PDC World Darts Champion Luke Littler is a sports fanatic. Being a Warrington lad, it’s practically a legal requirement to follow rugby league.
‘The Nuke’ loves his football too. Littler is a big Manchester United fan and has been welcomed to Old Trafford and Carrington since bursting onto the scene. Christian Eriksen and Harry Maguire stepped up to the oche against him, experiencing a little of what Michael van Gerwen felt at Alexandra Palace last month.
Littler’s World Darts Championship victory netted him £500,000 in prize money, adding to an already significant fortune. He’s been given unsolicited and very public advice, good and bad, but has made clear his ambition to invest in football.
Which club does Littler want to buy?
Football club ownership isn’t for the faint of heart and takes a serious amount of money at any level. But Littler isn’t looking to take a seat around the big table at Old Trafford with Jim Ratcliffe.
In an interview with the Daily Star, Littler revealed a rather more modest choice of club for possible future investment and it’s one that’s very close to home.
“I’ve got a local team, Warrington Town, who are in National League North,” said the millionaire world champion. “Maybe that could be an idea for the future.”
If Littler’s sporting moments in the spotlight have been dramatic, they’ve got nothing on the relegation battle in the National League North. Warrington are right in the thick of it. The bottom six are separated by a single point and four will be relegated to the seventh tier at the end of the season. The Yellows currently sit inside the drop zone.
Warrington Town have been around since 1949 and have been on the rise of late, winning promotion from the fourth step of non-league football in 2016 and then from the third to the second in 2019.
Their current spell in the National League North began in 2023 and they’re eager to keep it going by coming out on top in this season’s epic relegation scrap. Radcliffe, Rushall Olympic, Farsley Celtic, Marine and Needham Market have other ideas.
Celebrity ownership is all the rage in the lower divisions of English professional football.
Birmingham City count NFL all-time great Tom Brady among their owners as they work their way back into the Championship. League One promotion rivals Wrexham have climbed from the National League under the ownership of Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Littler has no immediate plans to join them but investing in Warrington Town could be part of a rich sporting future for ‘The Nuke’ – without a captaincy on A Question of Sport to aim for, non-league club ownership might be the next best use of his fame.
