“He gets booed, nobody likes him here – so why should he come?”– German fans take Luke Littler to task amid obvious European Tour boycott

“He gets booed, nobody likes him here – so why should he come?” – German fans take Luke Littler to task amid obvious European Tour boycott

Luke Littler’s increasingly obvious snub of European Tour events on German soil has prompted a fresh wave of reaction from German fans and pundits — with opinions split between those who think the hostile treatment he receives there is fair enough, and those who believe he deserves far better.

The world number one doesn’t have the best relationship with the German fans and has chosen to skip the German Darts Grand Prix this Easter weekend in Munich. He has not played at a European Tour event in Germany since issues with the crowd last year, apart from the mandatory Premier League night in Berlin and the World Cup of Darts and European Championship in Frankfurt and Dortmund.

The bad blood between Littler and German crowds dates back to 2025, when he was booed throughout a Premier League night in Berlin before suffering a similar reception at the German Darts Grand Prix in Munich. After being knocked out of the Munich tournament by Gian van Veen in the semi-finals, Littler took to Instagram with a pointed message: “Shouldn’t have been in Munich but had to play anyway. Next one in Germany for me is Dortmund and I am glad to say that.”

Littler himself said he had “a little head loss moment” after the Munich exit. “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.”

The situation has split opinion within German darts. When Littler was booed in Berlin in April 2025, German Tour card holder and former European Tour winner Max Hopp — who was present as a TV pundit — was visibly taken aback by the reception. “I heard it too. He was interacting a lot with the crowd, making gestures and engaging with them. But I don’t understand why people would boo him. They should be thanking him! The fact that prize money is about to skyrocket is all because of him,” Hopp said.

Not everyone has been so sympathetic, however. Social media has seen German fans argue that if Littler dislikes the atmosphere and refuses to enter their events, he can hardly complain about the lack of warmth — a sentiment summed up by fans online who have essentially argued that if he won’t come, and gets booed when he does, the cycle is self-perpetuating.

Former Lakeside world champion Mark Webster has tried to put the situation in perspective. “He’s made it vocal he doesn’t like playing in Germany,” Webster said on the Love The Darts podcast. “You can’t be everyone’s favourite and he certainly is not a favourite in Germany.” Webster sees the hostility as a logical consequence of Littler’s status: “It’s part and parcel of the sport, isn’t it?” Webster also suggested the situation might actually work in Littler’s favour. “He knows how to use the crowd to fire himself up but he’ll love to put in a performance and get a third nightly win in front of a crowd where he generally gets a few jeers,” he said ahead of the Berlin Premier League night in March 2026 — where Littler duly beat Stephen Bunting and went on to claim his third nightly win of the season.

Luke Humphries, who has faced his own share of hostile receptions, offered a broader take on why it happens to players at the top. “The reason I’m surprised is because he’s done nothing wrong. But the reason I’m not surprised is because everybody wants to knock someone down that’s doing well, don’t they? That’s what happens in life. I think the reason why it’s been happening is because he’s not the underdog anymore. When you’re at the top, everyone wants to see you lose.”

For now, Littler has not entered a European Tour event in Germany since his problems with the crowd last year, and his absence from the German Grand Prix in Munich this weekend was confirmed well in advance. Whether that pattern changes remains to be seen — but with the European Championship in Dortmund pencilled in as his next planned German appearance later in the year, the uneasy relationship between the world’s best darts player and one of the sport’s most passionate national audiences shows no sign of resolution just yet.