When the Christmas telly gets switched on and the Quality Street lid comes off, two sports elbow everything else out of the way without so much as an apology: football and darts. For the traditional demographic — you know who you are — they’re as seasonal as sprouts and arguments about who ruined Christmas dinner.
The PDC World Championship slides itself neatly between the festive football chaos, offering tungsten therapy between Boxing Day kick-offs and New Year early relegation favorite six-pointers.
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Different sports, same sofa, same beer, same shouting at the television. And the truth is, football and darts have more in common than people like to admit — while also being worlds apart in some wonderfully obvious ways.
Let’s start with the overlaps.
SINGING AND CHANTING
It wouldn’t be Christmas sport without noise. Both darts and football fans love a good singalong, and neither group has any shame about recycling the same three tunes year after year. Stadiums up and down the country belt them out. Ally Pally does the same — just indoors, louder, and with more inflatable objects.
ALLY PALLY DOES ROBBIE WILLIAMS
Players get their own personal anthems too. Footballers have terrace chants; dart players get the full walk-on soundtrack, usually confirming there is, indeed, only one of them — and yes, they are very much walking in a winter wonderland. Expect harmonies, volume, and the occasional person who doesn’t know the words but commits anyway.
FOOD AND DRINK
Strip it back and we’re talking lager and pastry-based nutrition. Football grounds. Darts arenas. Same deal. While other options technically exist, most fans opt for a pint and something vaguely Greggs related. The key difference? Time. A football match lasts 90 minutes. A World Championship darts session can go on long enough for someone to forget where they left their seat — or who they came with. As the session rolls on, sobriety quietly exits via the fire door.
FANCY DRESS
This is where darts really stretches its festive legs. You’ll spot the odd Santa hat in a football crowd, maybe an elf jumper if someone’s feeling brave. But it’s usually a token nod. Ally Pally? Different planet. Walking up Muswell Hill feels like a Christmas-themed stag do collided with a costume warehouse. Full outfits are not encouraged — they’re expected. Football flirts with fancy dress. Darts marries it.
Now the differences — and these go beyond December darts.
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NATIONAL ANTHEMS
Football loves them. International match? Cue the anthem, flags, tears, arms around shoulders. Darts? Not a sniff. Even at the World Cup, teams walk on, nod, and get on with it. No anthem. No flag-waving ceremony. Just arrows.
You could argue darts is more individual — but then again, so is the Olympics, and they’re big on podium moments. Perhaps darts just prefers to let the tungsten do the talking. Food for thought.
AWAY KITS
In football, kit clashes are a logistical crime. Someone always has to change. Contrast that with darts, where two players — or even four in the World Cup — can be dressed identically from head to toe, all chucking arrows in black trousers and matching shirts. In football, you need to spot teammates instantly, often out of the corner of your eye. In darts, you know exactly who you’re aiming at — the board. Peripheral vision for passing darts to a team-mate – not required.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Technically, darts has late call-ups and replacements — but mid-match? Forget it. Imagine trailing 2–0 at Ally Pally and your manager taps you on the shoulder: Fresh arms coming on. Absurd? Completely. But the mental image of someone being subbed at the oche is too funny not to consider. Easily the most pointless difference on the list — and proudly so. There are undoubtedly dozens more comparisons — smarter, sharper, and far more valid than these.
But whether it’s turf or tungsten, scarves or silly hats, football and darts own Christmas television. Different games. Same chaos. Same joy. Same arguments with the remote.
—–ENDS—–
Images: T Lanning PDC
