“I just don’t want to do it anymore” - Luke Littler revisits Premier League abuse that almost pushed him to darts break

Luke Littler has spent 2026 collecting titles at a ruthless pace, but New York still offers one piece of unfinished business.

The world number one returns to Madison Square Garden for the US Darts Masters as reigning world champion, Premier League champion and World Cup winner alongside Luke Humphries. He also arrives having revisited the darker side of that Premier League run, when the booing and whistling left him close to taking a break from darts before he answered with another title.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani ahead of the US Darts Masters, Littler summed up the last two years of his life with typical understatement. “Yeah, I think I’m the same person, just with the added two World Championship trophies and also the World Cup that I just won with Luke Humphries for Team England,” he said. “Other than that, yeah, same old life. Busy travelling, and we’re in New York again.”

Helwani also reminded him of the Premier League title, another trophy in a year that has already pushed Littler further clear at the top of the sport. For all that, one major World Series stop still remains outside his collection. “Premier League title, yeah,” Littler replied. “A lot’s happened, but obviously when I come to New York, I want to win this title and yeah, I’ve not won it yet.”

Littler’s New York title chase comes after a Premier League campaign that ended with an 11-10 win over Humphries in the final in London. The trophy lift came at the end of a spell in which the teenager repeatedly found himself targeted by sections of the crowd.

He had already shown the emotional strain after that Premier League final. In New York, Littler returned to the period and explained how close it had come to forcing a break.

Asked about the hostility he faced, Littler said the run from January through to the Premier League had been “crazy”. “I think it’s one of the things, and I said it against Rob Cross,” he said. “I said it after the game: what’s the point in paying money for tickets and then coming to boo me and put me off, whistle, when I’m trying to win games? That was from January up until the Premier League. It was crazy.”

Littler said those closest to him helped him handle the situation, with the advice centred on when to respond to the crowd rather than whether to do so at all. “I think it was more my manager and sponsors just sitting down and saying if you want to celebrate against the fans, do it after you win,” he explained. “Don’t do it during the game.”

Responding too early, Littler admitted, risked giving the crowd another route into the match. “If you go one up and you start giving it to the fans, then they’ll just get on your back the whole way through,” he said.

Littler’s emotion after the Premier League final already gave that campaign a raw edge, but his Helwani appearance put the strain back in focus before the US Darts Masters. He said there were nights during the tournament when the booing and whistling left him questioning whether he wanted to continue.

“Like I said on stage, a few nights I was just sat in bed with Faith, my girlfriend, and I was just like, I just don’t want to do it anymore,” Littler said. “I just can’t be bothered with the fans booing me when I’m just trying to do my job, trying to win titles. But like I said, surpassed it, got past it, won the Premier League, and now I’m here in New York.”

Asked how close he had come to taking a break, Littler did not dress up the answer. “I was very close. Very close,” he said. “Because it was just week in, week out of constant fans whistling, booing. It doesn’t only get to me. It gets to everyone when there’s whistling. Like I said, people are obviously coming from work, paying their money, and you’re just whistling. It’s not really nice to do, is it?”

The Premier League table eventually turned in Littler’s favour. After a difficult early phase, he surged into the play-off race, collected nightly wins and then beat Humphries on finals night.

“Obviously it wasn’t the best to start,” Littler said. “I think after the first three or four weeks, I was maybe sixth. I think I was bottom at one point maybe, and yeah, that wasn’t helping. But once I found my form, I won loads of nightly wins and went to London and won it.”

That title also changed his own feeling around the idea of stepping away. “Just to get that winning feeling back and obviously to let everyone know that I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m here to win titles, and I’ve won every title this year so far.”

Asked whether he still wanted a break, Littler replied: “No, not really.” When Helwani asked if it was out of his system, he said: “It’s out of my system.”

The US Darts Masters now moves the focus back to the board. Littler has already won a World Series title this year in Saudi Arabia, but the New York crown has so far escaped him.

The setting also gives him a different kind of attention. In Britain, recognition now follows him almost everywhere. In the United States, there is still more room to move. “It’s nice,” he said. “It’s nice just to be able to walk, do some shopping, go to the shops.”

Littler said he had been spotted in New York, although mostly by British fans, and pointed to the demand around this year’s event at Madison Square Garden. “In New York, I think I’ve been spotted a few times, but by the English,” he said. “The Americans don’t really know. But I think tomorrow is sold out at Madison Square Garden and Friday is almost there.”

The crowd culture is still different too. Asked about the gap between American and British darts audiences, Littler gave a blunt assessment. “I’d say there’s a difference,” he said. “I’d say we’re a lot better.”

Pressed on that, he pointed to the chanting culture around British darts crowds, particularly the travelling Scottish support. “The British are better at the chanting and stuff like that,” he said. “Have you seen the Scottish around Boston? Unbelievable. I think the Americans can work on it.”

Littler still sees room for darts to grow in the United States. With boxing and UFC already established as major live-event attractions, he believes the PDC’s American project has space to keep building.

“I think we’re into our fourth year now,” Littler said of the New York event. “It’s my third year here. Obviously Barry for Matchroom and Matchroom themselves want to try and get it big out here because boxing’s big out here, UFC is really big out here. I think darts could be the next thing.”

For Littler, that push now comes with a personal target attached. World title retained, Premier League reclaimed, World Cup won, New York still missing.