Luke Littler, Luke Humphries get MBEs in king’s birthday honours list
Darts sensation Luke Littler and world No. 1 Luke Humphries have been awarded MBEs in King Charles’ birthday honours list for their respective services to the sport.
Since capturing the public’s attention by reaching the world championship final at the age of 16 in 2024, Littler’s continued rise — dubbed by some as “Littlermania” — has helped drive darts’ exponential growth in recent years.
He lifted his maiden world title in January when he beat three-time champion Michael van Gerwen in January’s final at Alexandra Palace. At 17 years and 347 days old, he became the youngest world champion in history.
“The Nuke” has also triumphed in the Premier League, Grand Slam of Darts, World Series Finals and the UK Open.
He was made an honorary citizen of Warrington by the town’s Borough Council in Februrary. His local rugby league team, Warrington Wolves, renamed their stadium in his honour for the opening day of the 2025 season, where the darts prodigy showed off his world championship trophy at the “Luke Littler Stadium” ahead of kick-off.
Despite Littler’s almost total dominance of the sport, Humphries has been the only man able to get the better of the 18-year-old on a semi-regular basis.
Humphries, who has been ranked as the world’s best player since January 2024, triumphed over Littler in the Premier League final at the O2 Arena on May 29.
In doing so, “Cool Hand Luke” became just the fourth player to complete the darts triple crown — Premier League, World Championship and World Matchplay — joining Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Van Gerwen as the only players to have accomplished the feat.
Humphries won his first, and so far only, world championship in 2024 when he overcame the then-16-year-old Littler in a memorable final.
Littler’s good-natured rivalry at the oche with Humphries has produced some of the highest quality darts matches in living memory.
The pair played out an instant classic on Night 15 of the Premier League on May 15. A total of 14 180s were hit during the course of the nine-leg quarterfinal match in Aberdeen.
Littler ended with an average of 115.96 in his 6-3 win, while Humphries finished averaging 110.01 — at one point Littler was averaging north of 120 and Humphries 118.
Littler and Humphries were not the only darts players to receive an honour from the king.
Deta Hedman received an OBE for her services to darts. The 65-year-old has won world-ranked titles in each of the last five decades. She became the first Black woman to compete at the PDC World Championship in 2020.
Away from darts, Manchester United and England legend David Beckham’s was knighted in the king’s honours list, while British tennis legend Virginia Wade received a CBE.