Darts is sexy - and you'd better believe it. . .

If you're still of the opinion it's a world of beer bellies, nylon shirts and tobacco-stained fingers, you're seriously wrong.

These days, darts is a sport that boasts superstar players, £1 million prize pots and royal fans. It's also a sport that may well have an Olympic future ahead of it.

Tournaments sell out venues such as Ally Pally, Wolves Civic and the NIA in an instant. There's bright lights, TV cameras and thousands of fans hooked on each and every throw of this fast-paced battle of wills and skills.

The players are true showmen, the commentators are passionate and witty and the crowd come dressed as superheroes and nuns. There's even glamorous DWAGs. That'd be the players' wives and girlfriends, by the way, and they're giving the likes of Coleen and Posh a run for their money.

As football becomes more corporate, more clinical, people are turning to darts in their droves. It's a sport that's cheap to play, cheap to watch, has an appealing social side and a very British sense of humour.

"The boom came after Sky started showing Premier League Darts on a Thursday," says Will Adamson, who runs The Cleveland Arms in Wolverhampton. It's a pub that lives and breathes darts, with countless teams, tournaments and special appearances by the likes of Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis, Eric Bristow and more.

"We started off with just one night of darts a week, now it's four times a week and we have exhibitions every three months. The biggest crowd we ever had in here was 420 people. In this day and age, when so many pubs are dying, that's an incredible figure. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if each person spends a tenner, it helps the business thrive. But the thing is, darts is affordable, it's accessible: people just pop down to the pub, have a couple of drinks with their mates and pick up the arrows.

"When the Grand Slam comes to the Civic, it's madness here. We have the professionals in here practising and they train for six or seven hours every day. That's the thing people forget: it's an incredible sport for which you have to constantly train for. There's so much prize money on the line, £250,000, £100,000, that you'd be a fool not to take it seriously. I think it should be an Olympic sport. Definitely."

Famous fans of the game include Prince Harry, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Freddie Flintoff and Robbie Savage. Ticket sales are higher than ever before and, as well as the blistering action on the oche, spectators enjoy a fun night out filled with lights, cameras, action, fancy dress, comedy signs and the odd pint of beer. Or two.

But for many, their love of the game comes from much humbler beginnings.

The darts team at The Cleveland, for example, reminisce about battered old boards in their grandad's garage or learning the game from their dads in sticky-carpeted boozers.

And that simple, family element remains today.

"My daughter, Lauren is six years old and she loves darts," says Mark Daniel, a 32-year-old construction worker from Low Hill. "She's got her own board and One Direction flights that she went mad for. Her teachers say her maths is really good too because of it. There's actually lots of really young kids who enjoy the game. I think it's good for them.

"I started when I was a young kid. My grandad was pretty good back in the day and he had his own board that I would play on. That's how it began for me. These days I'm in the team here and I can make a few hundred quid a year by taking part in competitions around the country.

"I like the social side too. Pubs are closing all the time, the smoking ban has killed them, but darts is a way of keeping them alive. Me and my girlfriend come out, see our friends, play darts and have a good time. She loves it."

It's true, she does.

"I really enjoy it," says Mark's girlfriend Stacey Cope, aged 26. "I come to watch him play up to four times a week. It's a good laugh and there's lots of banter between everyone."

"I'd rather be watching darts than football any day of the week," adds 38-year-old Lyndsey Yeomans, whose husband Shane has entered this year's PDC Q-School, where, if successful, he'll be paid to go on tour. "The atmosphere is always great and I actually find darts quite relaxing to watch. But there's also lots of women players now too who are amazing. It's not just a case of the women always being on the sidelines."

During our chat with the DWAGs, the players are warming up on the oche. There's lots of laughter, lots of banter, lots of nicknames. From their 20s to their 60s, there's players here from every age, every walk of life. Pride of place behind the bar is their league championship trophy from last year and they're keen to replicate the success in 2014.

Team member Michael Evans has been playing darts for 25 years.

The sport's current soaraway success comes as no surprise to him.

"Everybody can play darts. It's as simple as that. That's why it's so successful," explains the 37-year-old from Bilston, who works for a courier service. "It's a way to relax, a way to enjoy yourself that doesn't cost a lot of money. People enjoy a night out with their mates in the pub playing darts. It doesn't get aggressive or cost the earth like football does.

"I started to play when I was 12 years old. Me and my dad had a board at home. It's always been a popular game but Sky changed everything when they started to broadcast it. That's when it was brought to the masses and we'd get more and more people coming in here and asking if they could give it a go. That's the beauty of it: that simplicity.

"Darts was officially recognised as a sport in 2005 and that helped its image too. And people like Phil 'The Power' Taylor and Eric Bristow. I mean, those men are household names – Phil has won the world championships 16 times and Eric has an MBE. They have worked so hard and they deserve everything they have. This is why I'd like to see darts as an Olympic sport – it deserves to be one."

Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen. The International Olympic Committee has already confirmed it wouldn't be until 2024 at the earliest.

However, it's already got the backing of some pretty big names.

Former Team GB director of elite sport Sir Clive Woodward has tweeted: "Darts definitely an Olympic sport – look at fans, TV coverage, audience and real skill under pressure."

And Phil Taylor himself has said: "I think we've got every chance of being an Olympic sport and, if they did put us in, I know they'd sell a lot of tickets and the atmosphere would be fantastic."

Indeed. After all, what could be more fun than darts at the Olympics? And think of all the medals we'd win.

Better start practising. See you down the pub...

Elizabeth Joyce

The Cleveland Arms will be hosting The Entertainers darts spectacular on March 11 featuring Ted Hankey and Wayne Mardle. Call 01902 451021 for more info.