Leeds United fanatic Luke Humphries sets sights on World Darts Championship glory at Alexandra Palace

‘Cool Hand’ Luke Humphries is favourite to win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, which begins on Friday at Alexandra Palace, in north London - and the entire United squad will be willing him on. The number three seed is a lifelong Leeds supporter and recalled a “fantastic” reception when he met players and management at the training ground a few weeks ago.

“We had some good fun and threw a few darts,” he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. “They aren’t just supporting me in the Worlds, they’ve been supporting me for the last few years, which is great. I’ve had a couple of messages from Liam [Cooper] congratulating me on my success over the last few months and wishing me good luck for the Worlds. It is nice to have them supporting me and watching my progress.”

With six title wins to his credit this year, Humphries is already guaranteed a place in darts’ 2024 Premier League, which will visit Leeds on Thursday, May 9. “I have got a special shirt for that night,” he revealed. “It’s completely different to the shirt I usually wear.

“It is going to be very Leeds-based, it won’t be exactly the same as the Leeds shirt, but it’ll be as close as I can get it legally. I think the fans will love it and if I am allowed a special walk-on - different to my usual song - I’ve got one lined up to come out to, which I think will get a good reception.”

Humphries is from Newbury, in Berkshire, so United aren’t an obvious choice of club, but the 28-year-old followed the fine example set by his dad, more than half a century ago, in becoming a Leeds fan. There’s a clue in his name (from Leeds United Kings of Europe) and though he has no other real connection with the city, the club is in his blood.

He explained: “It comes from the 1972 FA Cup final; my grandad was a Tottenham supporter and my dad and my uncle didn’t support a team that much and they wanted to, so my grandad said you’ve got to pick a team now. My uncle was the oldest so he got Arsenal and my dad got Leeds. We won that FA Cup final 1-0 and it all stemmed from that moment.”

Darting commitments - he plays every weekend and spends time with his family when he gets two days off during the week - have prevented him getting to a match so far this season, but Humphries confirmed: “I am hoping to head up to the Ipswich game on the 23rd, after my first game in the World Championships. That’ll be a great feeling because it’s a long time since I’ve been able to go up there.”

For the moment, television coverage has to do and Humphries took a break from practice to watch United’s 1-0 defeat at Sunderland this week. He reflected: “We just didn’t play our best. It was a tough game, neither team got into it, but it was a bit of a fortunate goal, I thought. It sort of fell to [Alex] Pritchard’s head and he unexpectedly landed it on Jobe Bellingham’s head. In my opinion it was a lucky goal, but we didn’t look threatening on attack.

“That’s a bit of a worry, but it’s what this league is like, you can’t always go on these great runs. You are going to have days when you just get beaten and you just have to accept that.”

With Humphries’ Premier League place in the bag, he reckons United can follow suit. He admitted he would have settled for third place in the Championship in the run up to Christman, but stressed: “I think we are four points in front of what Burnley were last season, so I’d have thought [with 41 points], we’d be top or maybe second. We’re very unlucky that two other teams are playing so brilliantly. We could have been top, but we are 11 points away, which is crazy considering what the position was like last year. We have to keep fighting and battling.”

As for his own aspirations, Humphries has momentum at the end of a stellar year which has seen him win a string of tournaments including the Grand Slam, World Grand Prix and Players Championship finals, all of which were televised.

He begins his bid for the world crown on Sunday evening, December 17, against either Lee Evans or Sandro Eric Sosing, who face off on Friday. Competition for overall victory will be fierce from defending champion Michael Smith and others including former Ally Pally winners Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Gary Anderson, Rob Cross and Peter Wright. The only Yorkshireman in the field is Bradford’s Joe Cullen, the 14th seed.

Contemplating the favourite’s tag, Humphries insisted: “Obviously it does put pressure on me, but I do relish the challenge. I’ve dealt with that pressure on my shoulders over the last couple of months. The pressure will be more than ever at the World Championships, but I will just focus on my own game.”