Interview with Nathan Burdett: Darts in Ystalyfera

Darts has never been bigger, with huge interest and serious money at national level. Closer to home, Ystalyfera’s scene is buzzing too, even if the cheques are smaller. I caught up with Nathan Burdett, who runs the local league, to find out more.

When did you first start playing darts? I imagine you are fairly decent yourself?

I started when I was about 14 or 15, playing in local leagues. I wasn’t bad, and I’ve stuck at it.

The standard locally has really risen in recent years. What do you put that down to?

Definitely. Over the last 10 years the standard has gone up massively. A lot of that coincided with our singles league starting. Youngsters have came along at the same time, everyone has raised their game, and the overall level has just kept improving.

For people who don’t know, can you explain how the league works?

It’s a singles format, not the usual team games most people know. Everyone plays on their own, best-of-eight legs. So, first to five, or a 4–4 draw. The longer format gives players better practice and helps raise standards compared to the stop–start nature of normal pub league darts. There are three divisions so it’s competitive no matter what standard you currently play at.

How many players are in the league now, and how far are people travelling?

We’ve capped it at 54 because of space and there’s always a waiting list of 10–20 people. We don’t really advertise it, players approach us. We’ve had people come from Tumble, Llanelli and Port Talbot, even further afield.

You’re based at Ystalyfera Rugby Club, it is great for the valley, isn’t it?

Yes, that’s our home now. We’ve been in a few different venues, but the rugby club have been brilliant with us, and hopefully that’s where we’ll stay. The darts brings people into the club and up the valley. People are welcome to come along, have a beer and watch high quality darts close-up, which all must be a good thing. 

How do you measure the standard improving?

When we started, everything was scored manually on whiteboards, so we didn’t have averages but now with DartConnect you can track stats and even watch games live. The big difference is how competitive it is, and it’s a lot harder to win the league now. Players from our league are going away and winning tournaments against strong opposition. One even lost a final at Q-School last year and nearly won a PDC Tour Card.

There was a nine-darter hit recently in the league, wasn’t there?

Yes! It’s the first one that I’ve seen locally. A couple of others have come close, I have missed the double on a 9-darter before, and I know a couple of others have too but to finally see it go in was special. Paul Carsley was the player who did it, he finished seventh in the league last year which shows that he is one of the better lads, but it also shows how strong the standard is that there were 6 people that finished above him, and I suppose would be just as likely to throw a 9-darter.

Darts has exploded since Luke Littler burst onto the scene. Have you noticed that locally?

Definitely. There’s more interest from youngsters now—they see darts as something you can make a career out of. That’s what the league is all about, giving people the chance to play more seriously and see how far they can go.

Do you see the league growing further?

We’re at capacity space-wise, but it would be nice to broaden a bit and run some other events, sponsorship depending of course. We usually run an open tournament each year. There’s a real appetite in South Wales for regular competitions. Before Covid, you could play a decent tournament every weekend. It hasn’t quite picked up to that level again yet as the darting calendar is congested with other things, but hopefully it will.

Are there any names we should watch out for locally?

There are a few younger lads that look really good, but Kieran Harris is one that stands out. He’s not a youngster anymore, but he’s got loads of potential. He lost in the semi-final of the national Champions of Champions recently, which is a huge event for amateurs. Kelvin O’Keefe from Llanelli is the player that just missed out on winning his Tour Card at Q-School last year, he was really close to playing the likes of Luke Littler week-in week-out. The talent is there, and I hope the league provides the opportunity for anyone to kick on if they put the work in.