“At the front you've got the Lionesses, and at the back you've got the dart players” – Nathan Aspinall recalls crazy flight to Ibiza for stag do

The stag do of Nathan Aspinall delivered not only sun, sea, and a hefty dose of fun, but also a striking encounter with several England football stars. The English darter unexpectedly found himself next to Ella Toone and multiple Lionesses during his stay in Ibiza, who were on the island for a bachelorette party for the Manchester United midfielder.

Aspinall headed to the Spanish party island with fellow darters Joe Cullen, Chris Dobey, and Ross Smith to celebrate his upcoming wedding to fiancée Kirsty. What started as a typical lads’ weekend, however, took a surprising turn already at the airport.

"It was mental,” Aspinall told the Daily Star. “We turned up on the Thursday at the airport and I had a wedding dress on and she had a Manchester City kit on. I've met her before and we kind of walked past each other and I kind of went, 'Hello', she went, 'Nathan', and that was kind of it."

It didn’t end there. Both groups turned out to be on the exact same flight to Ibiza. “So you imagine at the front you've got all the Lionesses and at the back you've got all the dart players. People in the middle of us must be thinking, 'What f****** plane are we on?!'” joked the former major winner.

Once in Ibiza, the coincidences kept coming. During a chat at the airport, both parties discovered they would be heading to the same beach club later that day: the popular O Beach Ibiza, owned by Wayne Lineker.

As if it were meant to be, the reserved sunbeds for both groups also turned out to be right next to each other. “The stars aligned,” laughed Aspinall. “They were on the beds next to us. Whether they got the tickets off the same person I did, I don't know! We spent a couple of hours with them in the afternoon and they were all fantastic."

Among the footballers present were former goalkeeper Mary Earps and striker Alessia Russo, who took on the role of master of ceremonies during Toone’s bachelorette party. According to Aspinall, the groups hit it off immediately. “Mary Earps, I met Mary, what a lovely woman she was, Russo was there too. There were a few of them."

Although darters and international footballers usually operate in completely different worlds, a shared passion for elite sport proved more than enough to connect. “Just great fun and we enjoyed their company as much as they enjoyed ours.”

Naturally, the Englishman couldn’t resist ending with a wink. “It was crazy, but they enjoyed their weekend, probably not as much as we did!”

For Aspinall, the trip was a welcome break in a packed darts season. The former UK Open champion remains a mainstay on the PDC Tour and uses the summer to carve out time for his private life alongside the sport. With his wedding on the horizon, a stag weekend with close friends was a logical moment to step back from a hectic match schedule.

The fact that the weekend also produced an unexpected meeting with some of England’s best-known footballers only made the trip more memorable. Sometimes the best stories can’t be planned and simply emerge from a remarkable coincidence.