One local admitted he laughed when he saw the amount of people visiting
Billy and Lee Wingfield with a dart board they purchased from the shop yesterday(Image: CHRIS NEILL)
Dozens of Luke Littler fans queued down the road to visit the small Merseyside darts shop which helped shape his career. The 17 year-old from Warrington will face Michael van Gerwen in the final of PDC World Darts Championships final this evening.
Luke reached the final after defeating Fazakerley-born Stephen Bunting 6-1 in the semi-final last night. It comes just a year after his sensational rise from obscurity to the final of the 2024 championships, where he was defeated by Luke Humphries.
The St Helens Darts Shop, which sells the same darts he uses, is located on Folds Lane in the Haresfinch area, and Luke used to be a frequent visitor. He also trained at the St Helens Darts Academy.
Both the shop and academy are run by Karl Holden, who has witnessed Luke’s rise to the very top. Speaking to the ECHO this morning, Karl, 55, said: “Everyone’s proud of what he’s done. He’s such a young lad.
Karl Holden from the St Helens Darts Shop(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“He keeps pushing the boundaries. I know the entire committee and darts academy are more than 100% behind him. We’re having a huge darts party tonight for the final.”
Karl adds that Luke has inspired a new generation of darts players, revealing they will be opening a bigger shop in St Helens town centre soon as the shop fights to keep up with demand. He said: “We’re past capacity and have loads more queries. The shop is struggling (to meet demand) and that’s not going to stop.”
This was seen yesterday, when fans queued down the road ahead of the semi-final to get their hands on darts and dart boards. The Mirror spoke to some of those visiting the now famous darts shop.
Lee Wingfield had just bought a dartboard for son Billy, 13. He said: “We’ve been watching the darts and it’s good to see a local lad doing so well… two local lads doing so well.”
St Helens Darts Shop in St Helens(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Also in the shop were Gavin and Gaynor Henderson, looking for a new set of darts. He said: “We love watching the darts every year, we only live down the road so we thought we’d pop to the shop.
“When we came round the corner I had to laugh at the number of people queuing up outside a darts shop. It shows how the game is getting bigger and bigger.”
Karl insists that, whatever the result, people should expect an entertaining game. He said: “Luke’s already won the Premier League Darts earlier this year which is the hardest to win.
“Only the best players do it and he beat Luke Humphries in the final. Van Gerwen is going to be well up for this. I do believe one set is just going to twist the game. Luke may jump all over it but he might not. I’m not expecting a poor quality game.
“Van Gerwen has been one of the best, if not the best, for the last 10 years. It’s going to be hard work for Luke but everyone’s looking forward to it. These are the two best players in the world.”