Why is Luke Littler being booed by darts fans?

Here's how it all started

The darts world champion was left in tears after the repeat of the previous two finals, as the sport's best players showcased an unbelievable level of quality in front of 16,000 at The O2.

Littler came out on top with an 11-10 victory, as he averaged 111 and landed 12 maximums, while world number two Humphries finished with an average of 105 and three 100+ checkouts.

The 19-year-old, visibly emotional, told Sky Sports on stage that “it's been a rollercoaster”.

“The first four weeks at the bottom, on the fifth night won my first night. I had to pick myself up. I think I went to Brighton and had a 79 average.”

“It was tough - I was down bad. I'm here with the trophy.”

Littler was in disbelief at regaining the crown in one of the all-time great finals, because he came close to quitting the invitational event.

This is because the two-time champion and world number one has endured a tumultuous third Premier League campaign with on-stage arguments and boos from the thousands in attendance.

How the boos towards Littler started

Littler has often attracted boos and whistles from fans in Germany, in particular.

But as a passionate Manchester United fan, he has often revelled in a friendly rivalry with fans when playing in cities that are traditionally hostile to United, such as Leeds and Liverpool.

However, following two incidents, the relationship with spectators in his home country has turned to a level of derision.

It was in December of last year when the first distasteful incident came at the World Championship, when Littler, a defending champion, battled past Rob Cross to reach the quarterfinal stage.

Mainly due to their hopes of seeing a match for the ages, the contest had the Alexandra Palace crowd siding with Cross.

Luke was agitated during the contest because of the support for his opponent, and he was visibly angry when speaking to Sky Sports in his post-match interview after he had wrapped up a thrilling 4-2 victory.

“I'm not bothered [by the booing]. Really not bothered. You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize money so thanks for booing me”, he said to the jeering crowd.

“No-one wanted me to win but I proved them wrong yet again”.

How Littler became public enemy, once again

Following a period of calm, Littler returned to something resembling number one public enemy status, after becoming involved in a tense exchange with Gian Van Veen during Night Nine of the Premier League in Manchester on April 2.

As the match was hanging in the balance at 5-5, Van Veen missed a match dart, a miss that he says Littler celebrated.

This caused the usually mild-mannered Van Veen to stare disapprovingly at his opponent which in turn appeared to anger Littler who gestured to Van Veen on his return to the oche.

Littler then performed a “cry baby” gesture to the crowd as Van Veen stepped up to seal his 6-5 victory. The pair were involved in a brief handshake before Littler quickly walked off-stage.

Littler’s conduct on the oche was described as “out of order” by Van Veen, who also called him a “bad loser”.

That evening, Littler shared an image of Van Veen's comments on his Instagram Stories, adding three laughing emojis below. Van Veen later said “I don't think things will be very friendly between us anytime soon.”