Van der Velde teams up with Wayne Rooney’s agent in major darts move

JURJEN VAN DER VELDE has teamed up with Wayne Rooney’s agent in a bid to take his darts career to the next level.

The Dutchman has joined Invictus, the management company spearheaded by Paul Stretford and Steve Mottershead, who previously worked with Phil Taylor.

Van der Velde, 23, believes the experienced unit can help him develop both on and off the oche, with five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld also part of the set-up.

He told Oche180: “Especially with Raymond [Van Barneveld] of course, he's a legend of the game and with Steve's [Mottershead] experience in darts all over the years with Phil [Taylor].

“They can help me a lot with giving me tips and everything that helps me to make me a better darts player. It's a very good team.

“Maybe for the future he [Van Barneveld] is going to coach and help some other youth players in the team Invictus.”

But Van der Velde is still balancing his darts ambitions with his life as a full-time farmer.

The former World Youth Championship finalist continues to milk cows with his family and even had to fit his interview around his daily duties.

Van der Velde is keeping a close eye on the extreme heatwave sweeping across Europe, with temperatures soaring beyond 36C in parts of the continent.

The scorching conditions have left the landscape extremely dry, reduced food supplies for cattle and made life tougher for those working the land.

He added: “At this time of year there is a lot of work to do. My dad gives me a lot of time and says if I need to stay home to practise.

“He gives me all the time to play darts. It’s very dry on the landscape and you see it all over the world and on the news.

“There is a lot of fire. I am happy it is not yet on our farm. But it is very dry and we need to feed the cows extra.

“It’s not directly a big problem because we have a lot of extra [grass] to feed the cows. But if it is happening every year then it could be a problem.”

Van der Velde enjoyed an impressive 2025 campaign, reaching the fifth round of the UK Open and the second round of the Grand Slam.

The Zevenhuizen thrower could have found his darts nickname after fans at Minehead spotted his resemblance to the Milky Bar Kid.

Van der Velde has the same blonde hair and glasses as the famous character but admits it has not officially stuck just yet.

He continued: “Especially at the UK Open, where I have played a few times.

“There were some supporters and they made a darts shirt for me with Van der Velde and the Milky Bar Kid with the picture on the shirt!

“I am now looking at that shirt. It is brilliant, but it is still not my official nickname.”

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning