The former coach of darts sensation Luke Littler has revealed why he kicked him out of his club at the age of 13.
On Friday night, Littler made history as he defeated rival Michael van Gerwen in the final of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, becoming the youngest person ever to win the tournament.
In doing so, the 17-year-old avenged his loss in last year's final to world number one Luke Humphries and further established himself as the biggest name in the sport.
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But before Littler's crowning moment, his former coach spoke out and revealed why he was forced to kick the future World Champion out of his club.
In his youth, Littler played at St Helens Darts Academy and, while speaking to the BBC, the youngster's former coach Karl Holden revealed that he always knew that Littler was destined for greatness.
When asked how he handled such a promising star, Holden revealed that Littler's impressive talent meant that he could no longer compete at the academy.
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"It might sound bad but we sort of got rid of him out of the academy," he revealed.
"He knows we didn't mean that in a nasty way, but it was more like 'Don't come here no more you're just too good'. When he was 13 he was just too good for the Under-21s.
"He was never going to achieve anything there so we were saying 'Go and beat all the men in the world'. And that's what he's doing, hopefully, tonight, every one of them."
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Speaking ahead of Littler's victory at the Alexandra Palace on Friday, Holden spoke about how it would be a "dream" to see a former academy player go on to win the biggest trophy in the sport.
"I do believe he is better than last year," Holden added.
"Every dart player has a dream to be world champion but I think I'm well past that stage now so I think for our committee, [at St Helens Darts Academy] it's a dream for us to produce a world champion, I don't think there can be a better feeling than that."
Topics: Darts, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen
Ben McCrum