RULES DOWNLOADS IN PDF FORMAT AND 2026 RULES 

Click on FULL RULES or BRIEF RULES below to download that particular set of rules.

 

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GENERAL

The League is open to all dart players regardless of gender or ability.

 

The organiser of the league shall deal with all matters arising during the playing season, their decision being final. If a matter arises where the opinion of others is deemed necessary, the organiser will contact Captains in the appropriate group for their opinions.

 

Registered players can communicate with each other and the organiser via Facebook Messenger group already set up. All team captains are admins of this group and can add their teammates as they so wish. The organiser will ignore any messages relevant to the league matters which are sent to his personal messenger account, not the group chat.

 

If a team pulls out of the league, results of completed games will be deleted, with the remaining teams awarded a BYE when they are due to play the team which has withdrawn. Any money collected by the team which has withdrawn will still be donated to their charity at the end of the season.

 

FINANCE

Teams are asked to contribute £2.50 per team for each league game, although they can donate more if they wish.

As all the admin is done by the organiser alone, please try and restrict any donations to notes and coins of 50p or higher value as this makes counting money much easier. At the end of the season, the total amount of fees collected by each team will be donated to the team’s chosen charity. Each team is required to clearly write how much charity money they put in the envelope with the result sheet for each league game.

 

PLAYER REGISTRATION

Captains must register a team with the organiser by the registration deadline on the registration form, ensuring all the information requested is provided.

 

Players will be able transfer to another team once the season has started but must pay a £2 transfer fee which will be added to their new team’s charity total.

 

Teams to consist of a minimum of three players with no maximum limit on the number of players allowed to register. Please do not abuse this rule as the organisers will be keeping an eye on things.

 

The list of players registered for each team will be posted on the League's website.

 

There is no restriction as to the playing ability or lower age limit of anyone to who can register for a team. However, any player under 18 years of age or any player who is barred from a licensed premises will only be allowed to play if the licensee of the venue allows them. Please respect their decision and treat it as final as the league cannot become involved.

 

Any new players will be registered by the organisers when their name appears as a player for a team for the first time. To aid in this, Captains are asked to put a * next to the new player’s name the first time they play for the team. If the player has transferred from another team the £2 transfer fee must be paid the first time the new player plays for their new team. Newly registered players can play right away.   

There is no need to de-register players who leave the team.

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LEAGUE RULES OF PLAY

All matches to be played on Thursday of each week.

 

All games must be played on standard size dartboards, with doubles and trebles, bull, and inner bull.

 

Height of the board to be 5' 8" (1.73m) from centre of bull.

 

The length of throw shall be anywhere beyond 7' 9¼" (2.37m). The oche shall be marked by metal strip, heavy tape, movable oche, laser oche or oche mat. Chalk lines marked on the floor will NOT be acceptable.

 

The home team must provide a Scorer, each score to be written down and deducted, and scoreboards to be in a prominent position.

 

Each league match shall consist of five singles games of best of five legs each 301 double start, double finish and three pairs games of best of three legs 601 flying start, double finish. One point will be awarded for each best of five singles won and one point for each best of three of 601 pairs won. For a fixture to be complete, ALL GAMES MUST BE PLAYED and results recorded on the sheets provided.

 

Captains are not restricted to using the same five players who played in the singles in the pair legs, but all players taking part must be registered with that team. Any registered player is eligible to play in the singles and the pairs. However, any player may only play in a maximum of two pairs games. If playing in two pairs games, players must play with a different partner in each game.

 

A Bull to count as double twenty-five. Three doubles or three trebles do NOT count as a rub.

 

Bust rule DOES apply meaning you can bust a score to return to the previous double.

 

Default order of play is singles, then pairs, although this can be changed if necessary.

 

Away captain to write the name of their player on the sheet first, followed by the home captain.

 

As this is a Charity League with no prizes for the teams, a team short of players for the singles may draw the players required to complete the singles games from their players present BEFORE the match starts. This can be done in as many matches as needed. Please do not moan about this rule as the main objective of the Summer League is to have a night out playing darts while raising money for good causes. All players who are present from the start must play BEFORE any of the players playing twice play their second game.

 

If other players turn up, they WILL be allowed to play in the singles, taking the places in the order of those playing twice.

 

The players (home player first) shall throw for bull before the first leg of each game to decide who throws first; the first throw in each leg shall alternate thereafter and players do not throw for bull before the deciding leg.

 

One point awarded for each game won in the singles and pairs, meaning a total of eight points are available each match. Group Tables will be produced but these are for information only as no trophies will be awarded at the end of the season.

 

If two or more teams are tied on points at the end of the season, leg difference will determine the final league positions. If leg difference is equal the results between the two sides will be used. If the teams still cannot be separated, then a tie will be declared.

 

Matches to start at 8.00pm. One player is to be at the venue and ready to play not later than 8.15pm.

 

Provided continuous play is maintained there shall be no need for other players to be present by any particular time.

 

There will be a time limit of 5 minutes allowed between each game else the opposing team can start to claim legs at the rate of one leg every five minutes.

 

Due to their being no free weeks, any cancelled games will not be able to be rearranged. Therefore, in the event of a team requesting to cancel a game, all points for that game will be awarded to the opposing team. In the event of a cancelled game, no charity money will be collected for that particular game form either team.

 

 

Any complaints must be lodged in writing and the letter placed in the box at the Royal Exchange by 8pm on the Sunday following the game. There is no fee for lodging a complaint.

 

Any team failing to turn up and play its game will have all the points awarded against them. If the team which does turn up want to pay their charity money, they can do so by filling in the envelope and handing it in as normal, but this is not compulsory for the result to stand.

 

COMPETITIONS RULES OF PLAY

The rules for competitions played during the season will be advised before each competition. Entry fees for competitions will be £2 or more per player, per competition. Team captains will be contacted and asked to consult with their teams as to which charity or charities will benefit from competition entry fees.

 

SCORE SHEETS

It is the responsibility of the home team to ensure that the score sheet and match fee envelope are filled out accurately and completely. As there was so much missing information and poorly filled out paperwork last season, which took a substantial time to sort out, the HOME TEAM will be deducted one point for each piece of information which is missing from a score sheet for each game. Hopefully, this will not be necessary, but it will be enforced.

All score sheets and money collected must be left in the box at The ROYAL EXCHANGE by no later than 8pm on the Sunday following the game, unless the organiser is contacted, and it is agreed that the sheet may be handed in late. It is the responsibility of the winning captain to see that this is done, or his team will forfeit the game 8-0 to the opposition. The winning Captain will also be responsible for ensuring that any money is paid to the league for BOTH teams, even of the sheet is late.

 

PRIZES

No trophies or prizes will be awarded, but all money collected will be donated to charity.