“He will either get used to it or he’ll walk away from it” - Phil Taylor shares Luke Littler concern after emotional Premier League breakdown

Phil Taylor has admitted he “felt for” Luke Littler after the 19-year-old broke down in tears following his Premier League Darts triumph, warning that the abuse and hostility around the sport can eventually push even the very best players to the edge.

Littler reclaimed the Premier League title in dramatic fashion at the O2 Arena, beating Luke Humphries 11-10 in one of the highest-quality finals the competition has ever seen. The world number one averaged 111.67, hit 14 maximums and sealed the title on tops in a deciding leg, but his post-match interview quickly became one of the biggest talking points of the night.

Speaking on stage after the win, Littler became too emotional to continue as the strain of a 17-week campaign came out in front of the London crowd. Humphries, the defending champion he had just beaten, crossed the stage to embrace him.

For Taylor, who spent decades carrying the pressure of being darts’ dominant force, the moment was easy to understand. “I felt for him. I felt sorry for him. It’s not nice,” Taylor told talkSPORT. “When you’re up there and people are calling you all the names under the sun, it is abuse. It’s not right. We’re there to entertain.”

Taylor’s own career brought 16 world titles and a level of dominance the sport may never see again, but that success came with its own cost. As his winning continued, the reaction around him changed, and the former world number one admitted he was ready to leave by the end.

“I was glad to get away from darts in the end,” he said. “I was 58 years old and I’d had enough. Barry said, ‘Do you want another couple of years?’ I said, ‘No, Barry, I’ve had enough now.’ I wanted to have a peaceful life. It’s great now because it’s nice and peaceful. I love my life now.”

Taylor made clear that money and success do not make players immune to repeated abuse from crowds. “When you’re up there week in and week out, it is hard to shake off people calling you obscenities,” he continued. “I know you’re getting well paid for it, but it still affects you up here.”

Littler’s Premier League campaign brought more than just brilliant darts. After a difficult start to the season, he recovered to finish top of the table and then beat Gerwyn Price and Humphries on Finals Night. Along the way, the Manchester flashpoint with Gian van Veen changed the tone around him, with hostility following him through later weeks of the competition.

Taylor believes that pressure now becomes part of the challenge facing Littler. “Be careful what you wish for, because every silver cloud has a little bit of a grey lining with it,” he said. “It is just something now that he has got to get used to. He will either get used to it or he’ll walk away from it.”

Taylor also knows how quickly crowds can turn when a player keeps winning. He believes Littler has the ability to bring hostile crowds back onside the only way elite darts players can: by overwhelming them with his level.

“What you’ve got to do is turn the crowd back by playing well,” Taylor explained. “If you’re not playing so well, they will boo you and shout obscenities at you. But you’ve got to do the 180s, the 140s and the big finishes, and then they come back around. Luke Littler has got the ability to do that.”

Even so, Taylor stressed that darts can be a brutal place when things are going against a player. Unlike team sports, there is nowhere to hide and nobody to cover for you once the walk-on ends.

“It is difficult when you’re playing and you’ve got nobody to help you,” he said. “It’s not like football, where you can say to Rooney, ‘Watch my back a little bit because I’m struggling.’ You’re there on your own. It’s a lonely world up there sometimes. It’s exactly the same as boxing. Nobody can help you, only yourself.”

Taylor still sees Littler as a rare talent, even by the standards of darts’ greatest champions. He occasionally speaks with Littler and his family, though he joked that the teenager is not always the easiest player to reach.

“I chat with Luke now and again. I have more to do with his parents, to be honest,” Taylor said. “Me and Luke, he isn’t really a phone person. If you phoned him, he probably wouldn’t even answer the phone anyway. He’s very quiet. He doesn’t bother with anybody. He goes in the practice room, he drinks pop, he doesn’t drink any alcohol at all, and he just keeps himself to himself.”

One recent exhibition appearance left Taylor especially struck by how naturally Littler seems to operate at elite level. At Chester Races, Littler was due to face Humphries, but Taylor noticed he had barely prepared in the way he himself would have done.

“The last time I was with him was at Chester Races and he was playing Luke Humphries,” Taylor recalled. “I was doing a meet and greet there and he hadn’t thrown a dart. I said, ‘Are you going to practise?’ He went, ‘Nah, not bothered.’ And he beat Luke Humphries 8-1. I don’t know how he did it.”

For Taylor, that only reinforced how different Littler’s gifts are. “Honestly, as soon as I walked through the door, my darts went out and I was practising. I couldn’t do what he did,” he said. “Whatever he’s doing, I’d just keep doing it. Maybe practise a little bit more, but he has got a talent, an unbelievable talent.”

Taylor’s final concern was not about Littler’s ability, but about keeping him in the sport long enough to see where that ability can take him. “It would be a shame if we did lose him because he is putting darts right back on the map again,” he said.

For now, Littler’s latest Premier League title has only strengthened his grip on the sport, but Taylor’s warning is clear: darts must look after the teenager behind the trophies as carefully as it celebrates the talent producing them.