Adam Smith-Neale’s career has been littered with controversy – earning him a reputation as one of darts’ biggest villains.
His ugliest moment came in March 2024, during a shock defeat to Sam Whittaker in the Nuneaton Darts Open.
An incident that resurfaced recently when Smith-Neale gave an interview insisting he had no regrets.
Entering the match as the PDC world no.82, Smith-Neale was beaten in what was only a local pub tournament.
Whittaker went to shake his hand after throwing the winning dart, only to be met with a right hook to the face.
A furious Smith-Neale appeared to charge after his opponent, who was forced to try and calm things down, stopping things from escalating among the small crowd in attendance.
CCTV footage of the incident quickly went viral on social media and the Darts Regulation Authority immediately suspended Smith-Neale from tournaments, pending a full hearing and investigation.
Despite the former BDO World Masters champion pleading his case and claiming to feel ‘threatened’ by his opponent, he was slapped with an eight-month ban.
Speaking to Darts World in a recent interview, Smith-Neale said: “It was on a Saturday afternoon in a local near where I live in Nuneaton.
“I was in the semi-final of this tournament and playing a lad who is just a couple of years older than me.
“There was a bit of needle, and he made threats towards me, which plenty of people heard.
“Then my mum got involved and he had a go back at her, making threats also. It was kind of decided between us that we would sort things out after the match.
“Then as he threw the winning dart and walked to retrieve it from the board, he made a derogatory comment under his breath. Well, it was loud enough to clearly hear.
“So, when he turned round, I gave him a kind of hard slap, which I guess looked like a punch on the video footage.
“They told me I was suspended pending an investigation for bringing the game into disrepute.”
But despite the consequences, there are no regrets for the Brit.
He added: “If someone threatens my family, I would do the same thing again.”
He returned to action for PDC UK Q School in January, crashing out in the last 32.
Ironically, fans had already been calling on Smith-Neale to be banned from top-level darts after he earned a PDC tour card in 2023.
A petition on Change.org titled ‘Remove Adam Smith-Neale from the Professional Darts Corporation’ received 184 signatures.
Speaking in 2023, former darts star and talkSPORT 2 commentator Paul Nicholson said: “The fans don’t like him and even set up a petition to take away his tour card.
“When he played on crutches with a broken leg a few years ago, a lot of players were laughing because he was the one who once jumped on Simon Whitlock and damaged his ankle. It hasn’t been the same since.”
Nicholson was referring to an incident before the 2019 BDO World Darts Championship.
Smith-Neale broke his leg, admitting he was inebriated and suffered a bad fall.
The darts player then showed up to his first-round match on crutches, using both for his walk-on and then leaning on the right one while throwing.
He would ultimately lose 3–0 to New Zealand’s Mark McGrath.
Back in 2011, Smith-Neale jumped on Whitlock’s back in a playful way, accidentally breaking his fellow darts player’s ankle.
Whitlock famously hobbled to the oche for his 2011 World Championship match with Dennis Smith and struggled to climb the stairs, but somehow managed to average 105 and win.
However, the injury would plague Whitlock for a number of years, forcing him to wear trainers when competing.