Nathan Aspinall used to ply his trade in a different sport before he started playing darts with football his calling and in particular playing for Manchester United's academy.
"I was at the Manchester United goalkeeping academy for six or seven years. When I was younger so about nine or ten, I got offered a contract for (Glasgow) Rangers but the family had to move to Scotland and obviously nine or ten, that was a big move, a big decision. Obviously I was still in school so we decided not to," said Aspinall to PDC commentator Dan Dawson.
"I wasn't tall enough, when I was at the academy, we all had height tests to see in five or six years time the prediction of how tall you're going to be and I wasn't going to be over six foot so you kind of get put to the bottom of the pile."
From there, he transitioned to darts but as a result he was a late bloomer in the sport.
"I didn't start playing till seventeen, I didn't even know what darts was. My dad and my grandad played but it never really interested me because I was always out playing football. When I knew my football career wasn't going to go how I thought it was going to go, I thought I'll give darts a go."
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 🔍
Dan Dawson sits down with Nathan Aspinall to chat about his days in the Manchester United Academy, terrible Magaluf tattoos and his love for golfing, as he answers the web's most searched questions about him...