Stephen Bunting on Luke Littler boos, his Liverpool homecoming and Arne Slot
Stephen Bunting is expecting an emotional night in front of his home Liverpool fans on Thursday as he continues to battle for a playoff spotyou can watch Premier League Darts live on Sky Sports every Thursday
Thursday 23 April 2026 18:35, UK
Stephen Bunting can expect nothing but love when he takes to the stage in front of his home Liverpool crowd on Thursday night. Others? Perhaps less so.
Back-to-back world champion Luke Littler has been subject to boos in recent weeks in the wake of his falling out with Gian van Veen in Manchester.
And regardless of his incident with the Dutchman, animosity on Merseyside might have already been on the agenda for the Manchester United fan, who has not shied from pointing to Liverpool's struggles this season on social media.
Bunting, though, admits there is little that can be done to control crowd reaction.
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"It's not for me to say, to be honest," said Bunting of boos from the crowd. "I'm in a position where the crowd seem to react in a positive manner towards me. I try to do everything right on the oche when I can.
"There's been one occasion after the World's where I probably said or used a word that I probably shouldn't have used and I got a bit of stick for it, which I think was a bit harsh. Fans react the way they want to react, to be honest. We can't do anything.
"A lot of people sit behind the keyboards and write a lot of stuff and it's out of our control, to be honest. And people in the venue, if they're there and they're going to boo, then that's entirely down to them.
"But as long as I keep being clean and keep doing my own thing and keep out of everyone else's business and try not to cause trouble, then hopefully I don't give anyone a reason to boo me."
'If I win, I probably will have a little cry'
Bunting is among those privy to feeding off the crowd atmosphere, and is anticipating a special moment when he takes on Premier League leader Jonny Clayton in his quarter-final.
"It's always emotional when you're in front of your home fans, I will have that," he said. "Extra couple of seconds on my walk on and take a deep breath and stuff.
"Hopefully I don't get too emotional. I'm really looking forward to it.
"I've done some emotional stuff today. I've been to Alder Hey Children's Hospital. I'm sure I'll be absolutely fine. If I win, I probably will have a little cry. But let's try and do that first."
Bunting himself has also been on the other side of darting homecomings, from Gerwyn Price's warm welcome in Wales to Michael van Gerwen's Dutch reception.
"It can be very difficult," he said. "Last year I played Michael van Gerwen in Rotterdam. I was able to overcome that scenario and got the win.
"I played Gezzy [Price] a few weeks ago, and obviously he had all the Welsh crowd supporting him. So you expect it. You get your pockets of fans wherever you go.
"And obviously Liverpool, it's going to be great for me. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope it affects my opponents, to be honest, because that might give me an easy night, but I don't expect that to happen. I think the crowd's going to be very respectful, no matter who's playing.
"Hopefully we can all play our best darts, hopefully it's one of the best Premier League nights. And the people of Liverpool can go home and talk about that night for a long time."
Elsewhere in Liverpool, Littler - who sits second behind Clayton - begins his night against former world champion Luke Humphries, while Van Veen faces Price and Van Gerwen meets Josh Rock.
Bunting arrives seventh and five points behind fourth-placed Van Gerwen, who currently occupies the final Play-Off place.
Liverpool under Slot have been 'boring to watch'
A toiling Premier League campaign has in some ways been mirrored by his beloved Liverpool, who are battling to secure a Champions League spot amid criticism of Arne Slot's reigning champions.
"The season's been up and down to say the least, hasn't it?" said Bunting. "All these signings come in, they just don't seem to have gelled together.
"I know there's been a lot of injuries. I was a big Arne Slot fan last year, obviously won the league and stuff, but it's changed. My opinion has changed a bit this year.
"It's boring to watch. I'm good friends with quite a few of the boxers and Paddy the Baddy, we always speak about the football and stuff. We're in a group together. I think we're not happy, but if he stays then we'll fully support him. Let's just see what happens."
Darts supremo tells stars to block out the noise
Darts chief Barry Hearn has told players they must "get used to" booing because security staff cannot throw out tens of thousands of fans.
There have been several high-profile incidents of fans whistling: Littler was booed in Rotterdam as he reached the final and is likely to get another hostile reception in Liverpool on Thursday.
Referee Huw Ware has been forced to step in twice on the Euro Tour in Germany in recent weeks after persistent whistling disrupted matches.
But Hearn admitted the players have no choice but to adapt to it, telling SunSport: "We have to rely on people's common sense. And sometimes that's not there. It's absent. But eventually it turns because people realise it's counterproductive to the evening, which it is.
"In the meantime, the players are pros. They've got to get used to it. And they will do. But I don't like it.
"The moment you say to anybody with authority don't do something it's a red rag to a bull - and they'll do it ten times more.
"That's just life. You can't sling out 12,000 people from the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam. Because it takes too long to get them back in again.
"You just have to rely on a bit of common sense. And sometimes that's slow in coming.
"It's annoying. I don't know an answer other than look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself whether you've been a total numpty."
Mardle: Littler is not a child anymore
Wayne Mardle has offered some words of advice for Littler after his battles with the crowd in recent weeks, saying it "has to stop".
"I'm a believer that now it has to - whatever's going on - I'm a believer that the team around him have a responsibility, he has a responsibility," said 'Hawaii 501'.
"I'm always reticent to go on about his age. Now he's 19 he's bordering on - well he's a young man, lets get it right. He's not a child anymore.
"Situations are happening and he's not knowing how to deal with it. He needs to listen to friends and family and management and they need to get it right also.
"If I was to hear that, they would turn round and say, 'don't worry about them' as in don't deal with it - that's not the way forward."
Mardle continued: "No one likes being disliked. Peter Manley tried it back in the day, didn't work. Paul Nicholson tried it back in the day, didn't work. Gerwyn Price tried it, doesn't like it. They've all become ingratiators to the crowd in that regard. They've all changed tack.
"Luke Littler never set out to antagonise any crowd member, unfortunately he has done once or twice. He'd want it to stop. We don't want to see negative [emotion] because we don't want to see it impact a player.
"We don't want to see anyone look as down as Gerwyn Price did maybe a couple of years ago. That wasn't nice to see and I'm glad he's pulled himself out of that.
"Generally it doesn't work when you question a crowd."
Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
