REELING IN THE BIG FISH
Whether it’s Robbie Savage being serenaded by the braying, lagered-up hordes at Ally Pally, assorted players in Gareth Southgate’s squad stepping up to take on members of the England press pack at major tournaments or Steve Sidwell repeatedly running scared of comedy’s Tim Vine in the as-yet-unplayed Talksport Warm-up Pandemic Trust Darts final, the worlds of football and the arrows have been known to collide. During the world championships, Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale spotted Luke Littler in a London hotel and asked him for a selfie, while more recently the tungsten-toting teenager was invited to Manchester United’s training ground to wipe the floor with Christian Eriksen and Harry Maguire. In the finest tradition of the sport, their games were played in the very best of order ladies and gentlemen, with a level of mutual respect on show that called to mind that clip from the 1980s in which Jocky Wilson pauses between sets to light his opponent Cliff Lazarenko’s tab.
