"I never cried but I felt like jumping over the barrier and smashing somebody’s face in a few times" - Phil Taylor defends Luke Littler from 'life-destroying' hate

Phil Taylor has jumped to the defence of the recent Premier League Darts champion Luke Littler after the 19-year-old was regularly booed and given a lot of criticism in this campaign.

It all started at the night in Manchester when Littler was involved in an on-stage fiasco with Gian van Veen. The Dutchman left the stage the winner after tension arose within both players, and the fans would side with the PDC World Darts Championship runner-up.

Littler would be on the end of a huge amount of stick throughout the rest of the campaign. Vicious boos would be regularly echoed around venues with an endless amount of criticism diverted by 'The Nuke' who managed to defeat reigning champion Luke Humphries 11-10 in an enthralling final at the O2.

He broke down in tears afterwards in his interview as he reminisced on the tough times he had been through, consoled by the world number two while gaining a lot of sympathy from others in the darting world. Littler even had thoughts of quitting, but stuck with it and reaped the rewards at the end.

16-time world champion Taylor has experienced basically everything on the dart board in his legendary career. He was quick to defend Littler and sided with him against the hostile fans.

“We’ve all gone through that. Every professional player has gone through that for years," he said. “If it was any other walk of life then people would be arrested for it. The things we used to get called, you wouldn’t believe.

“I had to get a dictionary sometimes because they were using words I’d never heard of. The powers-that-be said, look, people have paid the money, let them enjoy themselves. But that isn’t enjoyment, it’s abuse. I never cried but I felt like jumping over the barrier and smashing somebody’s face in a few times, of course you do. Many times I’ve had to ask security: ‘Tell them to shut their mouths.’"

He cited his very young age. “Many times I’ve had to ask security: ‘Tell them to shut their mouths.’ For somebody who’s like 17, 18 years old, it’s life-destroying. The lad is up there trying to make a living and entertain people. If Robbie Williams was on stage singing and getting abused… it wouldn’t happen."

He tried to put his finger on a solution. “What’s the solution? Just throw them out. Hit them in the pocket," he stated. "They pay for a ticket. If they start whistling and booing and doing whatever they feel like, then out you go. They won’t do it again.”

'The Power' was hoping to speak to him when he next got the chance to share his wealth of knowledge and support. “When I see him, I’ll have a chat. Because it can go one of two ways now. It’ll either ruin his career or it’ll make him stronger. But he shouldn’t be abused and I do feel for the lad.”