Inside Luke Littler and Luke Humphries row as darts stars stick up for world champion

Gary Anderson lit a fuse at the World Grand Prix when he furiously hit out at the public and media for not giving world champion Luke Humphries his dues, with Luke Littler claimed to be prioritised instead.

Over the past year, the two Lukes have dominated darts. Humphries capped off an incredible year by beating Littler in the final of the World Championship, but it was the 17-year-old who made headlines on his debut Alexandra Palace run.

The teenager got his swift revenge, beating Humphries in the final of the Premier League, and the pair have each enjoyed wildly successful campaigns.

However, attention remains focused on Littler according to their rivals, a contentious discussion that many have weighed in on.

Here, Express Sport gives you the lowdown on the row dominating darts.

Humphries ‘overlooked’ in favour of Littler

Unprompted at a World Grand Prix press conference, Anderson spoke out in defence of Humphries and felt that the world No. 1 deserves “a bit of respect” after pointing out Littler garnering more attention than his fierce rival.

"It's not just being world champion,” the Scot said. “What has Luke [Humphries] won in the last two years? This is the thing. He has won just about everything.

“He's not just a world champion. He's there for a reason. World Champion was added onto his CV. He's won so much more, and the boy gets looked over every time, which I think is a load of b*****s to be honest.

"He's deserved everything that he's worked for, everything that he's got. And just to talk about other players, rubbish, absolute rubbish. Just give him a bit of respect. He's never ever mentioned, it’s always other people. Luke [Humphries] just goes along with it.

"As long as they’re talking about other people, he just carries on what he does. He’s handled it well. But deep down, he must be a bit cheesed off it. No, he just does what he does. He plays darts, runs, and that's it."

Anderson’s claims backed up

James Wade has since given his take on the matter, joining his old foe Anderson by claiming that the darts audience is “failing” Humphries, even though the sport is experiencing potentially its biggest popularity boom of all time.

"I would like to say me and Gary Anderson don't get on very well, at times," said Wade after reaching the World Grand Prix quarter-finals. "But what I will say is, I believe Luke Humphries is probably the second or third-best world champion we have ever had.

"We have had [lots of] world champions. Luke Humphries has won almost everything after the World Championship, and before it.

“I really think the public and yourselves [the media] are failing a bit. We have never had a world champion like it. The last world champion we had as good as him, maybe Michael, but before him Phil Taylor."

Humphries agrees with pair on snub

Even the mild-mannered Humphries agreed with Anderson and Wade, but refused to diminish Littler’s own achievements and the fame that has come with that success.

He admitted that if he were a younger star who focused on the popularity and fandom in darts, he may have taken issue with Littler’s rise in comparison to his own, but at 29 is not as interested in the debate.

"I do feel like I've got a lot of credit. I don't feel like the media hasn't given me credit. I don't feel that way," Humphries responded. "I just think when you've got a superstar [Littler], it's hard not to go with that. Luke has grown the sport to absolutely incredible levels and he's making the sport bigger for all of us, let's be honest.

"I can see the media attention is on him. Maybe I deserve a bit more, maybe I deserve a bit more alongside with him. But the media attention he gets, he deserves and that's no disregard to that. I do think I get a little bit of credit. I think it's not as bad as it seems."

Littler's relationship with Humphries

Littler has not directly commented on the matter, having crashed out of the World Grand Prix in the first round to Rob Cross, but has always talked up his sporting rival and they appear to be good friends at and away from the oche.

During the Premier League campaign, the pair would share the stage at each venue hours before proceedings got underway and had a chat, which became part of their routine.

After the World Championship final, Littler asked his hoards of new fans to also follow Humphries on Instagram to help boost the new champion’s popularity, further highlighting the mutual respect they have for each other.