Littler is the youngest player to hit a televised nine-dart finish, which he achieved at the 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters, aged 16. He is also the youngest player to hit a recorded nine-darter, having achieved the feat in 2021 at age 14. Named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and finishing as runner-up for BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2024, his rise to prominence at age 16 led to an increased British interest in the sport, a phenomenon dubbed "Littlermania" or the "Littler effect". Littler has been noted for his scoring power, hitting a large number of maximum 180 scores, as well as his proficiency on the double 10 section of the board's outer ring.
Early life
Luke Littler was born on 21 January 2007 at Warrington Hospital.[3][4][5][a] He is the son of taxi driver Anthony Buckley and candle shop worker Lisa Littler.[9][10] Littler spent his early childhood in Runcorn before moving back to Warrington at the age of six.[11][12] He has two brothers and a sister.[13] He began playing darts when he was 18 months old after his father bought him a magnetic dart board from a pound shop.[14] He has claimed that he scored his first 180 at the age of six and a nine-dart finish at the age of 13.[15] When he was 10, he joined the St Helens Darts Academy and began playing in under-21 leagues.[16] He was educated at Padgate Academy in Warrington.[17]
Career
Early career
In 2019, Littler won the England Youth Grand Prix and the Isle of Man Masters youth competition, where he was able to defend his title in 2020. The 2020 JDC Tour featured two titles from Littler, with him later winning three titles on the JDC Advanced Tour in 2021.[18] Littler won the youth title at the England Open in September 2021 and finished second in the British Pentathlon.
In November 2021, Littler won his first seniors title at the Irish Open defeating Barry Copeland 6–2 in legs. This qualified Littler for the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, at the age of 14.[19] At the end of November, during the JDC MVG Masters tournament, he hit a nine-dart finish, becoming the youngest player to be recorded achieving the perfect leg.[20][21]
2022: WDF World Championship debut
Littler won the JDC Super 16 in Milton Keynes at the end of January 2022, beating Eleanor Cairns in the final.[22] In March 2022, he won the youth competition at the Isle Of Man Open and advanced to the finals of the Isle of Man Classic.[23] At the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, Littler started as a seeded player from the second round and won his first match against Ben Hazel 3–2 in sets, becoming the youngest player to win a match at a senior darts world championship.[24][25][26] He was then beaten 3–0 in sets by Richard Veenstra, who set a record three-dart average for a World Championship match at the Lakeside.[27]
During the Welsh Open warm-up tournament, Littler hit a 121.86 average in one of his matches.[28] A day later, he won the final for another senior tournament win in his career. In June 2022, he also won the Romanian Classic, beating Jelle Klaasen in the final by 5–1 in legs. At the 2022 WDF Europe Cup Youth, he won the gold medal in three men's competitions (singles, team and overall). His best achievement was defeating Archie Self in the finals of the singles competition, 6–1 in legs. In the pair competition, together with Archie Self, he lost in the semi-finals, 4–1 in legs to Thomas Banks and Charlie Manby.[29]
At the end of September 2022, Littler was selected by the national federation to participate in the 2022 WDF Europe Cup. On the second day of the tournament, he advanced to the quarter-finals of the pairs competition where he played alongside James Hurrell. They lost to Sam Canket and Nick Kenny from Wales, 4–1 in legs.[30] On the third day of the tournament, he advanced to the quarter-finals of the singles competition, where he lost to Andy Baetens 5–4 in legs.[31] In the team competition, he won the gold medal.[32] In the points classification, as a representative of England, he contributed to winning a gold medal.
Littler made his debut at a PDC major event at the 2023 UK Open, qualifying for the tournament via an amateur qualifying event organised by Rileys.[37] He reached the fourth round alongside fellow Rileys qualifier Thomas Banks, where he lost to eventual semi-finalist Adam Gawlas 10–8.[38][39]
In May 2023, Littler won the third season of the MODUS Super Series, defeating Jacob Taylor 4–1 in legs in the final.[40] In August 2023, he won the fourth season of the MODUS Super Series, defeating Colin Osborne 4–2 in the final.[41]
Littler competed in the 2023 PDC Development Tour series. He won event three – defeating Jurjen van der Velde 5–1 in the final, event five – defeating Kevin Troppmann 5–3 in the final,[42] and event sixteen – defeating Bradly Roes 5–2 in the final.[43] He also won event twenty, where he hit a nine-dart finish in his last 16 win against Rune van Damme and defeated Gian van Veen 5–4 in the final.[44] He won his fifth Development Tour title at event 24, defeating Cam Crabtree 5–1 in the final. Littler finished second on the 2023 Development Tour Order of Merit behind Gian van Veen.[45][46]
Littler made his World Series debut at the Bahrain Darts Masters.[61] He hit his first televised nine-dart finish in his quarter-final win against Nathan Aspinall, becoming the youngest player to do so.[62][63] He won 8–5 against Michael van Gerwen in the final to capture his first PDC senior title.[64] A week later, he made another World Series final at the Dutch Darts Masters but lost to Van Gerwen 8–6.[65] Competing in the Premier League for the first time,[66] Littler achieved his first nightly win of the competition on night nine in Belfast by defeating Nathan Aspinall 6–4 in the final.[67] He ended the league phase with four nightly wins to top the table.[68][69] Littler was matched up against fourth-placed Michael Smith in the semi-finals of the play-offs,[69] winning 10–5 to progress to the Premier League final. After hitting a nine-darter in the 11th leg of the match, he defeated Luke Humphries 11–7 to win his first major title, becoming the youngest player to win a PDC major tournament.[70][71]
Littler entered the second round of the 2025 World Championship as the fourth seed,[85][86] where he defeated Ryan Meikle 3–1 in sets. He broke the record for the highest set average in a World Championship match by averaging 140.91 in the fourth and final set, missing double 12 for a nine-darter in the second leg of the set.[87][88] Littler reached the final by defeating Meikle, Ian White, Ryan Joyce, Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting.[89] In the final on 3 January 2025, he defeated three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen 7–3 in sets. Aged 17 years and 347 days,[90] Littler became the youngest world champion in darts history, breaking Jelle Klaasen's record from when he won the 2006 BDO World Championship at age 21.[91] He was also seven years younger than Van Gerwen when he won his first world title in 2014 at age 24.[89][92] Littler's win saw him earn the £500,000 top prize and surpass Van Gerwen on the PDC Order of Merit to become the world number two, behind Luke Humphries.[93] He also won the 'Ballon d'Art' trophy for the most 180s scored in the World Championship.[92]
In March, after wins over Gian van Veen in the quarter-finals and Jonny Clayton in the semi-finals, Littler won the UK Open for the first time; he defeated James Wade 11–2 in the final.[94] At the Belgian Darts Open, he retained the title he won in 2024 by defeating Belgium's Mike De Decker 8–5 in the final – his third European Tour title.[95] On night seven of the 2025 Premier League, Littler hit his third televised nine-dart finish in the final against Michael van Gerwen before winning the match 6–4.[96] He became the first player to record five nightly wins in a single Premier League season after his victory on night 13.[97] He extended this record to six wins on night 16 and finished the league stage on 45 points – the highest amount of points earned in a Premier League season.[98] On Finals Night on 29 May, he defeated Gerwyn Price 10–7 in the semi-finals and progressed to the final where he played Luke Humphries in a rematch of the 2024 final. However, Littler was unable to defend his title as he lost 11–8 to Humphries.[99] He partnered Humphries for the first time at the World Cup of Darts and the England duo were considered favourites to win the title, but they were defeated 8–4 by Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko of Germany in the second round.[100]
At the World Matchplay, Littler hit a nine-dart finish in his semi-final match against Josh Rock.[101] In a repeat of their UK Open meeting, Littler defeated James Wade 18–13 in the final to win the World Matchplay for the first time. He also became the fifth player to complete the so-called PDC Triple Crown by winning the World Matchplay, the World Championship and the Premier League.[102] He followed this victory by winning back-to-back World Series titles in Australia and New Zealand,[103][104] as well as a second European Tour title of the year at the Flanders Darts Trophy.[105]
Playing style
Littler has been noted for his heavy scoring during matches, frequently hitting the maximum score of 180.[106] Using darts manufactured by Target with characteristically long 45mm points,[107] Littler plays at a quick pace[106] and is known for his efficiency in checking out on the double 10 segment.[108][109][110]
In popular culture
Impact on darts
"Darts has gone crazy. You wouldn't believe the difference since young Luke came along."
— 16-time darts world champion Phil Taylor on Littler in 2025[111]
Following Littler's unexpected run to the final at the 2024 PDC World Championship, an unprecedented number of new fans began to both play and watch darts,[112][113][114][115] and a record high of 3.7 million viewers watched the 2024 world final.[116][117] The president of the Professional Darts Corporation, Barry Hearn, attributed this phenomenon to Littler's success and described it as "Littlermania",[118] while others have dubbed it the "[Luke] Littler effect".[119][120][121]
In March 2024, he made an appearance on the 232nd episode of The Jonathan Ross Show alongside Rob Beckett, Millie Bobby Brown, Liam Gallagher, Raye, and John Squire.[133] He was involved in a darts challenge where he played against Beckett, Brown, and Raye in a three-on-one scoring challenge.[134] The three scored a total of 83, while Littler hit a score of 140.[135] The clip went viral after viewers of the show were amused by his nonchalant reaction to Brown admitting to being a huge fan of him.[136] That same month, he made an appearance on Fantasy Football League alongside Stuart Broad.[137][138] He appeared in the darts-themed game show Bullseye's 2024 Christmas special.[139]
In February 2024, Littler signed a deal with fashion brand BoohooMAN to allow him to help promote the Motor Neurone Disease Association,[142] and signed a multi-year professional contract with Target Darts.[143]
Personal life
As Littler rose to public prominence during the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship, he was dating Eloise Milburn, who played darts on the PDC Women's Series in 2023 and 2024.[144] They were criticised for their age difference, as he was 16 and she was 21 at the time.[145] Milburn received abuse online and was called a "gold digger"; her mother defended her, saying she was "very angry" about the "horrible stuff being posted online about my daughter.”[146][147][148] Littler told The Daily Telegraph that he would "stick with [Milburn] whether people like it or not".[149] However, he ended the relationship in July 2024.[150]
Littler is friends with Twitch streamer and YouTuber Morgan Burtwistle, better known as Angryginge. Littler has been seen in many livestreams and videos on Burtwistle's channel, where he plays football and EA Sports FC.[154] On 7 February 2025, Littler played Burtwistle on livestream in a game of darts, where he won against Burtwistle, 3–2.[155]
In February 2025, Littler was made an honorary citizen of his hometown Warrington by Warrington Borough Council at a ceremony at the Parr Hall to recognise his contribution to the borough and his "outstanding achievements" in the sport of darts. Littler described the accolade as "a real honour".[156]
↑ Before the start of the 2023 WDF World Championship Littler had to choose between playing in the former or the 2024 PDC World Championship. He choose the latter.
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