England star and darts nut James Maddison enjoys night out at Ally Pally… but refused to down pint for rowdy crowd
JAMES MADDISON enjoyed some festive fun at Ally Pally to watch the World Darts Championships last night - but refused to bow to the pressure and down a pint!
The 26-year-old Leicester City star has just returned to his club after being part of England’s World Cup squad.
Unfortunately for the Foxes ace he did not get any minutes for the Three Lions out in the Middle East after suffering injury in his last Premier League outing at West Ham.
Despite that, the hugely-popular attacker and self-confessed darts nut wore a smile as bright as his Christian Dior jumper as he revelled in the atmosphere in North London.
Maddison, who hopes to be part of Leicester’s side to face Newcastle at home on Boxing Day, was still strictly business.
And after he was spotted by the crowds on the big screen and urged to down a pint, the footy ace refused to gulp a beer in one, much to the disappointment of those chanting.
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During an interview with Sky Sports, Maddison said: “I think it's known that I'm a big fan of the darts.
“We have a good darts school at Leicester. Lot of the lads play, even the staff play.
“We take the board to away games and we stick it up the night before when we're having down time and the standard is decent.”
And when pressed on if he was top of the leaderboard, he said: “I don't want to come across big-headed but I am.
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“Luke Thomas, who is with me today, would say different but the standard is quite good to be fair.”
When asked if he gets 180's, Maddison replied: “Yeah, I've had a few 180's. Gone past the stage where I count how many I've got. But it's good fun - we love the darts.”
Maddison has discussed his love of darts on numerous occasions and he even produced a dart throwing celebration after scoring at Wolves back in October.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers remained coy this week when he was asked about Maddison's chances of playing on Monday, saying: “We're going to give it every chance to see where he’s at.
“He’s had some ongoing issues with his knee. We’ll assess that.”
Maddison witnessed former champion Rob Cross reach the third round of the PDC World Championship after beating debutant Scott Williams.
He will now play Mervyn King in round three.
Welshman Jonny Clayton advanced with a 3-0 victory over Dutchman Danny van Trijp and will take on Brendan Dolan next after he beat Jimmy Hendriks 3-1.
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Danny Noppert triumphed 3-1 victor over David Cameron, while Joe Cullen beat Ricky Evans and Ross Smith defeated Darius Labanauskas by the same scoreline.
Chris Dobey enjoyed a 3-0 win over Martijn Kleermaker while Martin Schindler beat Martin Lukeman 3-1.