Chatting Bull with Dan Dawson - Issue #027

I have written before about how one of the great strengths of our sport is its relatability. The people on stage winning the biggest titles have often come from very similar backgrounds to the people watching in the crowd or on television. Darts is far better for this than football, for example, whose superstars are groomed from a very young age in academies, and can be earning vast sums of money before they even make the first eleven. But if the stars of our sport are relatable, because many of them are just like the people you might meet down the pub, that also comes with risks… because if you’d been in my local pubs around Birmingham, you might not agree with everything some of the folk in them believe.

I have no desire to state my political views on a public platform - even though my profile is extraordinarily low, I think it is easier to be publicly neutral, to save me the hassle of having to deal with those who may vehemently disagree with me. But not all dart players think or act in that way.  If Gerwyn Price is repeatedly espousing his backing for Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, I have little doubt he would find lots of people who would wholeheartedly agree with him, as well as plenty who would think the exact opposite. But isn’t this what we wanted? - for our darts players to reveal portions of themselves? To let us know what they’re like, and what they believe in?  It certainly fleshes out their character, irrespective of whether you like it or not.

Sport is inherently political, and you do not even have to go to the most obvious examples - like Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics. Mensur Suljovic was a refugee from a war-torn country who fled to Austria, only to become their greatest ever darts player. His simple existence and success are a political statement.  Yet there is always a desire to keep politics and sport separate.  

There are some pretty grey areas on this in PDC darts, for example, around the use of images or slogans on shirts. I would imagine that most people may not mind if James Richardson wears his “Help for Heroes” themed darts shirt (a charity that works with British military veterans), but some might not be keen. However, what happens if Luke Littler steps up on stage at Alexandra Palace wearing a “Free Palestine” wristband? Or Luke Humphries ‘takes the knee’ before playing in the Matchplay final?  It is a question I have asked before out of curiosity, but I have never been given a definitive answer. Everything would apparently be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

I do not think there is an easy answer to any of these issues, because the ability to air our views is one of our most cherished freedoms, and that extends to sportspeople as much as anyone else. It is universal. That includes views that some may find abhorrent or offensive. But even if there are views from people within the sport that you may find ill-informed, or even downright offensive, we have to ask ourselves: isn’t this what we all asked to hear about in the first place? And if we don’t like the answers, that isn’t really the fault of those of whom we asked the questions - even if that was simply by following them on social media to see what they have to say.

[Newsreader voice]: If you don’t want to know the boor, look away now.

Issue #027 Quiz Answers

1) 3,944
2) Green
3) 23

Want to test your darts knowledge? Sign up to the Target Darts newsletter for the next quiz.

Sign up to the Target Darts newsletter where we will send you the next issue directly to your inbox and also keep you updated on the latest news, products, and offers.