Winter Gardens return excites Nathan Aspinall ahead of the Betfred World Matchplay

Former Betfred World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall believes the majority of players prefer playing in Blackpool to the World Championship.

The 35-year-old, who defeated Jonny Clayton to lift the 2023 title at the Winter Gardens, begins his campaign against Joe Cullen on Saturday evening.

Aspinall told 247Bet that the Matchplay crowd is more darts-focused than perhaps those who go to Alexandra Palace for the World Championship.

He said: “You’ve got to look at the Ally Pally crowd as well. Probably 50 per cent of them are European fans who want to cheer on (Michael) Van Gerwen and (Gian) Van Veen and people like that. You’ve got that side of it.

“Then, generally speaking, certainly in the early rounds at Ally Pally, they’re not proper darts fans.

“They’ve just come out on Christmas parties, or stag dos or whatever. I’ve been quite outspoken about that before.

“The event is still good, it brings a great atmosphere, but very often they don’t even know who we are. Even the top boys.

“They might know who (Luke) Littler is, but apart from him, they don’t even know who half of us players are.

“The Matchplay is a special occasion because the die-hard darts fans come to it. A lot of them buy a weekly pass to go to all the sessions. It’s just iconic.

“I think probably 75 per cent of the darts players prefer the Matchplay to the Worlds. I definitely do. It’s the elite 32, you know what I mean?

“It’s the best 32 players in the world. It’s the top 16 players in the world, followed by the next 16 best players this year, playing against each other head-to-head over a long format. What’s not to like?”

With Aspinall based in Stockport, the Matchplay is the nearest thing to a ‘home’ major tournament for him.

That enables him to enjoy quality time with family and friends between matches on the Fylde coast.

“Blackpool’s a special one,” he said.

“There are only two tournaments a year where my whole family comes up, so my partner and my two girls, and Blackpool is one of them.

“Obviously, there’s more for us to do in between matches. You’ve got the Pleasure Beach, the donkey rides, the penny arcades and all that kind of stuff.

“Generally speaking, we travel up together a day early and, most of the time, I play on the first night.

“Fingers crossed, I win my first-round game because it gives me a couple of days then to enjoy a bit of downtime with the family.

“It’s nice to spend a bit of time with them. I spend a lot of time travelling on my own all year, so I really enjoy the Blackpool event for that reason.

“Blackpool’s only 40 minutes away from me, so if any of my mates or my mum, dad or grandad, want to come up too, it’s easy enough for them to get there. So yeah, it’s quite a family-oriented type of event for me.”

As well as making the most of time with family and friends, Aspinall also outlined the other reasons why he enjoys coming to Blackpool.

He added: “Even before winning the Matchplay, Blackpool was my favourite tournament of the year by a mile.

“Like I said before, because the family come and it’s very local, it’s probably my favourite tournament.

“The crowd and the reception I get when they’re all chanting my name when I walk out in Blackpool is unbelievable.

“I feel like I get amazing support everywhere, but Blackpool is extra special. The first game is normally around the weekend of the Glasgow Fair.

“People from Scotland often go to Blackpool this week and I do a lot of work in Scotland, so I’ve got a lot of fans from there and that’s always a good first game.

“After that, the support stays amazing. The crowd is special. They respect the players in Blackpool.

“The Winter Gardens venue itself is iconic. It’s a special tournament, and I’ve won it before. That memory will take some beating.”