In a sporting culture where dedication is routinely measured by how much time an athlete spends training, the idea of an elite competitor disliking his own sport sounds contradictory. Yet a Premier League winner has admitted he does not watch football, and a darts world champion crowned at Alexandra Palace has confessed that he is not a fan of darts. The two cases feature in a round-up of sportsmen who reached the summit of their professions without becoming devoted spectators.
The admissions are not likely to diminish their achievements. The Premier League winner has a title to his name, while the darts champion lifted the biggest prize in the game on the Alexandra Palace stage, the venue known to fans as Ally Pally. That tournament has become one of the most colourful events on the sporting calendar, with packed arenas and a television audience that stretches far beyond the traditional darts crowd.
For fans, such comments can be startling. Supporters tend to assume that players watch every match, study every rival and think about their sport around the clock. In reality, the relationship is often more complicated. Top-level sport is a job, with gruelling training schedules, constant travel and the pressure of public performance. After spending most of their time inside that world, some athletes would rather do anything than watch more of it on screen.
The football example is particularly striking, given the size of the Premier League. England's top flight is followed by hundreds of millions of viewers around the world, and the coming season is due to begin on 21 August, with the Scottish Premiership getting under way on 31 July. For most supporters, that means a steady diet of matches, previews and analysis. For one former champion, apparently, it means switching off.
Darts has undergone a similar change. Once associated with smoky clubs and small crowds, the professional game now fills arenas with supporters who sing, wave inflatables and create a carnival atmosphere as the players walk to the oche. The World Championship at Alexandra Palace, held over the Christmas and New Year period, has become the sport's annual showpiece. To win it is to be celebrated in front of one of the loudest audiences in sport.
That may be precisely why some champions distance themselves from the spectacle. Watching their own sport from outside is not always relaxing. A player who has competed at the very highest level often cannot switch off the analytical part of the brain. A misplaced pass or a loose dart can be irritating even from the comfort of a sofa. Others simply need time away from an environment that has consumed their lives for years.
This is not an entirely new phenomenon. Professional sport regularly produces competitors who regard their discipline as work rather than as entertainment. What has changed is the public reaction in an age of social media, statistics and endless replays. A champion who admits he does not watch his own sport can seem to be breaking an unwritten rule.
But honesty of that kind rarely signals a lack of commitment. Winning a Premier League title or becoming world darts champion requires years of practice, sacrifice and single-mindedness. It is possible to give everything to the task on the pitch or the stage and still have no desire to rewatch it. For many athletes, the love of the game is found in the doing, not the viewing.
The football winner and the darts champion therefore share something more interesting than their trophies. Both reached the top of their sports, collected the rewards, and then said publicly that their relationship with the game is not the one supporters might expect. In a world where sportsmen and women are often trained to say the safe thing, that refusal to pretend may be the most refreshing part of their stories.
