Two Oompa-Loompas, Shrek, and a flock of chickens walk into a bar. No, this is not the setup to a dad joke worthy of an eye-roll, it’s real – and it’s happening at Alexandra Palace.
The festivities of the World Darts Championship exploded into life on Thursday, and with it came the punters – in their numbers – dressed to the nines in a carnival of fancy outfits.
Fans poured through the doors as Luke Littler kicked off his world title defence, chanting well into the night and eagerly getting to work on the projected 750,000 pints expected to be sunk over the coming weeks.
Dressed as anything from the beloved green ogre to giant pizza slices, revellers made their voices heard as Littler eased to a straight-sets victory over his Lithuanian opponent Darius Labanauskas.
Among the crowd were even groups of male nurses, some sporting an enormous green Paddy Power foam glove, while others – dressed as jockeys – looked as though they’d confused Ally Pally for the Grand National.
And the entertainment has continued well into Friday’s event – which kicked off early in the afternoon – with those dressed as chickens hoping Ryan Searle and Rob Cross could ruffle a few feathers by putting away their challengers.
Lucky fans will also have hopes of pocketing £60,000 through Paddy Power’s nine-dart bonus initiative, which sees £180,000 split between the player, the charity and a random fan if the perfect leg is achieved.
‘It’s darts – there are rowdy fans for sure,’ Sky Sports anchor Emma Paton told Daily Mail Sport. ‘But there is a lot of security around, and everyone is ultimately having a good time at the majority of places.
‘There have been very few incidents that I have seen. Maybe some of the bigger venues in the Premier League, where there have been fights breaking out, people throwing beer and stuff.
‘But a lot of the time people are just having a good time and enjoying the darts.’
Fans were eagerly anticipating how much a pint of lager would cost in the run-up to the tournament, and it was revealed last night that the cheapest offering for punters is priced at £7.85.
On offer inside Ally Pally was a pint of Amstel, which costs just short of £8. Half a pint of the one per cent lager costs £3.95, with pitchers priced at £31.40.
As for the Brixton Reliance pale ale, it’s a little more pricey with a pint costing £8.20, half a pint £4.10 and a pitcher £32.80.
A pint of Inch’s cider costs £7.85, while it’s £3.95 for half a pint and £31.40 for a pitcher.
The numbers are down one the £9.25 a pint of Budweiser would cost fans in the Premier League play-offs in May at the O2 Arena, with pale ale costing £9.80.
Wine is also on offer to the fans watching on their favourites – both red and white.
Four glasses of Vina Arroba white wine will set punters back £32, with a 175ml glass costing £8. The cost of red is the same. Shots have also also on offer, with customers warned they could only pay by card.
‘It is an exciting time for the sport,’ former player and Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle told Daily Mail Sport.
‘The Worlds caps off the year and starts the new year. It is in a real great spot calendar-wise – no other event does it really. It ends the year for those who have been playing well and starts the new one.
‘I don’t think anyone has perceived this growth or expected this to keep happening,’ he adds, grinning. ‘But it keeps happening and that is credit to the PDC, credit to the players and credit to everyone involved.
‘I cant play darts to this level anymore… so what’s the next best thing? Talking about it. And I like talking! I like my job, I am a lucky man.’
It was announced that the tournament will become even bigger from next year as it moves to the Great Hall inside Ally Pally, allowing for a total of 180,000 revellers to descend on the arena across the three weeks.
The competition sees 20 days of action and has started four days earlier than last year due to the increased player pool. 128 players are taking part, featuring players qualifying from the likes of the rankings, CDC Tour and the Women’s Tour.
