Ex-world champion Dennis Priestley on darts past and present and the rise of Luke Littler

Sky TV coverage, handsome cash rewards, big audiences and better venues have transformed the game and in teenager Luke Littler, darts has a new, boundary-crossing star.

It is a world away from the smoky, smaller places Dennis “The Menace” and his rivals played in.

"The money influence now is the biggest change,” said Mexborough’s famous sporting son. "I won £27,000 for my first world title in 1991. In 1994 the two finalists, myself and Phil Taylor, shared £25,000.

"At the time we were called a pig to a dog that we were doing it for the money.

"This year there was £500,000 for the winner and £200,000 for the runner-up and it is not going to be long before it is £1 million for the first prize.

"Also, the venues are better now. Ally Pally is a lot bigger venue than the Circus Tavern where we played. It had low ceilings and a smoky atmosphere. The crowds are massive now.”

Dennis was part of the breakaway in 1993 which saw the creation of a rival darts circuit under the banner of the World Darts Council, which eventually became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), separate from the game’s governing body.

That split paved the way for the transformed sport that darts is today and Priestley became the new era’s first world champion when he beat Taylor to the crown in 1994.

"I’d not been playing that well and I just got better each game,” he said.

"The very first darts thrown in the tournament were between me and Jocky Wilson because he was in my qualifying group. I set off with 140 and he threw a 180. They were the first six darts.

“At the time of the breakaway we were fortunate Sky TV was in its infancy and took us on otherwise we probably wouldn’t have had much coverage of televised darts.

"Sky was born as we were trying to get our organisation off the ground, so you have to be grateful to Sky. Just lately I’ve noticed we’re on everything apart from the BBC.”

Priestley was a top operator on the oche with a cool nerve and a keen eye. What players of his era lacked was the stream of competitive darts available to modern-day players.

"They post some fantastic averages now because they are playing competitively every week,” he said. "When I won the Embassy World Championship in 1991, I didn’t compete competitively against until the April of that year, a four-month gap. Now they play competitive top-class darts every week on the tour."

Dennis, now 73, still loves the game.

He’s one of the the millions who followed Luke Littler’s surge to this year’s PDC World Final at the age of just 16 and welcomes his impact. He only turned 17 this month.

"It’s unbelievable. I suppose youth gives you that fearless attitude but even before he hit the headlines there’s not many landlords would have refused him a drink. He looks older than 17.

"When they played the final, his opponent, Luke Humphries, is 28 and you’d have put them around the same age. Luke Littler is a one-off. You just can’t visualise somebody doing what he’s doing at that age and he’s brought a lot of extra eyes to darts.”