"When I won Lakeside, all the Villa fans were singing 'there's only one Phil Taylor'" - Stephen Bunting dreams of taking Sid Waddell Trophy to Anfield

Later this Monday evening, Stephen Bunting continues his quest to take the title at the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship as he faces off against Luke Woodhouse for a place in the quarter-finals. As the big names continue to fall, Bunting's hopes of lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy are looking more and more realistic.

If 'The Bullet' were to be the one celebrating on January 3rd though, there's one place in particular Bunting is dreaming of showing off the title, Anfield, home of Bunting's beloved Liverpool Football Club. "I'd love to do that," the 8th seed explains in conversation with talkSPORT. "When I won the Lakeside title in 2014, I got to take it onto the pitch when we played Aston Villa. All the Villa fans were singing, 'there's only one Phil Taylor.'"

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Although the Aston Villa faithful acted as if they didn't know who Bunting was back in 2014, given darts' booming popularity over the last year or so and the 'The Bullet's new-found status as people's champion, it's possible he could get a much different reception from the away fans at Anfield if he were to return with the Sid Waddell Trophy.

"Hopefully this time people will actually know who I am. That would be really good," he explains further. "I'd love to do that, especially against Manchester United. There's no bigger game in football for me than that."

Bunting has emerged as the people's champion over the last couple of years

"I've noticed the popularity in our sports has gone up 50 per cent since I've started playing PDC," Bunting adds. "Even when I'm out now, I'm walking around the streets and getting recognised all the time. So the popularity in the game, and the demographic of it with [Luke] Littler being involved, he's really taken it to another level. I've got kids walking in JD [Sports], following me around asking for selfies and pictures and autographs. Long may that continue, because that's unbelievable."

If Bunting manages to get past Woodhouse and into the quarter-finals this evening at the Ally Pally, Peter Wright awaits in the last 8, with a showdown against poster-boy Littler a possibility in the semis.

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