Sky Sports Darts’ Mark Webster believes Luke Littler will not walk away from darts over crowd treatment, adding the PDC are determined to rid the sport of whistling but that boos will always remain.
Littler’s bid for a clean sweep of all major PDC titles in 2026 was ended on Sunday after a crushing 10-4 defeat to Jonny Clayton in the last eight at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam, but the main talking point coming out of the event was Littler’s continued fractious relationship with darts fans.
Indeed, earlier in the tournament Littler threatened to boycott tournaments in the Netherlands after being booed and whistled at during victory over Nathan Aspinall.
The back-to-back world champion also faced a hostile environment during Friday’s win over home favourite Danny Noppert and it escalated on Saturday night as referee Charlie Corstorphine had to intervene in the last-16 win over Aspinall.
Littler has taken a stance against volatile crowds before, refusing to travel to European Tour events in Germany as a result of his treatment from fans there, but Webster does not believe Littler will leave the sport entirely over it.
“No, I don’t think he’s [Littler] going to walk away from the sport over this,” Sky Sports Darts’ Webster said.
“He was obviously very upset about how he was treated in the Netherlands at the weekend, but some of the opponents he played – a home favourite in Danny Noppert – he was going to get some rough treatment there.
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“I’m not saying it’s right, and the whistling, I know they’re trying to take it out of the game.
“The booing, they won’t be able to stop, but the whistling is something that’s a bugbear to a lot of players at the minute. The PDC are trying to get rid of it.
“I spoke to a few of the security guys who are experimenting with stuff within the crowd, but obviously it got on top of Luke Littler this weekend.
“He was saying after games he wasn’t happy with the treatment he got. I don’t like saying it, but a lot of the booing is part of the game now.
“He kind of has drawn attention to it by speaking about it.
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“The whistling is annoying, and I think it’s a bit sharper when the players are throwing and it puts them off. A constant boo, I think players can deal with. Luke has dealt with it in the past, and I’m sure he’ll be okay.
“If he chooses to miss events in the Netherlands, that’s his prerogative. There is a Premier League night there, which I think he’ll play, but the European Tour, there’s 15 events during the year. He doesn’t really need to go to the Netherlands, so he can cherry-pick there.
“So if he does decide to boycott, he can still plan out his year, really.
“He’s got a long time left in the sport. I don’t think he’ll leave the sport as early as people make out.
“He loves playing darts and he’s brilliant at it, so I think he’ll just bounce back. He’ll get some more rough treatment and he’ll try and deal with it the way he has done the majority of the time, and just win games and win tournaments. He was a little bit hurt at the weekend.”
‘Littler is the main draw in darts – he’ll bounce back’
Webster added that Littler remains the main face of darts after the 19-year-old’s incredible achievements over recent years.
“We’re still in this boom on the back of what he [Littler] did,” he said.
“There’s other players, but he is the main draw. After that run to the World Championships final on debut, and he’s backed up by winning back-to-back World Championships. People buy a ticket to watch him. They may boo him, they may whistle when he throws.
“He’s the best player in the world, and we’ve got this sort of culture in our country where the best players receive a bit of rough treatment. They want them knocked off their perch.
“He gets fired up himself, and I’m sure he’ll bounce back in the right way at the Grand Prix in Leicester.
Littler’s performance was purely down to ‘pressure’, according to Raymond van Barneveld
“It’s easy to forget he’s 19 because he’s been around since he was 16, and he’s done a lot in those three years. We’re already talking about sort of holding every major. As good as he is, that’s always going to be difficult.
“I don’t think he should be too hard on himself about the weekend, he was beaten by the better man in Jonny. He acknowledged that. He was just a bit disappointed with the crowd.
“I fully expect him to win a few of the majors remaining. I think the European Championships will be a massive priority for him, because then he’s ticked every box.
“And then obviously go on to Ally Pally and try and retain that, keep the streak going, and just keep cementing his place at world No 1.
“He’s going to come away with some more major titles, that’s for sure. I think these tournaments kind of favour him in terms of longer formats.
“Who’s going to compete in there? It’s going to be tough, but it’s up to the other players and to see where his hunger is at in a minute.”
What next for Littler?
Littler can still sweep the ranking events in 2026 – the World Series Finals, like the World Cup and Premier League, is non-ranked – if he wins the remaining four majors in Leicester, Dortmund, Wolverhampton and Minehead this autumn.
‘The Nuke’ has withdrawn from two Players Championship events in the Netherlands less than 24 hours after his bid for a PDC majors title clean sweep was dashed.
The teenager – currently £16,750 adrift of the final qualification spot – had hinted he may not try to reach the Players Championship Finals should his hopes of a major sweep end in the Netherlands.
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