Gary Anderson reckons the World Darts Championships should stay at his beloved Ally Pally.
The Scot loves now being a darling of the London venue. PDC chiefs can’t keep up with demand for tickets at the 3,500-capacity venue and a switch to a bigger base is being mooted. But Anderson said: “Nah, it should stay where it is. I mean, there’s talk of going to Dubai. Can you imagine our crowds going across to Dubai? No. I don’t think it would go down well. Yes, you need bigger crowds, but it works, doesn’t it? It just works.
“There’s talk of Saudi, Dubai, as you say. I think it’s Barry Hearn being a bit of a brinkmanship, isn’t it? I think supporters, there’s people going to be able to afford to get across there. It’s not just getting across there, it’s tickets, hotels, flights, food.”
Anderson used to get hounded by the Ally Pally crowds, now he gets lauded. He added: “When I started I used to get dog’s abuse. Still get a wee bit now and again with Scotland getting battered. But it’s changed over the years, they’ve just started to actually give me a wee bit support now.
“I mean I like a good laugh and a bit of banter. If the crowd’s giving me, I’ll give it back. It’s part of the game isn’t it? So there can be things said and done that’s not quite nice, but at the end of the day, it’s all fun isn’t it? You’ve got to have a bit of a laugh at the crowd. It’s nice to see a lot of youngsters in the crowd as well now so with darts, it’s like new generations coming through and getting into the darts which is even better.”
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