humphries in sensational final (Raz Mirza, January 3, 2024) Sky Sports
- Teenager Littler demolishes Van Gerwen to claim historic world title (Paul Higham, January 3, 2025) BBC Sport
- World Darts Championship: Luke Littler hits back at hostile reception from crowd during win over Rob Cross at Alexandra Palace (Ali Stafford, December 29, 2025) Sky Sports
- Luke Littler: I have ‘no regrets’ about crowd comments at World Darts Championship - I wasn’t expecting it! (December 31, 2025) Sky Sports
- Luke Littler admits he lost his head amid hostile crowd reaction at Ally Pally (December 30, 2025) PA Media, on The Irish News
- Report on Luke Littler’s last-16 win over Rob Cross (December 29, 2025) PA, on The42
- Littler masterclass seals back-to-back world titles (Sam Drury, January 3, 2026) BBC Sport
- World Darts Championship 2026: Luke Littler thrashes Gian van Veen in final to retain title at Alexandra Palace (January 3, 2026) Sky Sports
- ‘Real fear Littler could walk away’ - darts would be loser in booing row (Nesta McGregor and Rhia Chohan, September 21, 2026) BBC Sport
Notes
The booing: BBC Sport and Sky Sports describe boos and jeers from “a section of the crowd.” The Short says “some booed him” and “part of the Ally Pally crowd,” and it doesn’t use the harsher label of a popular retelling, or its claim that fans tried to ruin his biggest match: the Rob Cross match was a last-16 match.
His words: the Short and this page use his press-conference answers. His words on stage just after the match aren’t quoted here.
The date: Sky Sports’ report on the Rob Cross match carries a December 29, 2025, timestamp, and PA calls it “Monday’s other last-16 clash”; December 29, 2025, was a Monday.
“Youngest world champion”: BBC Sport says “youngest ever PDC World Championship winner,” and PA calls him the youngest world champion ever. The Short says “youngest PDC world champion ever.”
“Won almost everything”: BBC Sport’s “won almost every major trophy in darts” was written in September 2026; on January 3, 2026, it said he had won five major titles in 2025. The Short puts the line before December 2025.
Since then: he has been booed at some events since, including in Amsterdam in September 2026 (BBC Sport). The Short ends in January 2026 and doesn’t say the booing stopped.
Luke Littler and everyone named here are alive. Only results, major outlets’ reporting and his own published words are used, and every quote from him is from December 2025, when he was 18; nothing about his private life or his family, and no odds or prize money. Rob Cross and Gian van Veen are named only as his opponents.
Pictures: no free photo shows any World Championship match, in 2024, 2025 or 2026; every picture of those moments we found is agency, PDC or broadcast work, so none is used, and no photo of him from before he turned 18 is used. Luke Littler is seen at Premier League Darts nights at the Uber Arena in Berlin: on April 3, 2025, in a close portrait and throwing, and on March 26, 2026, in a close portrait, throwing, looking up and celebrating during his match with Michael van Gerwen. Luke Humphries is throwing in Berlin on April 3, 2025, and Michael van Gerwen on March 26, 2026, not in the world finals, and the dartboard with three darts is from Berlin on April 3, 2025 (all by Sandro Halank; a sponsor’s logo on the players’ shirts is pixelated). Alexandra Palace is seen from outside on March 15, 2025 (Robert-brook), and its darts hall during the 2016 World Championship, full for the semi-finals on January 3, 2016, and darkened on January 2, 2016 (two phone panoramas by dom fellowes, cropped, with banners in the back pixelated); those are 2016 crowds, not the crowds that jeered or cheered him.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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