Luke Littler hosts darts tournament for England stars at St George’s Park

Luke Littler hosts darts tournament for England stars at St George’s Park

Luke Littler has added a unique entry to his growing list of achievements — hosting a darts tournament for the England football squad at their St George’s Park training base, with Thomas Tuchel ordering his players to take their medicine.

The 19-year-old double world champion visited Tuchel’s group in Burton on Tuesday night as England assembled for their final training camp ahead of the summer World Cup, now just eleven weeks away. The squad is building towards pre-World Cup friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. Littler joined the players for dinner before overseeing the inaugural ‘Three Lions Darts Championship’ — and it was the German head coach who set the tone from the off.

“As they were warming up, Thomas Tuchel told me to teach these boys a lesson!” Littler revealed.

He duly obliged. Despite Phil Foden managing to hit a maximum 180 during the showdown, Newcastle goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale emerged victorious in the players’ competition, defeating the Manchester City man in the final to claim the title of camp champion.

Littler, who himself hails from the Manchester area, was complimentary about the pair — but less so about the rest of the squad. “There’s some good potential there in Phil Foden and Aaron Ramsdale. James Trafford had a little bit as well. The others not so much!” he said with characteristic bluntness.

For the Man United-supporting darts star, though, it was a visit that clearly meant as much to him personally as any oche he has stood on. “It was a dream as a football fan to come here to see the facilities, meet all the players and sit down and have dinner and have a laugh with them,” he said. “I wished the boys luck this summer — let’s hope they can bring it home.”

Ramsdale was equally enthusiastic about the experience, saying: “It was great to have Luke visit St George’s Park to meet the squad and wish us well.”

Littler presented the squad with a personalised “Good Luck” dartboard and a set of darts to mark the occasion. The gifts were matched with some warm gestures in return. He received a signed England shirt with the number 180 printed on the back. Jude Bellingham also gave him a signed jersey with the message “Keep smashing it” on the back. Jordan Pickford was among those asking for a signed shirt from the world champion.

Littler swapped shirts with Phil Foden, with both players hailing from the Manchester area.

It was a brief but memorable detour for Littler, who now turns his attention back to the oche. He travels to Berlin this week for the latest round of Premier League action, where he is looking to overhaul Jonny Clayton at the top of the table. The Warrington-born star moved to within three points of the league leader after his sensational comeback win over Gerwyn Price in last Thursday’s Dublin final — overturning a 5-0 deficit to win six straight legs and claim his second nightly victory of the season.

Whether England can emulate that kind of form at a World Cup remains to be seen. On Tuesday night at least, the Three Lions had a masterclass from the best in the business — and only one of them left with a trophy.