Luke Littler turns to hero Wayne Rooney for help to defeat the darts boo-boys

Luke Littler has had to handle the crowd turning on him over the past year as the teenage sensation sweeps all before him, and ‘The Nuke’ has taken inspiration from Wayne Rooney to help out

Darts ace Luke Littler has turned to his hero Wayne Rooney to help him ignore the boo-boys. The teen sensation first faced jeers at Ally Pally during his epic win over Rob Cross in the World Darts Championship.

Now the Manchester United fan has revealed how he has been inspired by Roo’s outburst at the 2010 World Cup. The striker famously turned on England fans following a 0-0 draw with Algeria and said as he walked off the pitch: “It’s nice to see your home fans booing you.”

World champ Luke, 19, said he stumbled across that clip shortly after his own outburst. He explained: “You’ve seen it with Wayne Rooney, that clip was it at the World Cup. I’ve seen that on my TikTok literally I’d say a few hours after that Rob Cross game, which is pretty crazy.

JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page

“Like I said, I think I’ve learned from the Worlds, just don’t react and I’ve just got to play my darts.”

The defending champ beat Cross 4-2 in a brilliant match but was met with boos from the boozed-up audience urging an upset.

In a prickly interview on stage afterwards, he said: “Can I just say one thing? You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize so thank you for my money. Thank you for booing me. Come on!”

On Friday night, Luke the Nuke survived a match dart to edge past Belgian Mike De Decker at the World Masters in Milton Keynes. But once again the spotlight fell on his relationship with the crowd and he admitted punters are getting bored of him blitzing the competition.

He said: “Everything was going on tonight, boos, cheers, I just had to do my own thing. I need to learn from the worlds, don’t react too early. Even tonight I didn’t react during or after, I just got my darts and went off stage.

“I think people want to see new winners. I think people are getting bored of me, Luke [Humphries and Gian [Van Veen] winning.”

Littler again silenced the crowd in his last-16 rout over Ross Smith on Saturday night, winning 4-1 and averaging 107.88.

Daily Star Says

Luke Littler has already had the sort of career at the age of 19 that most players would love to have by retirement. And he’s already showing maturity beyond his years.

After being largely cheered on his whole career, his success has seen him have to endure boos from crowds. The Nuke admits that he has reacted badly on stage before.

But he says he’s learned from his football hero Wayne Rooney’s mistakes in dealing with boo boys. He’s now not going to react and keep his head down and focus on his darts. And an even more focused Littler means the rest of the darting world better watch out.