Darts prodigy Luke Littler is England’s new sporting sensation, so naturally everybody is desperate to know which football team he supports, because what are we if not a nation of would-be taxi drivers at heart?
We can tell you from direct experience that growing up in Warrington, chances are you support rugby league team Warrington Wolves plus one of either Liverpool or Manchester United.
Littler is no exception on either front, with Warrington players seen cheering him on at Alexandra Palace over the course of Littler’s exceptional run. When it comes to the round ball, though, Littler’s loyalties lie at Old Trafford – he even received tickets for a stadium tour as one of his Christmas presents this year.
He still found time to pay a visit to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to see Spurs play Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve, though, watching on from a private box as a guest of England star James Maddison. Just to spare Arsenal fans from getting upset, Littler has also visited Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice at the Gunners’ training ground.
The Scottish media are always desperate to ascertain where people’s preferences lie north of the border, with the Scottish Sun noting that Littler follows Rangers and a couple of their players on Instagram.
News that Littler is a Manchester United fan will only get Leeds United fans even more firmly behind his opponent Luke Humphries for the final on Wednesday evening.
Humphries even went so far as to confirm a few months ago that his dad named him Luke in tribute to the Mighty Whites, with the letters of his first name standing for “Leeds United Kings of Europe”.
That is of course a reference to Leeds fans’ ongoing assertion that they were cheated out of the 1975 European Cup Final, where they had two penalty shouts turned down on their way to losing 2-0 to Bayern Munich.
Humphries earned his place in the final against Littler by beating Scott Williams in the semi-finals – and Williams now looks set to turn out as a goalkeeper for Lincolnshire-based Saturday league team Swineshead Reserves at the weekend.
In further connection to other sports, Little overcame former Gaelic Football player Brendan Dolan in the quarter-finals.
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