Luke Littler’s dad made ruthless five-word comment when son was simply 12 that speaks volumes
Luke Littler recently became the youngest world darts champion in the sport’s history, and a cutting comment from his father a few years back offers a sign of how he got there
A ruthless five-word remark from his father may well have helped lead Luke Littler to becoming the youngest world champion in darts history.
On January 3, history was made when Littler, 17, destroyed Michael van Gerwen 7-3 to win his first PDC World Championship. It was another moment of history for the teenager, who had already won 10 PDC titles, including the Grand Slam of Darts and the Premier League.
While the new breed of darts fans may only be familiar with his performances over the last year, players and those who’ve closely follow the sport for some time may even have been aware of Littler when he was even younger.
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World No.11 Nathan Aspinall is one of those who faced Littler when he was barely old enough for secondary school. A five-word comment Littler’s father Anthony – a taxi driver by trade – made to him when Luke was just 12 years old is still ingrained in Aspinall’s mind.
In an interview with the Manchester is Red podcast, Aspinall – who Littler beat 5-2 in their quarter-final clash on route to his world title – revealed that Anthony gave Littler some firm criticism when they played each other five years back. Not impressed with what was said, the Asp told him to ease up on the then child. And it was at that moment, Anthony replied: “No, he has to learn.”
Elaborating further on the incident, Aspinall said: “The first time I came across Luke, I think it was in Chester in a tournament and I beat him 4-3. He was around 12 and wow, I just thought ‘who is the kid?’
“I remember seeing his dad with him and he was dead critical of him because he’d lost. I was thinking ‘mate, he’s 12!’ I was in the top 16 in the world at that time and I said ‘give him a break’.
“His dad said ‘no, he needs to learn’ – and that hard talk over the years has probably produced one of the best players in our sport. He’s amazing and what else can you say?”
Fast forward to the present day, dad Anthony and Littler’s mum Lisa watched on as the teenager swatted Van Gerwen aside to win the World Championship, 12 months after his heartbreak in the final against Luke Humphries on debut. After the match, the emotional family were seen on stage embracing Littler and posing for photographs with him and the trophy.
