What Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson told darts wonderkid Luke Littler
Man United fan Littler recently rose to prominence by reaching the final of the World Darts Championship at the age of just 16
Manchester United-supporting teenage darts sensation Luke Littler has already rubbed shoulders with his sport's biggest stars – and now he's been seeking advice from one of football's all-time greats, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Littler, who turned 17 a few weeks ago, stunned the sporting world by reaching the final of the 2024 World Darts Championship on his debut in the competition – while still aged just 16.
'The Nuke' from Warrington knocked out former world champion Rob Cross en route to the final – where he was eventually beaten by namesake Luke Humphries – and his prodigious rise has seen him tipped to go to the very top of the game.
And one man who knows exactly what it takes to achieve such greatness is legendary former Man United boss Ferguson.
Littler was lucky enough to get a word in with the 13-time Premier League title-winning manager during United's clash with Tottenham at Old Trafford last month.
"That was good," he said. "My dad has seen their [Manchester United's] glory years – witnessed [the treble triumph of] '99, and so it was good for him to meet him. It was a good chat. I didn't get much out of him because of his accent, but he did say keep going and stick to it."
Littler's run to the World Championship final saw him included in the line-up for the 2024 edition of Premier League darts.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
In the second meeting of the competition earlier this week in Berlin, Littler lost a thrilling final 6-5 to three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.
More Manchester United stories from FourFourTwo
Sir Alex Ferguson has given his brutal assessment of Tottenham's Premier League title chances.
And Marcus Rashford has been linked with a sensational summer move to PSG.
Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...