Gerwyn Price has had many a night of playing the pantomime villain at Ally Pally - and it seems the iconic World Championship venue is starting to get on the Welshman's nerves.
The 2021 world champion takes to the stage for his first task of the World Championship on Monday evening against Connor Scutt in a second-round clash.
Ahead of the game, however, Price made intriguing comments and called for a major change to the format of the competition.
Price spoke to the media ahead of his second-round tie, and said that he wanted darts to follow the influence of many other sports and rotate the venue of their flagship event.
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Gerwyn Price wants World Darts Championship moved away from Ally Pally
Ally Pally is synonymous with darts, and 2023 marks the 16th time that the World Championship is hosted at the iconic north London venue.
Gerwyn Price gets his PDC World Championship campaign underway tonight as he takes on Connor Scutt in the 2nd round. Can the Welshman win a second world title at Ally Pally? 🎯#BBCDarts pic.twitter.com/IO1AHoEMFP
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) December 18, 2023
The immense stage at Alexandra Palace, combined with the atmosphere generated in the venue, makes it hugely popular among fans and players, and it is the perfect home for the sport's most prestigious event.
One man who has spent much of his career as an unpopular figure among the Ally Pally patrons is Welshman Gerwyn Price, and he said in an interview this week that he hopes the World Championship will move away from the venue.
Price called on the PDC to hold the event in alternative venues, saying that the sport had to "move on" and "move with the times" in bringing the World Championship to venues outside of London:
I want to win it when the family's there, not watching on TV from 200 miles away. And I want to lift that trophy again when I can show it off and it's not locked up in my kitchen.
Can I win it again? Sure… when it goes to Wales, Germany or wherever. That's what happens with other sports – their World Cup or World Championship is played in different countries.
I think it's only right that the tournament should move to different parts of the world, and then I'll have a better chance.
Germany is becoming a huge market for the PDC and darts is growing massively all over Europe, so if they were to move it to Germany, Holland, Ireland, Scotland, Wales or Belgium I don't see any reason why they can't host it.
I know darts has a lot of history invested in Ally Pally, but things change and you have to move on and move with the times.
On a personal level it's a strange point to make when Price's hometown is just over a three-hour drive to London. Nonetheless, there may be some merit in the idea of bringing the tournament to alternative venues.
Even if it would bring the event to a wider audience, it's hard to imagine that moving the World Darts Championship away from Ally Pally would go down well with many of the sport's fans.
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