Inside Plymouth's massive darts venue as Luke Littler effect hits city

-Credit:Submitted
-Credit:Submitted


A Plymouth venue has hit the bullseye as the city goes crazy for darts - partly thanks to the Luke Littler effect. Hundreds of people are now regularly enjoying a game of arrows at the Legends Lounge in St Budeaux.

On one Sunday this month an astonishing 70 people turned up to play on the venue’s 16 darts boards. The game is attracting huge numbers of young men and boys, and even a few women, to the Barne Barton venue, with the aura around teenage darts sensation Luke Littler being cited as a major factor.

“The darts is going crazy,” said Legends Lounge owner Vince Rosson. “It’s definitely getting bigger since Luke Littler won the world championship.

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“We are getting youngsters coming here with their parents, lots of young people. They just turn up and want to play darts.

“We get some women players, but it is predominantly young males, men and boys, all ages. People are interacting, it’s getting youngsters away from their computers and out interacting with others.”

Mr Rosson said the darts centre, inside the Brunel View entertainment and leisure complex in Barne Road, has been named as one of the best in the UK by a leading dart-making company. Brunel View was opened in 2022 when Mr Rosson renovated a former working men’s club, transforming it into a bar, restaurant and indoor sports arena for darts, pool and snooker.

Darts players in the busy Legends Lounge at Brunel View -Credit:Submitted
Darts players in the busy Legends Lounge at Brunel View -Credit:Submitted

The venue serves food, has entertainments such as bingo and has a large function room. It is also now attracting some of the UK’s premier tribute bands, with forthcoming shows by Oasis tribute Be Here Now and Olly Murs impersonator Ryan Elliott.

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And it is the darts and pool rooms that are proving to be a major success. The Legends Lounge has 16 dart boards: a dozen in its darts venue, three more in the VIP lounge and another in the pool room.

The venue has been endorsed by leading darts equipment Mission Darts and has already attracted top darts players including world title runner-up Kevin “the Artist” Painter, world number five Stephen Bunting and Martin Lukeman, runner-up at last year’s Grand Slam of Darts. And in June, 50 European dart players will come to Plymouth for a three-day tournament at the Legends Lounge.

But it is the support of local dart throwers that shows how much the game has grown. Mr Rosson said: “This place gives everyone the chance to come and play straight away. You can go to your local pub, but there’s probably only one, two or three boards, so you have to wait for a game.

The Legends Lounge busy with darts players -Credit:Submitted
The Legends Lounge busy with darts players -Credit:Submitted

“Here there is normally a spare board. People are just turning up and having a match, often with someone else they have just met here. It’s a safe environment that is dart-friendly.”

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He added: “We have opened a darts shop too, with a massive range of darts accessories: flights, stems, boards, mats, everything. You can even try out a set of darts before you buy. We even have lights that go around the board which even does the scoring for you.”

The 1,000sq m Brunel View building was, for years, the St Budeaux Working Men’s Club. But when the lease expired it was decided to invest a significant amount of money to transform it into a hospitality and leisure centre capable of holding about 1,000 people over three floors.

It reopened in August 2022, following a six-month renovation and fit-out. Two indoor bowling greens were converted into the pool and darts rooms. It has an inhouse professional in Plymouth’s England international pool player Jez Graham.

Mr Rosson is a dart fan, but admits to not being the greatest thrower. And with the success of Brunel View and the Legends Lounge he doesn’t get much chance to get on the oche. He said: “I don’t have time to play, I’m too busy.”

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