I'm the controversial darts star who karate chopped Ally Pally wasp, hit no-look 180, and taunted fans
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Darts star Scott Williams takes the expression ‘the gloves are off’ seriously – unless he’s between the sticks for his Sunday league team.
The world number 37 is as much a maverick on the oche as he is on the football pitch but is no stranger to headlines whatever the sport.
Williams would have been the breakout story of last year’s PDC World Championship had it not been for the emergence of Luke Littler.
In just his second Ally Pally appearance, ‘Shaggy’ catapulted himself onto the front pages of newspapers as much as he did the back.
The unseeded star was building quite the fanbase for his showmanship on stage when he reached the last 16 last December.
He had failed to replicate his ‘no-look 180’ from his 2022 defeat to Rob Cross in the first round but crucially was on the right side of the result and then another two before facing Martin Schindler.
Williams beat the German 4-3 but scored a spectacular own-goal for referencing World War I and World War II in his post-match interview.
He said on stage: “I’ve never had the crowd on my side like that. I know we won two World Wars and one World Cup but that was… the German fans in here were huge.”
Sky Sports had to apologise for the offensive language on live TV – with Williams later calling his comments ‘stupid’ on social media.
He managed to endear himself to the crowd in his next match after trying to karate chop a wasp during his win over Damon Heta.
Ross Smith was stung on stage during an interview but Williams showed his quick reflexes to throw both hands and darts.
The 34-year-old enjoyed the biggest scalp of his career in January after dumping out three-time champion Michael van Gerwen.
Williams was the huge underdog facing MVG in the quarter-finals, but a 5-3 victory proved to be the tournament’s biggest upset.
The Boston-born star won all three legs after a slow start from the Green Machine and his showboating self immediately came out.
With the end of the set signalling a break in play, Williams pointed to Van Gerwen on stage before gesturing a big O to indicate the score.
That gesture ironically came back to bite him as he was thrashed 6-0 in the semi-finals by eventual winner Luke Humphries.
Days later he couldn’t quite manage to inflict the same feeling on the pitch as he donned the gloves for his local football team.
Williams featured in goal for Swineshead Institute, who play in the Boston Saturday League in Lincolnshire, in a 4-1 win over Park United Reserves in the Main Ridge Takeaway Reserve Cup.
Swineshead manager, Andy Stukins told the Daily Star in 2022: "Scott's Scott, whatever you see on TV is what he's like in real life. When he plays in goal, he comes out doing [Johan] Cryuff turns on the strikers and running past two or three players.
"I think some people think it's an act for the TV, but it's not, he's always cracking jokes. He came back to us in the summer and we didn't think he'd play much, but he's played three or four games.
"He had to come on the other week. I used to play in goal so we put me on the bench unless Scott's there. The other week, the goalkeeper got injured, the next thing I know Scott is running towards goal!
"He can kick a ball a mile to be far. Being 6ft4, not many balls get past him, especially crosses. In 2016, we won everything in the Boston League and Scott was a big part of that team."
Williams racked up £100,000 in prize money for his Ally Pally run last year but remains the same to those who knew him in Swineshead.
He has a dedicated practice room at the village's Green Dragon pub, where the landlord said his rise to fame was only a matter of time.
Sean Trafford told LincsOnline: "One year the BDO was playing on the telly on one wall and he was throwing against them on our board.
"He was beating them and I said ' You're going to do this, you're going to make it. This is your future'.
"I always knew he could do it when you watch him throw. It's just natural."
