On June 21, 2025, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, the world’s top two ranked darts players, received a second wave of criticism following their shock 8-4 defeat to Germany’s Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko in the second round of the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, per Daily Mail. Welsh star Gerwyn Price initially sparked the row by slamming their “rubbish” performance, attributing England’s exit to a lack of team unity, noting they “didn’t turn up together, didn’t sit together, didn’t play as a team,” per Daily Mail. Price’s comments, echoed by teammate Jonny Clayton’s teasing remark, “I thought you weren’t going to say who they were!” at a press conference, fueled the controversy, per @OfficialOLDarts.
Darts legend Dennis Priestley escalated the criticism, accusing the duo of “letting their country down” and questioning their recent MBEs, arguing they “haven’t done enough” with only one World Championship each, per GB News. Priestley emphasized their lack of preparation, contrasting it with his own partnership with Phil Taylor, where they practiced and sat together, losing only once, per GB News. Littler hit back on Instagram, later deleting the post, claiming he’d “done more in 12 months than [Priestley] ever did,” while Humphries took a calmer approach on X, calling Priestley’s remarks “damaging” and noting his 2024 World Cup win with Michael Smith, per The Mirror. Rob Cross defended them, arguing their MBE recognition benefits darts and dismissing pressure-related critiques, per GB News. X posts, like @Oche180, amplified the debate, reflecting mixed fan sentiment, per.
