Scott Williams gets arm full of villains tattooed: "I've got it all drawn out"

Scott Williams did a candid interview with talkSPORT. 'Shaggy' got 20 questions thrown at him, and some notable topics came up.

The conversation began with the most important match Williams played in his life. In the semifinals of the 2024 World Darts Championship, Williams faced Humphries, but Williams was knocked out 6-0. Almost two years later, he shrugs his shoulders over this beating. "I think it was one of those things where, at that World Championship, the way the draw could have gone for me… I think Luke — to be fair to him — would probably agree he was lucky to be there. He should have and could have lost to Ricardo, should have and could have lost to Joe Cullen, and should have and could have lost to Chizzy (Dave Chisnall) as well."

Williams explained that the 6-0 result does not tell how close the sets were. "He had the highest average of the tournament; it was his highest TV average at the time. I think he had eight or nine ton-plus checkouts, five of them while I was sat on a double for either a set or a leg that would have made it 2–2. I think four of the six sets went to 2–2 and he won them 3–2. So to me that sounds like a half-decent game; it just looks worse because of set play."

That level-headedness characterizes Williams. He is also honest about his run-up to the latter stages. "I was a bit lucky where Danny Noppert hadn’t played for a month or two because he’d had a layoff. Then I went against a not-so-great MVG (Michael van Gerwen) in the quarter-finals — but again, it doesn’t matter who it is, I’ve got to play them."

Williams won three gold medals with England at the 2022 WDF Europe Cup, in a squad that included Luke Littler and Beau Greaves. About Greaves, he is at once laudatory and tantalizingly critical.

"Beau is different in every sense of the darts world, isn’t she? She’s unbelievable. But until she believes it, she’s not got a chance in hell — that’s the mental side of the game. She’s still not quite sure whether she wants to play against men professionally or carry on in the women’s game. She knows the men’s game makes her better."

He cites a recent Pro Tour match to illustrate. "She played against Josh Rock, it went to 5-5, and in the last leg I think she went out in eleven darts. "She had a game against Josh Rock a few months ago on the Pro Tour — it went all the way to 5–5 and I think she went out in 11 in the last leg. They were both literally sat on 70-something, 78/74, at the same time. That just shows how good she is if she wants it. We’ll find out next year, because I think she’s going to be getting a Tour Card from the Development Tour even though she hasn’t really been playing it. She’s the best female player in the world; she’s probably one of the best players in the world on her day as well. She’s just got to give herself the confidence and the want to do it — and I think she’ll be absolutely fine."

The Premier League? Nice when it comes, but not an obsession. "No, it doesn’t bother me. The Premier League is great if you can get it and you want to experience it. I think Josh might get it this year — it’d be great to see Josh (Rock) get it next year and see how he fares with it, with a young family as well."

As for himself, the focus is concrete. "For me, the ambition is to find something on the floor that works and get my floor game better, qualify for more European events, and go from there. As long as I’m okay on the floor, I’ll always get in the World Championship and the Players Championship Finals. If I need that next level, it’s about being better on the floor."

That observation comes from experience with the burden of the calendar. "You go to events Monday–Wednesday, then you’ve got to travel straight out Wednesday to wherever you’re playing Thursday. Then you’ve probably got a European Tour at the weekend, so you travel Friday to play Saturday. You’re doing that three weeks in a row — you’re not at home, you’re living out of a suitcase."

Whether opponents ever try to intimidate him? Williams laughs it off. "I don't care what someone else does, it doesn't work for me. There was one a couple of years ago that confused me a little bit. It was Niko Springer and I played him in a place called Sindelfingen on the European Tour. He turned up an hour before the game. Didn't hardly practice and stuff like that. So I was like maybe he thinks he's going to beat me the time before. I'd already been a bit of a sausage prior to the Germans anyway. So I was like maybe he just think it's going to be easy. It didn't work because I smashed him."

Williams knows he elicits reactions. "Not really. I actually like it. I like people who don’t like me, and I like it when people do — it’s nice. I get loads of stuff on social media, loads of messages at exhibitions and tournaments. So many people like me — they always bring up a certain game I played, usually the MVG game. And then I get abusive messages as well."

There is also a dark side to the online storm. "It’s one of the reasons I came off Twitter. After the comment I made about the world wars, I got abused — stuff where I was like, “I don’t need this; I don’t deserve it.” A lot of it’s childish anyway, so I came off that. People can have their opinions — I don’t care. This is my job. They’re probably getting up at five or six in the morning to go rake some gardens and stuff like that — and as much as I don’t have anything against anyone’s job, mine’s nicer than yours."

Although he does not indulge in superstition, Williams knows his body. "For Pro Tours, because they start at 11 a.m., I like to be there nice and early — I won’t eat in the morning. I don’t want to feel bloated or have a bad belly. For TV events, depending on the time, if I’m playing in the evening I’m probably having a Nando’s like everyone else — good protein, you know what you’re getting, they’re all the same. Sometimes a cheeky little ribeye — I do like a fillet. It all depends on time of day, formats, and how you’re feeling."

How does he prepare for the biggest tournaments? Simple, by acting normal. "No — everyone does their thing, but I don’t do anything different. For the Worlds I’m usually in London three, four, five days before. We’ve got a couple of pubs around where we stay, around Wembley, that we go to for practice. I’m usually sharing with Josh Rock in there. We’ll sit and watch the darts, play PlayStation, have a practice — just a normal day for a couple of lads sharing a house. Then I turn up in the evening or afternoon and get the job done — or hope to.talkSPORT: Can players over-prepare for games."

About "over-preparing," he is adamant. "I don’t believe in eight hours at all — you don’t need that in any practice situation. What you need is a practice scenario that works for you, and one that’s lifelike — like you’re actually playing a match, practising stuff you’ll do in a game."

His rhythm on game day is clear. "I’m the same as Luke Woodhouse in that I like to be at the venue two or three hours before I play. I’ll have half an hour just relaxing while I’m there, chucking at nothing, and then I start my preparation properly — the practice games and whatever else I do to lead up to it. A lot of the time it’s just sitting around talking, chucking, and having a few practice games with whoever’s in there that I can grab."

Williams' walk-on is "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" by My Chemical Romance, and the love for the band is genuine. "I have tickets for next year." Was he an emo before? "Massively — more towards goth than emo, to be fair. When I was 13–15 I loved the baggy jeans, chain with a wallet, band T-shirts. Even now I still listen to the same music: I absolutely love MCR. I’m massive into Falling In Reverse at the minute. Any kind of metal — metalcore, heavy metal, death metal — anything crazy. But I’m also quite liking some of the new K-pop stuff."

Those who have seen Williams perform on stage might recognize some of the tattoos on his arm from the Batman comic book series. "I love Batman. My Batman is Michael Keaton, that's what I grew up with. George Clooney was okay, although sometimes you mix up the movies." Then, grinning, a quote that immediately evokes the camp of the '90s: "'What killed the dinosaurs? The Ice Age!'"

Still, his real movie heart goes out to Nolan's trilogy. "Christian Bale was so good in The Dark Knight — it’s iconic, especially Heath Ledger. Probably one of the best characters he ever played before he sadly passed. I love it so much. I’ve got it all planned out: this arm will be villains — Scarecrow, and Cillian Murphy will be up there soon. Then this will be covered by Christian Bale’s Batman, and then Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s going on there. Anne Hathaway — when she’s sat on the bike before she blows up the tunnel, just because it’s a nice photo — will be up there as well."