Luke Littler has had a sensational first year as a professional player (Picture: Getty/Shutterstock/PA)
A year on from Luke Littler bursting onto the scene at the World Darts Championship he is back at Alexandra Palace for a crack at the 2025 edition after a wild 12 months for the teenager.
The Nuke went from an exciting prospect known to darts afficionados to a giant name in British and even global sport thanks to his run to the final last January.
The story of the 16-year-old sensation caught the imagination of a huge amount of people as he turned in a string of brilliant performances in north London.
Littler may have lost the showpiece match to Luke Humphries, but it saw a record audience of 4.8m and a peak of 3.71m, which represented the highest ever peak outside of football on Sky Sports.
Interest did not slow down in the wildly talented player as it was revealed this month that Littler was the most searched for athlete on Google in 2024.
He has had a lot to deal with on and off the oche but he has been thoroughly impressive in doing so and returns to Ally Pally this month as the favourite to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Here’s how Littler’s 12 months have gone since his rapid rise to superstardom a year ago.
Littler fell just short against Humphries in January (Picture: Getty Images)
January
Having put in a strong performance in defeat to Humphries in the World Championship final, the headlines kept coming as Littler was swiftly thrown into the Premier League line-up for the first time.
Just a day after the final at Ally Pally, the Nuke was announced as part of the travelling invitational event which was to begin in February.
Before that, though, came his first event since the Worlds and he won it, throwing a 9-darter against Nathan Aspinall and beating Michael van Gerwen in the final of the Bahrain Darts Masters. Any suggestion that Ally Pally was a one-off was over before January was at an end.
February
Now 17 years old, Littler was making a habit of shining on debut as he won his first Players Championship event on his first attempt, throwing another 9-darter en route.
His first foray into the Premier League proved he is beatable as he didn’t claim a weekly title until week nine of the event, but he was making steady progress, with wins over Humphries, Rob Cross, Peter Wright and Michael Smith in February.
Off the oche, a partnership between Littler and BoohooMAN was announced, seeing the teenager make a move into modelling.
March
A strong showing at the UK Open was ended in the quarter-finals by Damon Heta in a cracking match, but Littler showed again he enjoys a debut.
He took to the European Tour impressively, winning the first event of the season at the Belgian Darts Open, beating Cross in the final, with yet another 9-darter along the way.
Some level of jealousy was on show in Wieze as beaten semi-final opponent Ricardo Pietreczko had seemingly angry words with Littler after their match.
The German then wrote on Instagram: ‘Well, I really appreciated him being able to play a game like that at such an age, but I hope his arrogance punishes him.’
Ricardo Pietreczko took exception to Littler in Belgium (Picture: Getty Images)
Littler told Sky Sports: ’Ever since I have burst onto the scene, I know every player wants to beat me.
‘Even my family and my manager have said you have always got to be on your A game because anyone who plays me now, it is a cup final to them.’
Littler’s celebrity status was illustrated by an appearance on the Jonathan Ross Show.
April
Littler and Humphries shared top spot of the Premier League table through April, while the Nuke picked up the Austrian Darts Open, his fourth title of the season already.
May
As Rob Cross won the Baltic Sea Darts Open on 12 May, he said: ‘We’ve all just got to take a title when we can. It’s only a matter of time before the boy Littler wins everything in sight!’
By the end of the month the teenager had landed his biggest title to date, averaging over 105 to beat Luke Humphries in the Premier League final, once again landing a perfect leg in the showpiece.
Having trousered £200,000 at the World Championship, he added £275,000 to his winnings and popped a major title on his CV for the first time.
While few questioned the talents of the teenager, he sent any naysayers a message on stage, saying: ‘For all the doubters, hello! I have just picked up this, you don’t doubt me anymore!’
Littler lifted the Premier League trophy on his first attempt (Picture: Getty Images)
June
The month began in New York City where he just fell short in the semi-finals of the US Darts Masters to Gerwyn Price at Madison Square Garden.
A sixth PDC title of the year came at the Poland Darts Masters, but also took some time off, skipping Pro Tour events in Germany and enjoying a well-earned rest.
July
Things got a bit more difficult for the young sensation in July, starting with surprise defeats to unlikely names James Hurrell and Robert Grundy at back-to-back Pro Tour events.
Then came a debut at the World Matchplay and a nightmare first round draw against Michael van Gerwen which ended in a 10-6 defeat.
MVG issued a rallying cry to his fellow players, saying: ‘We have seen he is not unstoppable, this is a sign for the rest of the players who are scared of him to face it, to do the right thing and play your own game.
‘We know he is big and he has a lot of following, he did well for the sport but you still have to keep fighting.’
Michael van Gerwen got the better of Littler in Blackpool (Picture: Getty Images)
It also emerged that he was dealing with difficult times off the oche as it was revealed that he broke up with girlfriend Eloise Milburn after she had been with him on his rise to fame.
A source told The Sun: ‘Luke and Eloise have broken up and it is still very raw. He is naturally very upset but they have agreed to stay friends.
‘Luke and Eloise tried hard to make their relationship work but with his darts schedule, he is travelling non-stop and it has become increasingly difficult for them to spend quality time together.’
August
Littler went Down Under in August and enjoyed a run to the final of the Australian Darts Masters and semis of the New Zealand Darts Masters, not quite hitting the heights in terms of performance he had been managing.
He was good at the German Darts Championship at the end of the month, though, losing in the final to Wright despite averaging 106.87.
Littler has been the headline act all year (Picture: Getty Images)
September
Any concerns over a bit of a summer wobble were put behind the Nuke as he stormed to the World Series of Darts Finals title in Amsterdam.
He was relentlessly good in beating Ross Smith, Raymond van Barneveld, Chris Dobey, Van Gerwen and Michael Smith.
With another Pro Tour success in September, Littler took his tally to nine titles in his opening season as a professional.
October
There was disappointment in big events in October, falling at the first hurdle at the World Grand Prix and European Championship.
Rob Cross was another brutal first round draw at the Grand Prix, while it was Andrew Gilding who downed him in Dortmund.
He dealt with unhelpful headlines as Gilding, a former UK Open winner, was referred to simply as ‘a butcher’ who beat Littler, in reference to a former job.
November
Littler took his title tally to 10 at the Grand Slam (Picture: PDC)
Success has never been far away for the Nuke, though, and he lifted another major title on 17 November when he beat Martin Lukeman in the Grand Slam of Darts final, landing another big pay day of £150,000.
The following week came a run to the Players Championship Finals and a meeting in the final with Humphries, finishing off his tournament play before the World Championship against the man who beat him on his last trip to Ally Pally.
Humphries won the day again, picking up an 11-7 victory and making things very interesting as the pair head to the World Championship as the two favourites.
December
It is all eyes on Alexandra Palace again and Littler gets his campaign underway against either Ryan Meikle or Fallon Sherrock on Saturday 21 December.
The Nuke hopes to be in the final again on 3 January and start 2025 with even more of a bang than he did in this year.