Darts legend Keith Deller MBE says Luke Littler has delivered an “impact never seen before” in the sport but warned Nigel Farage that Britain’s pub crisis is “killing” the sport in grassroot levels.
“Five years ago we were talking about Michael van Gerwen all the time, and before that it was Phil Taylor,” he said.
“But now I’m here at the Worlds, and there are adults wearing Littler shirts. We expect youngsters to have them on but the impact he’s made has just never been done before.”
Mr Deller described the teenage sensation as “a breath of fresh air”, adding: “He’s very laid back, Nigel.
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"He doesn’t get uptight, doesn’t seem to practise too much, he’s like a machine, a genius really."
Nigel pressed Mr Deller on whether the sport is suffering as pubs and clubs across Britain shut their doors, with 200 businesses vowing to ban Labour MPs from their establishments.
“There’s so many youngsters taking it up the youth tournaments are ridiculous. How many kids now want to play darts because of Luke?” he said.
“But the problem is the pubs. In our day I’d do a hundred exhibitions in pubs. Now they’re all food pubs.”
Keith Deller tells Nigel Farage pub crisis is killing ' tradition of England'
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He warned the industry is receiving “no help from the Government at all”, saying closures are stripping away the very places where generations learned the sport.
“People would go, have a pint and a game of darts. That was a tradition of England and it’s gone,” he said.
With pubs no longer able to afford to book professional players, Mr Deller said much of his work is now in the corporate world.
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Luke Littler has captivated the world of darts
| GETTY"A lot of my work now is just corporate because the pubs and clubs, you know, can't afford to book the pros because they're not making the money.
"So no. On the other side, the youngsters now all these youth clubs around the country, I mean there's nine year old children there hitting nine dart perfect games.
"There was one young lad, I was told in the North West played in the local pub. He was, I think he was 13. He missed double 18 for a nine darter in the league match and then he hit it the following week."
The PDC World Darts Championship kicks off today at Alexandra Palace and it is set to be the biggest one yet.
For the first time ever, 128 players will compete at Ally Pally, up from the previous 96-strong field.
The prize pot has had a massive boost too, with the eventual winner taking home a cool £1million double what was on offer last year.
It is all thanks to a bumper new TV deal with Sky, reportedly worth £125million over five years.
Three weeks of darting drama await, running right through the festive period until the final on January 3.
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