The 1930s when darts was banned
Premier League darts concludes at the O2 on 29th May after weekly competitions around the UK and Europe since February 2025. It has attracted particular interest again perhaps because one of the finalists Luke Littler is perhaps a little more youthful than some other darts players.
Like snooker, darts in the 2020s is as much a spectator sport as one to be played directly. The enjoyment of the spectacle by the O2 crowd (and Ally Pally at year end for the World Championships) is sometimes remarked upon disdainfully, although crowds at many sporting events are to be seen similarly enjoying themselves.
There is not a great deal of research on the social history of darts in the UK with the exception of Dr Darts, Patrick Chaplin, who has researched a PhD on the subject.
One interesting sidelight with an angle even today is the attitude of authorities to darts and indeed to all games that might be played in pubs:
While the King and Queen playing a brief game of darts in Slough in 1937 did something to promote the cross class appeal of darts in reality in Glasgow, Huddersfield and Liverpool darts playing in pubs was banned at various points in the 1930s.
In most cases it wasn’t just darts but all pub games that were banned, being seen to be associated with drink and unruly behaviour. In most cases the ban was relaxed for some pub games but not darts.
The Second World War intervened and as Chaplin notes by the 1950s darts had become a regular feature of pub life, often promoted by breweries to attract custom
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