Luke Littler to parade Ally Pally trophy at Old Trafford as Man Utd mourn Denis Law
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Luke Littler will lift the pall of grief over Old Trafford by parading his PDC World Championship trophy on a lap of honour on Sunday. As Manchester United mourns all-time great Denis Law, Luke the Nuke will show off the Sid Waddell Trophy as guest of honour at the game with Brighton. United fan Littler, who turns 18 on Tuesday, became the youngest darts world champion in history when he hammered Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final at Alexandra Palace a fortnight ago.
And on Sunday afternoon he will fulfil a boyhood dream by milking the adulation of 75,000 fans at the Theatre of Dreams. He is not expected to visit the home dressing room or deliver any pep-talks to Ruben Amorim’s side before kick-off, but club officials plan to invite him into the inner sanctum to meet the players after the match.
Littler’s first tournament as reigning world champion ended in disappointment on Friday night, when he was knocked out of the Bahrain Darts Masters by an inspired Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals. Price went on to lose in the final against Stephen Bunting, but the Iceman’s 115.31 average in his third consecutive win against Littler was almost unplayable.
The Warrington teenage sensation posted on X: “Not my night but great game @Gezzyprice – heading home for a few days then looking forward to the Dutch Darts Masters.”. Littler’s magic carpet ride to the world title capped a fairytale 12 months in which he reached the Ally Pally final as a 16-year-old, won 10 senior titles in his first year as a professional, banked £1.5million in prize money and took darts to unprecedented levels of coolness.
