A Trip Across the Pond for the Darts

This is the story of a trip to the UK to celebrate my 40th birthday. It begins on my 39th birthday (December 26th if you’re wondering), when my wonderful girlfriend Alicia gifted me a professional-quality darts board and (very reluctantly) let me hang it in our home. Later that night she turned to me and asked “what should we do for your birthday next year? You’re turning FORTY!” So I said, not entirely seriously, “Let’s go to London for the Darts World Championship,” and she said “OK!” 

The Preparation

The first step on the journey was securing additional travel companions. I talked my best friend Joe who lives in San Diego and also loves watching darts (and the person who had just finished talking Alicia into buying me the dart board in the first place), into coming along. This was a tall order, because he doesn’t like flying and had never done a trip across the pond. Unfortunately for him, his partner Diana, who goes by D, was all in once she heard about it. With that done, I called my best friend from college, Amy, and told her what was happening. She committed without even knowing that there was such a thing as a World Darts Championship. It’s important to have friends like this.

The next hurdle was obtaining tickets. I’ve been watching darts whenever I could for several years, but it wasn’t always as easy as it is now. As recently as a few years ago the best way to do it in the United States was to find an illegal stream of the televised matches. Things began to change after January 2023 when "The Most Amazing Leg Of Darts You Will Ever See In Your Life" happened at that year's World Championship.

I think if you watch the video you’ll understand why it captured the hearts of a wider audience (it was also boosted by a certain mostly-baseball content factory on Twitter). Eventually the Professional Darts Corporation began offering an international PDC.tv streaming package, and now I watch the darts more or less weekly. Some of the bigger tournaments, including this year’s World Championship are now being streamed on Peacock for the US audience. An additional benefit of the PDC streaming package is access to presales for tickets to PDC tournaments.

That’s how I found myself awake at 3:00am in late June, preparing for one of the most harrowing ticket purchasing experiences of my life. I had 3 devices open, each with multiple browsers ready to get in the queue, some on WiFi, some on data to make sure I didn’t get caught in the ol' “we think you’re a robot” trap.  At various points across those devices I was anywhere from 9,000th to 50,000th in line to make a purchase. Then the WiFi devices did in fact get caught in the “we think you’re a robot” trap. Blurry eyed and panicked, with our trip to London on the line, I desperately searched for dates that still had tickets available on my phone via a website that absolutely was not meant to be browsed on a phone. In the end I managed to secure tickets for Tuesday, December 23rd. This changed our timeline as we originally wanted to spend New Years in the UK, but it was real. We were going to the darts.

The to do list from there, in no particular order included:

• Obtaining a wardrobe fit for London and Scotland in December (I live in San Diego, so I owned plenty of outer wear, but nothing that could be described as a true coat, much less a weatherproof one).
• Choosing a group costume, or “fancy dress,” as it’s called in the UK. The group element is key. What we ended up going with was t-shirts (hand-crafted by D!) that had me looking like Pac-Man and them looking like the ghosts Pac-Man chases. At one point we considered going in full baseball uniforms, but we thought we might stand out a little too much and that was a lot of extra stuff to pack and only wear once.
• Booking flights, trains, and places to stay.
• Planning activities and booking tickets for other attractions (shout out to the Section 1904 Discord server for recommendations!).

The Trip

On Monday, December 15th we boarded a flight to Atlanta where Alicia, Joe, Diana and I met up with Amy before traveling on to London. The flights were uneventful and I thought that was a big win. An uneventful trip through Hartsfield-Jackson is a rarity in my experience. After an uncomfortable, foggy-windowed taxi ride to our AirBnB and a moment to settle, it was time to find a pub, get some chips and watch the darts. Our first stop was at Sir Sydney Smith pub where we ran into a local named Geoff. Geoff fulfilled one of the most important roles on every international vacation: the local you run into who used to live where you’re visiting from. He used to live in Newport Beach and worked in San Diego for a time. It’s a small world, after all.

Geoff loaded us up with recommendations for other pubs in the area, including one called the Artful Dodger. This was the scene of one of the most British things I’ve ever experienced. While enjoying a bitter and watching the afternoon session of darts on TV, a small door on the side of the bar opened up and a man climbed up some stairs out of the basement. He seemed to be completely sloshed, and it turns out the barman was letting him sleep it off down there before heading home. Incredible stuff. Drinking can be a contact sport in this country. More on that later.

Our first activity on Wednesday was touring the WW2-era cruiser HMS Belfast, which is moored in the Thames right near the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Besides the darts, this was my only non-negotiable event of the trip. If I go on vacation somewhere with a museum ship, I’m getting on the ship. I am fascinated by the history you can find there, but also amazed at the machines we’re capable of building. And this was just one of hundreds of cruisers that fought in the second world war. Perhaps the most interesting bit of the HMS Belfast is that they let you have the run of the place.

Our own museum ship in San Diego, the USS Midway, is a heavily curated experience and the majority of the ship is blocked off. Here they basically tell you to have fun and good luck with the ladders as you’re climbing straight down into the engine room. While exploring the lower decks of one of the Belfast’s turrets, we heard an announcement over the ship’s loudspeaker requesting my presence elsewhere in the museum. Apparently we took so long to get there that the docent called me a “dozy pilchard,” and now my everyone won’t stop calling me that. I still don't know what it means, but we’ve got banter. We’re assimilating.

Following the tour there, we headed north of the river to Leadenhall Market, which is the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter series of novels. It was jam packed with people from nearby offices having their Christmas lunch, so we got to see a UK holiday tradition: Christmas Crackers. Christmas Crackers are little cardboard tubes and everyone in your party takes hold of one end and pulls them. They pop like small fireworks, and are filled with tiny trinkets like decks of cards, felt Christmas ornaments, horrendous dad jokes, and tissue paper Christmas crowns, which everyone wears during lunch. We saw several parties popping their crackers while we had really great tapas at an upstairs restaurant.

After a quick break, we took a jaunt around the Christmas Market on the north bank of the Thames. Beautiful lights, trees, and tons of stalls serving delicious food or selling gifts. But as much as we are here for the touristy stuff, we’re also here for the darts so it was time to find a pub with a television and catch that evening’s session. We went down the street to one of Geoff’s recommendations, the Brown Bear for highly recommended fish and chips, but also a unique menu crafted by the Thai chef, who simply went by Chef. We tried to ask his name multiple times. He said it was Chef. Brilliant. Mysterious. And the best panang curry D has ever had. After several subsequent meals on this trip, she would say something to the effect of “That was good, but the panang curry was still my favorite.”

One of the funniest repeat occurrences on this trip is when someone hears our American accents and somewhat nervously asks “Where in the States are you from?” and the clear sense of relief that washes over their face when we say “California.” Such was the case with the barman at the Brown Bear, Reece, who quickly became our new best friend in London. When he learned that we were in London for the darts, his concerned expression returned. “Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?” he asked. When we explained that we had our fancy dress ready to go, he became enamored with us.

We were seated next to the pub’s pay-to-play jukebox equivalent, and Reece added a bunch of credits and told us to play whatever we wanted. He then put on Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” and walked away, which made me lose Whamageddon for 2025. I was certain I wouldn’t escape London still in the game, but I didn’t expect a betrayal like this from Reece. The rest of the night was a cozy evening of drinks and darts. There was an important match on. The darts board in our home which I mentioned earlier is a signature version for one of my favorite players, Michael van Gerwen. The schedule of the 2nd round was unclear at this point, but we thought there was a good chance MVG would be playing on the day we attended, so I was really hoping he didn’t falter in the first round. He’s also the world #3 player, so it would be a massive upset if he lost. He got over the line in the end, but it was a dodgy affair for a while. Then the schedule came out, and while he was playing on Tuesday, he was scheduled for the night session and our tickets were for the afternoon. I was full of ale and good food and having an amazing time anyway.

On Thursday, Joe and D woke up early and undertook a side quest for the group. For several years D has been following a guy called Leonel Maxlhaieie, or Leo The Baker on YouTube. He runs a microbakery and does car boot pop up shops, and she was very excited to meet him and buy some of his bakes. Joe and D awoke early, hopped a bus and a train to Sevenoaks about an hour outside of London, met Leo, and got a bag full of goodies to bring back to the rest of the crew for breakfast. Later in the week we’d see Leo’s latest post which featured Joe and D in the title and thumbnail.

This kind of connection is one of the most powerful ways the internet can be used. Like Section 1904 itself, folks coming together over a common interest is powerful and meaningful and I’m grateful that Joe and D got to experience it (and that they brought us Leo’s incredible work for breakfast). 

Thursday was a rainy day, but we were a short walk from our main interest of the day, the Tower of London. There’s almost a thousand years of history to see here (and also the crown jewels if you’re into that sort of thing or feeling like you need to one-up the Louvre heist). D’s priority here was to meet the ravens of the Tower of London. Legend holds that if the Ravens ever leave the tower, the empire will fall. It seems to me that trimming their feathers to prevent them from flying too far is cheating, but they were beautiful animals and one perched up close on the entrance to the White Tower as we were walking in.

After our rainy day, we made it back inside just in time to catch the best match of the tournament so far. The world #18 Mike de Decker was up against a debutante, David Munyua. Munyua is the first ever participant in the World Darts Championship from Kenya, and had never left Africa before traveling here for the tournament. Back home, he’s a full time vet, and apparently purchased another player’s signature darts from a local shop before taking the biggest stage in the sport. After going down 2 sets to 0, miscounting, and being attacked by the now-(in)famous Ally Pally Wasp, which landed on his face, Munyua completed one of the most stunning comebacks and upsets in the tournament’s history.

It’s an incredible story and you can read more about it here. He even received a message from Kenya’s president, William Ruto ahead of his next match.

The next morning we hopped a train 4 hours north to Edinburgh, which goes all out for Christmas. We stayed right next to the train station and a central park that hosted a massive Christmas market, flanked by the National Galleries and the Royal Mile leading up to Edinburgh Castle. We were perfectly located to see and do everything we wanted. Whiskey tasting experiences, great restaurants and pubs, and endlessly interesting historical sites. I think the highlight for me was Old Calton Cemetery, which features a monument to the American Civil War. I was inspired by these two contrasting gravestones.

We should all strive to live in a way that makes people want to re-erect our marker should it crumble rather than have it read like a legal contract that obliges your brother, with whom you definitely lived in harmony, to bury you here. Watching the sunrise over an extinct volcano called Arthur’s Seat with some of my favorite people is a moment I will remember for a long time.

The Darts

With our weekend jaunt complete, we returned to North London so we would be closer to Alexandra Palace for our day at the darts. The World Darts Championship is an unbelievable affair. The crowd participation, the players’ entrances, the environment itself. I can’t think of an American sports experience that compares. The closest might honestly be professional wrestling. Originally envisioned as “The People’s Palace,” the Ally Pally is an amazing venue. The first thing you see upon arrival is its beautiful stained glass window above the main entrance hall.

Walking inside, you see a sign that reads “Welcome, nuns, traffic cones, Santas, and whatever the rest of you are supposed to be,” and the breadth of fancy dress on display was impressive.

We saw cowboys and cowgirls, armies of people dressed like Ali G, bowling pins, Teletubbies, Santa’s elves, herds of Loraxes, awful Christmas sweaters, a group of mimes, and Christmas ornaments, including one guy in a bright gold star outfit to top the tree. In the middle of the match the star would be forcibly removed from the arena, and that's the only sign of discontent we saw the entire day. Earlier when I said that drinking can be a contact sport in this country, what I was referring to was the next thing you see: the bar, where dozens and dozens of massive pitchers of beer were ready for fans before we even got inside.

Over the course of this event, an expected 500,000 beers will be consumed and let me tell you that feels low based on our one afternoon there. Some people were drinking from their pitcher with straws instead of pouring beers for their friends. And it wasn’t just beer. They sold cocktails in these pitchers. The idea of letting American sports fans carry pitcher after pitcher of beer or worse back to their seats would be crazy. We’re not built for it, and I haven’t even gotten to the near-constant banter and good-willed needling that happens throughout the crowd. A Padres-Dodgers game with Ally Pally booze would result in death and dismemberment. 

We were greeted at our seats by several promotional items, including signs that have “180” written on one side, which fans wave in the air when a player hits 3 treble-20’s, and a blank white box where they can write whatever they want on the other. The mimes I mentioned earlier left theirs blank, and that’s extremely good work by them. Next to that on one seat was a bright green bucket hat emblazoned with the Paddy Power logo, and next to that was a pair of just-as-bright green pants. And when I say pants, I mean it in the UK sense, not the American sense. These are lime green briefs for you to do with as you please, and I followed the local custom of wearing them outside my jeans for the entire match.

Someone tell the Padres that rally towels are old news.

We were also greeted at our seats by a rowdy young man from Norwich called Connor and his mates. By the end of the day, Joe and D were best friends with Connor and he is eager to visit San Diego some day. They even exchanged contact information and Christmas wishes with each other as we were traveling home. I fear we will only disappoint him, as nothing we have on offer is as fun as this event. I think the best way to explain the experience of a fan at the darts is through the sounds. Whether it’s singing a player’s walk-on song, chanting at each other, or cheering on a 180, you will hear the crowd constantly. Connor was happy to teach us everything we needed to know.

The Chants

The most important and common chant for us to learn was to yell at the folks who bought tickets to The Tables (long tables on the floor in front of the stage, as opposed to seats in The Stands like ours). According to Connor and tradition, the folks on the floor aren’t as rowdy and raucous as we are in The Stands, and they need to know it. So the fans in The Stands chant “boring, boring tables!” while the fans at The Tables respond by mimicking the chant, but saying “can’t afford a table!” Later in the match, The Tables will also sing “Feed The Stands, let them know it’s Christmastime!” to the tune of the Band Aid song.

Just about every time a televised darts match goes to commercial, the arena plays a song called Chase the Sun by Planet Funk. This is the darts anthem. The crowd goes absolutely nuts for it, and it was even better live than it seems on TV.

And in between sets, there are the darts equivalent of NBA dancers who come on stage, and a master of ceremonies who keeps the crowd rowdy by playing songs like Sweet Caroline.

Other recurring chants and songs which are also common at football matches include the chorus of “Hey! Baby” by Bruce Channel, and “Please Don’t Take Me Home,” which goes like this:

Don’t take me home

Please don’t take me home

I just don’t wanna go to work

I wanna stay here and drink loads of beer

Please don’t, please don’t take me home

Extremely relatable, as I didn't want the session to end myself. But perhaps the best chant of the night was for Callan Rydz. Rydz, in the estimation of the darts crowd, has absolutely terrible hair.

Is it a toupee? A comb-over? Some other kind of hair enhancement? I don’t know. But what I do know is the crowd loves to chant “Callan Rydz, Callan Rydz, Callan Callan Rydz! He’s got shit hair but we don’t care! Callan, Callan Rydz!” To his credit, Callan takes it in stride. He has embraced it as good-hearted banter and has even suggested it spurs him on to big wins sometimes.

As for the darts themselves, we saw some high drama. Two of the 4 matches went the distance, so not only did we see great darts we saw a lot of it. This was the last day of play before a break at Christmas. When players return on December 27th we’ll be down to the last 32 players and a world champion will be crowned on January 3rd. After some stunning upsets, I’m not sure I see anything but a Luke Littler repeat in the works. There are fewer seeded players in his corner of the bracket than anyone expected, and he seems as unbeatable as ever. 

Nothing could have prepared me for what live World Championship darts is like, and I know that sounds weird because it’s “just darts,” but I guess the real point here is that it isn’t just darts. It’s a massive party. The drinking, the singing and chanting, the sights, sounds, and smells of an event which I mostly only watch from my desk in the middle of the workday were overwhelming and incredible. It exceeded every expectation I could have had and I’m only sad we didn’t have tickets to multiple sessions. I will be forever grateful to Alicia, Joe, Diana, and Amy for coming on this trip to celebrate my birthday with me, and to John and Darren for letting me share the journey with you all as Section 1904's Senior Darts Correspondent.