WARE ADMITS HE NEARLY QUIT DARTS

HUW WARE admits he nearly QUIT darts before making history at Ally Pally.

The Welshman became the first openly gay referee to take charge of a World Championship final, officiating the 2025 showpiece clash between Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen. 

But Ware, 32, revealed he considered walking away from the sport “a few times” prior to breaking new ground at the biggest event on the darting calendar. 

The PDC referee, who has been on the circuit since 2016, opened up about the doubts he battled earlier in his career as he struggled to feel fully accepted within the sport. 

He told Madhouse Magazine: “Did I consider walking away? Yes, a few times.

“How I overcame it, I think ultimately I looked in the mirror and said, what do you want to do? 

“Do you want to carry on in darts or not? I found I wanted to carry on in darts. 

“I think that is one of the reasons why the ten days I had in the press after I did the world final didn’t make those years worth it, because nothing is worth that.

“But it made me happy that I stayed around.” 

Ware was also asked about the toughest crowd he had to deal with while officiating on stage. 

He added: “The worst one I ever had was, I think, between Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall. 

“It was during the last 16 and again it was on the European Tour. Something happened, I don’t know what. 

“Funnily enough, I said something over the microphone. Then somebody else started and somebody else did. 

“All of a sudden it was like the whole crowd were whistling. So I said something to bring it back. 

“We only had a couple of legs left anyway. But I think it sort of brought the game back to some degree of order. 

“But the game had been ruined already, there’s no question about that.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.