Gary Anderson has urged Luke Littler and the other rising stars on the PDC Tour to think about a back-up plan should something happen to their darts careers.
The PDC Tour is currently brimming with outstanding young talent, with the likes of Luke Littler, Mike De Decker, and Wessel Nijman all winning ranking tournaments in 2024.
Gary Anderson, who has seen a turnaround in his fortunes ahead of the World Darts Championship, has claimed the young stars should prepare for a life outside of darts.
Gary Anderson urges young stars to ‘get a trade’
Before Anderson’s darts career soared to the heights of becoming a back-to-back World Champion, Anderson was a builder in his day job and he believes the likes of Littler and De Decker think about a plan B.
Speaking to Sky Sports, The Flying Scotsman said: “If anything goes wrong, they’ve never got a trade to go to.”
A career in darts can be a fickle beast and there are a myriad of issues that could blight a burgeoning career.
Anderson continued: “If something happened, they couldn’t throw darts, they’ve got dartitis, can’t play darts ever again, what are they going to do?
“They’ve left school, they’ve done darts for four or five years, they’re now stuck, there’s not a lot out there.
“I’ve always said, get a trade, have something behind you that you can fall onto. It’s there for a safety net.”
Anderson plays either Jeffrey De Graaf or Rashad Sweeting in the second round of the Alexandra Palace event.
Anderson picks his favourite World Championship win
Anderson is one of a few men who has claimed the World Championship trophy in consecutive years, but one stands out to the Scottish icon.
In the same interview with Sky Sports, Anderson said: “Out of the two, it would have to be playing Phil. You know Phil, the legend that he is, and the amount of times he’s won championships on that stage.”
Playing Phil Taylor was rewarding enough for Anderson as he is one of the biggest legends of the game.
Anderson said: “You’ve got youngsters there now that will never have the chance to play Phil Taylor. So even if Phil had beat me, it wouldn’t have bothered me. I was playing Phil Taylor in the final.”
Anderson won the World Darts Championship in 2015 and 2016, defeating Taylor and Adrian Lewis in the final.