Oh, Luke Littler, what have you done? The boy genius didn’t merely get to the final of the World Darts Championship and pocket £200,000, he also inspired an explosion of interest from the world’s worst fans. The same appalling people who almost ruined football 30 years ago have come to ruin the only truly working-class sport left.
If you ask most Londoners which part of town will be the last to resist gentrification, the answer will invariably be Tottenham. Darts is the Tottenham of sport. But now even darts is under threat from the chattering classes entranced by the success of a 16-year-old who looks old enough to be his own father. Every Tom, Dick and Tristan will be chanting that bloody awful song they play in the ad breaks.
