Luke Littler believes the hostile reception he’s received from darts fans in Germany is due to his nationality. The 18-year-old, who currently leads the Premier League Darts standings by six points, faced boos during his appearance in Berlin last week, recalling similar treatment in Hildesheim on the European Tour.
Despite a smooth walk-on in Berlin, Littler said the jeering began as soon as he stepped on stage. He went on to lose 6-2 to Chris Dobey—an uncharacteristic quarter-final defeat for the in-form world champion.
Speaking to Oche180, Littler said:
“I had a little headloss moment, as some of us players do. I just don’t get it and I can’t explain it. Obviously, you do your walk-on but then as soon as I got on stage, I started getting booed.
I got booed in Hildesheim last year against Peter Wright on the European Tour. I was flying, and then they started booing me—and I lost. Even when I went one-nil up, they still didn’t like it. He then went 5-1 up… yeah, one of those moments.”
He added that certain players seem to receive more flak than others, stating:
“It’s something we’ve all got to deal with. For myself, there are certain people in the crowd who aim it at certain players. Me and Luke Humphries, we get it quite a lot. Obviously, the Germans mustn’t like us English.”
Littler typically enjoys strong support from UK fans, though he’s also faced jeers in cities like Liverpool due to his outspoken support for Manchester United. He was similarly booed in Newcastle ahead of his match against Stephen Bunting on night eight of the Premier League.
In that instance, Littler responded by cheekily pointing to his ear—and then let his darts do the talking, cruising to a 6-0 win over Bunting. He followed that with victories over Rob Cross and Luke Humphries, claiming his fourth nightly win in the tournament.
Littler has recently made headlines for scaling back his schedule to manage his workload. He skipped the last two European Tour events and has admitted to practicing very little during the season.
With a commanding lead in the standings, the young star is a strong favorite to reach the Premier League play-offs again in May—and potentially complete a rare World Championship and Premier League double.
