The same appalling people who almost ruined football 30 years ago have come to ruin the only truly working-class sport left.
If you ask most Londoners which part of town will be the last to resist gentrification, the answer will invariably be Tottenham. Darts is the Tottenham of sport. But now even darts is under threat from the chattering classes entranced by the success of a 16-yearold who looks old enough to be his own father. Every Tom, Dick and Tristan will be chanting that bloody awful song they play in the ad breaks.
Darts' unique appeal is precise because it was the final redoubt of the untouchable caste. It's a Rorke's Drift of proletarian culture. It didn't need to reach out to new audiences - it was popular enough until now, albeit with the "wrong" type of people. It made no apologies and did not ask for approval.
So excited about Littler was the Guardian yesterday that it asked its readers: "Tell us, have you recently become a darts fan?"- an invitation so cringeworthy that it did not so much make your flesh creep as give you the sensation of being flayed alive by a set of Wüsthof kitchen knives. This morning The Times was craven enough to offer a guide on "how to talk darts". Seriously, if you don't know by now don't bother.
This story is from the January 04, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the January 04, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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