Former Premier League darts champ reveals bizarre offer to buy rival’s iconic entrance music for massive sum

Former Premier League Darts Champ Reveals Bizarre Offer to Buy Rival’s Iconic Entrance Music for Massive Sum

It is one of the most electric moments in darts — five thousand fans belting out the opening chords of The Killers’ anthem as Nathan Aspinall strides to the oche. But it could so easily have belonged to someone else entirely. Jonny Clayton, the 2021 Premier League champion, has made the remarkable revelation that he desperately wanted Mr. Brightside as his own walk-on song — and has even approached Aspinall himself about it in a conversation that left both men in stitches.

The 50-year-old Welshman revealed on the Tops and Tales podcast that he originally had his eye on Mr. Brightside by The Killers — the hit that has since become inextricably linked to Nathan Aspinall. But fate, in the shape of his wife Ellen, had other ideas.

Clayton humorously said: “Well, right, you couldn’t believe this or not, but I think Ellen, my wife, has cost me thousands in the Premier League because the walk-on song I wanted was Mr. Brightside. Serious to God. So I blame Ellen. Yeah, it was Mr. Brightside, and she said, ‘No, I think something else. I don’t think that would be good.’ So it’s her fault.”

The consequences of that vetoed decision, Clayton believes, have been enormous. In darts, a walk-on song is far more than background music — it is a player’s identity, their brand, the thing that gets a crowd on its feet before a single dart has been thrown. Aspinall himself has admitted that Mr. Brightside is now part of the Premier League’s identity — not just his — and some rivals have openly suggested that his inclusion in the competition was partly down to the organisers not wanting to miss out on that famous singalong every week.

That is precisely the point Clayton is making. Had he walked out to it first, the Premier League wildcards and the crowd adoration that followed might have been his. Instead, he settled for Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode — a perfectly decent track, but hardly the kind that brings an entire arena to its feet in unison.

What makes the story even more brilliant is that Clayton could not keep his frustration to himself. He has told Aspinall directly about his feelings of regret, and Aspinall’s response was typically cheerful: “He just laughs. He goes, ‘Thank you, Ellen.'”

Clayton has tried to put a brave face on it. He has defended his own tune, saying: “It’s still iconic in its own way, you know. It’s got my name in it.” And there is something undeniably charming about a rock ‘n’ roll classic with your first name written into the chorus. But it is not Mr. Brightside, and deep down, ‘The Ferret’ knows it.

Aspinall himself has even admitted he has considered changing the song, but jested it would have consequences for his career — saying: “I can’t change Mr. Brightside because I won’t get invited to anything, no one’s ringing me for exhibitions without it!”

That is the measure of what Clayton missed out on. A song so powerful that even its owner feels locked into it forever — not by choice, but by the sheer weight of the atmosphere it creates. For Clayton, the Premier League title in 2021 remains the crowning achievement of his career. But somewhere, deep down, there will always be a small voice wondering what might have been — if only Ellen had said yes.