‘Shut up!’ Welsh referee steps in as whistling breaks out at darts

A darts referee gave a German crowd a taste of the south Walian temper after whistling disrupted a European Tour match last night.

The PDC European Tour includes fifteen weekend tournaments across Europe, with the most recent series of games in Göttingen, Germany running from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 March.

During the match between British fan-favourite Stephen Bunting and rising German player Niko Springer, the German crowd began to whistle on Bunting’s important throws.

Whistling has long been an issue in professional darts. As the shrill sound stands out from the regular murmur of the crowd, it can distract players and is often used deliberately by rival fans to this end.

In the event that whistling is hampering play, referees — whose main responsibility is to call scores to the players and crowd — will provide a warning between throws.

In certain cases, if the whistling continues, the member of the crowd responsible can be ejected by security.

Last year’s German Euro Tour winner, Nathan Aspinall, has called for anyone caught whistling to receive a five-year ban in order to dissuade others from copying the behaviour.

During the Bunting vs. Springer match referee Huw Ware, who represented Wales in darts at the 2011 WDF Europe Youth Cup, asked the crowd to respect the throw and remain quiet.

However, the whistling continued and Ware then put his foot down, saying: “I’ve asked politely once and I’ll say it impolitely: shut up, please! We’re trying to have a game of darts up here.”

Ware is no stranger to stepping in when the crowd becomes too rowdy. In November 2025 during the Grand Slam of Darts, the referee from Barry asked jeering fans: “Would you stop doing that, please? Seriously!”

The intervention left Welsh player Gerwyn Price, who moments before had scored a 140, giggling as he left the oche.

Ware told the Metro that he often struggles with whether to call fans out for the behaviour. He said: “I might turn around on the microphone and say, ‘stop whistling’. And they might. You might get lucky and they might.

“But then someone else will start over there. And then someone else will start over there. And then someone else. Then all of a sudden, you’ve got a bigger problem than what you initially started with.”

Although Ware’s decision to step in in Göttingen was met with cheers from the crowd, it seems the damage was already done with Bunting losing on a deciding leg.

Bunting later took to social media to shed more light on the situation, writing: “The dedication we make as dart players never gets seen…I have great support from my family who I’m away from constantly, from my sponsors and management and generally from 99% of the fans.

“I never moan about defeats or cry about them but feel really hurt tonight even though it was a small minority of people.

“To boo and whistle at important times through any match isn’t acceptable and if you want to do that then go to a football match. Nothing at all against [Niko Springer] he played a great match but the whistling spoilt the game.

“Good luck to Niko for the rest of the tournament. I understand why certain players don’t want to travel over here for the whistling but like I said it isn’t all the time and I love my fans especially the genuine ones in Germany.”

Players who have opted not to travel to Göttingen include world number 1 Luke Littler, who has previously received a poor reception from German crowds.

Fans were pleased that Ware had stepped in, however, taking to social media to praise the referee.

“He done what we all wish we could do when watching the darts. Well done Huw Ware,” a commenter wrote, while another added: “I’ve got a lot of time for Huw, as well as being a walking calculator he seems a proper decent guy.”

Welsh hopes at this stage of the PDC European Tour rest on Gerwyn Price, after Jonny Clayton pulled out of the tournament with gout despite battling through to win the seventh night of the Premier League of Darts in Nottingham on Thursday (12 March).