Ayari and Baleba nominated for goal of the month
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Daily Mirror
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Nine-darters cost bookmaker £150,000 – but they were more than happy about it
Bookmaker BetMGM became the PDC Premier League's title sponsor in 2024, and a new incentive they introduced to the players this year ended up losing them £150,000 – though they weren't too fussed Nine-dart finishes are on the agenda at the World Matchplay – though, unlike in the Premier League, players will only be rewarded with bragging rights. The first ever nine-dart finish to be broadcast live on UK television took place on the Winter Gardens stage, when Phil' The Power' Taylor scooped up £100,000 for achieving perfection in 2002. While there will be no specific monetary gain on offer for anyone who dares hit a nine in Blackpool this time around, the feat did have some lucrative strings attached if made during the 2025 Premier League. Bookmakers BetMGM, who sponsored the 17-week competition, put a bounty on the nine-darter's head: a £30,000 set of 18-carat solid golden arrows. However, they perhaps didn't fathom quite how talented the Premier League cohort were, and ended up joyfully out of pocket. Eventual champion Luke Humphries kicked things off when he thumped in nine perfect darts against Rob Cross during Night 5 in Brighton. Later in the evening, Voltage returned the favour against Nathan Aspinall, bringing the tally to two. In Cardiff two weeks later, Luke Littler sealed a nine in a rematch of the World Darts Championship final against Michael van Gerwen. The Nuke was then on the receiving end of perfection during Night 10 in Manchester at the hands of Gerwyn Price, and the final nine-darter of the campaign was fired in by the Welshman during Night 15 in Aberdeen. Altogether, five sets of 18ct golden darts were handed out, two going home with The Iceman, and BetMGM were shaken to the tune of £150k. Yet, brand director Dan Towse feels their sponsorship of the event was a resounding success. World Matchplay Darts 2025 preview ON SALE NOW Warm up for the World Matchplay darts at the famous Winter Gardens with our 48-page preview publication, which is available to order now The height of summer, darts, Blackpool. It can only mean one thing - the World Matchplay at the famous Winter Gardens. You can get ready for one of the highlights of the darting year with our special preview publication. "Sponsoring the BetMGM Premier League has been a real success for us as a brand," he began. "Darts as a sport continues to grow and the BetMGM Premier League alone has seen growth in viewing figures year-on-year. Finals Night at the O2 saw the largest ever darts crowd in the UK. "It's fantastic that we are front and centre of one of the biggest events in the darting calendar for 17 weeks and we have seen really positive numbers in recognition of the BetMGM brand and attribution of our sponsorship to the tournament. "Nine-darters are incredible moments for players, fans and us at BetMGM. Naturally, TV coverage, replays and social noise to nine-darters help the brand cut through visually. But we wanted to elevate that further by offering an incentive of 18ct gold darts to players who achieved the feat throughout the season, which added something to what is already a huge achievement." Asked whether they expected to be parting with so much gold, Towse added: "I think it shows the standard of professional darts at the moment. "The gold darts were also something the players were genuinely incentivised by. We put together the campaign because we wanted to reward the players for achieving a feat that doesn't happen very often. "The reaction from the players has been really positive – some have already asked if we'll be doing it again next year, which shows how engaged they have been with the campaign. Did we expect two on the same night in Brighton? No, but it was incredible to see in person!" BetMGM reached a deal with the PDC to back the competition in 2024, and carried that partnership into this year's renewal. To mark the beginning of their sponsorship, 12-foot-tall golden darts were placed around the city of Cardiff last year in statue-like form. Despite going one better and parting with five solid gold sets to those who achieved a nine-dart finish, BetMGM seem keen to keep up the cooperation. "Darts has become a truly global game with new tournaments in new regions taking place every year, and I can only see the sport's popularity continuing to rise in the coming years, particularly with the impact the likes of Luke Littler have had," Towse continued. "But for us personally, we have already seen growth in metrics from year-on-year and heading into 2026 we can't wait to do it all over again!"
Evening Standard
25 minutes ago
- Evening Standard
Transfer news LIVE: Gyokeres to Arsenal FC hijack; Man Utd in £78m talks; Liverpool medical; Chelsea latest
Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are all expected to bolster their attacking options before the start of the new Premier League season. It has already been a busy summer transfer window for the Gunners with four new arrivals which should soon become five with an official announcement for Cristhian Mosquera. They are also said to be closing in on a final agreement with Sporting for prolific striker Viktor Gyokeres, despite talk of a Manchester United hijack, in addition to eyeing a move for Eberechi Eze.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Pep Lijnders reflects on Jurgen Klopp relationship after becoming Pep Guardiola's assistant
Pep Lijnders has become Pep Guardiola's new assistant at Manchester City, having previously worked closely with Jurgen Klopp during two spells as the German's assistant at Liverpool Pep Guardiola's decision to bring in Pep Lijnders as his assistant at Manchester City could be a match made in heaven - or hell. Lijnders' new boss has a reputation for being a manager who always listens intently to the advice given to him by his backroom staff before ignoring it completely. But Lijnders, the Dutchman who was such an important sounding board for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool during a six-year period in which the German became the only bulwark between Guardiola and total Premier League domination, is not someone who accepts being ignored. When the 42-year-old was invited to return as Klopp's right-hand man in the summer of 2018, just six months after he walked out of Anfield to become head coach of NEC Nijmegen, he insisted he would only accept the offer if he was given more responsibility. Klopp did what Guardiola must now do at the Etihad by delegating tasks to Lijnders that would have normally come under his remit. One of those jobs was to manage Liverpool in the Carabao Cup - including a tie against City at the Etihad in December 2022 in which Guardiola's team prevailed 3-2. Lijnders explained: 'When Liverpool asked me back after NEC, I would never have taken the job if I had just been offered the chance to go back as No 2. I was given a lot more responsibility. 'Jurgen made me do press conferences, match discussions - basically everything he did himself. He always said 'we do this job together' - and that's really how it was.' It is understood that when he made a call to Klopp asking the former Liverpool manager whether Lijnders would be a good fit alongside him at the Etihad, the German warned that he would quickly become restless if he was asked to do nothing more strenuous than put out the cones for training. Guardiola is a notorious control freak. The churn of backroom coaches during his nine seasons at the Etihad is eye-opening considering City have won six titles in that time. Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca were bold enough to stand their ground - and are now the respective managers of Arsenal and Chelsea. At the end of last season, even after losing the respected Carlos Vicens to Portuguese club Braga, Guardiola pressed ahead with his plan to bring new voices into his club. Both Juanma Lillo and Inigo Dominguez departed, with both men still unable to speak English with enough authority to converse freely with City's players. They have been replaced by former City defender Kolo Toure, a hugely popular figure at the Etihad after returning to the club to work with the Under-18s team, and former Liverpool set-piece coach James French. But it was Lijnders who was constantly in Guardiola's ear during the Club World Cup this summer and the hope is that he will re-energise City's squad with new ideas after a season which saw them limp to third in the Premier League and lose to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup Final. The Dutchman also has something to prove after being sacked as coach of Austrian club RB Salzburg last December - just a few weeks before Klopp was officially unveiled as Red Bull 's head of global soccer. One of Lijnders final acts in his last week at Anfield last year was to stand on a barstool in a hotel bar to sing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' in front of a group of Liverpool fans. He might be advised to learn the words to 'Blue Moon.'
