HARLOW CLUB DARTS LEAGUE

2024/2025

GENERAL RULES

*** RULE CHANGES IN RED ***

1…       League to be known as The Harlow Club Darts League.

2…       The teams present from the previous season will be invited to reconstitute the League in the coming season at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). New team membership applications will be considered if any vacancies occur.

3…       No player registered within this league will be allowed to sign on or play for any other Harlow Thursday night league or darts events held by other organisations on a Thursday after the season has started. If a player is found to have signed on for any other League or played in any other event they will be expelled from this league.

4…       League Entrance fees for season, Knock-Out competitions and late signings to be fixed at the AGM. Current entrance fees: League - £70.00 Including entry to Team Knockout. All other Knockout entrance fees are - £2 per person per event. Late signings £2 per player.

5…       There will be no gender or age restrictions on players registering to play in the league providing the player is able to remove their own darts from the board.

6…       Teams may sign additional players up to and including the last league game of the halfway point of the season, no additional players will be allowed to join the League after the halfway point of the season. Teams may only play any additional signed players on the night if they cannot field 8 players. If any team signs additional players and they have 8 or more players the additional signed players can’t play that week and must wait till following week to play. All new signings after 1st week of season will subject to a - £2 registration fee per player signed.

7…       All complaints and protests must be put in writing and sent to the League Committee/Secretary.  harlowdartsclubleague@hotmail.com.

8…       Any club found to be deliberately playing ineligible Players will be deducted a minimum of 3 points for each player that is ineligible to play. All players to print name on registration sheet before they are allowed to play any matches in the league.

9…       Players may NOT transfer between teams during the season. Players from a team withdrawn from the league cannot sign for a new team whilst their previous team owes money or trophies to the league.

10…     League meetings will be held on a date decided by the committee. These meetings will be attended by the Committee and one elected member of each team preferably the Secretary unless it’s the AGM then any member can attend.

11…     Age limit – All Venues must allow kids as long as they are a signed player playing at the Venue.

12…     Pin Badges shall be awarded to players who score a [180] in League matches only.

13…     Teams holding trophies that belong to the league are responsible for their well-being and upkeep. Any loss or damage must be paid by the team responsible, cost at time of loss or damage.

LEAGUE MATCH PLAY RULES

14…     League matches to be played on a Thursday night unless otherwise authorized by the League Committee.

15…     League matches to be played consist of: 2 x fours - 801 - 3 Points for a win. 1 Point for a draw. 4 x pairs - 601 - 1 Point per pair won. 8 x singles - 501 - 1 point per single win. All games to be one leg and a straight start, double finish.

16…     All teams in the League must have a minimum of [10] players registered.

17…     League / team KO matches are due to start at 8:30 pm, If a full team is not present at this time, a later time will be acceptable as long as both Captains agree. Minimum number of players to start match to be [4], The game MUST be played with a minimum of [4] players. A full team will consist of a minimum of [8] players.

18…     Teams who are shorthanded will play the short games last. I.E.  with seven players present – 4v4, 3v4, 2v2, 2v2, 2v2, 1v2 and play 7 singles only. I.E. with six players present – 4v4, 2v4, 2v2, 2v2, 2v2 and play six singles only. I.E.  with five players present – 4v4, 1v4, 2v2, 2v2, 1v2 and play five singles only.

19…     Captains must advise each other about players possibly turning up late. Late players must add their name to the match card before the captain includes them in the section they want to play in.

20…     The home team shall be responsible for ensuring “open board” facilities are available not later than 8:00 pm.

21…     The home team shall be responsible for supplying caller and marker. The caller shall be the only person allowed to inform the thrower what is left or what total he scored. This information shall only be given at the throwers request. The caller may not tell the thrower how to get the total left.

22…     In League games only, away teams to throw first in the first match.

23…     Team Captains to write team names up on board at the same time prior to starting [fours, pairs, singles]. Once both teams’ players names are up on board they will not be able to modify them (replace a player with another) unless both Captains agree.

24…     The strictest order should be kept during play, and strict order should apply when the player is taking up his position for play and throwing.

25…     There shall be no CANCELLED games in the league. If teams cancel games then the team cancelling the game will forfeit the match and receive a 6-point deduction. The team that the match was cancelled against will receive 8 points for the win which will be added to main league table. They will also receive 2 points for the 4's which will be added to fours table.

26…     In the event of a team withdrawing from the League before completing the first half of the season, all points played for will be deducted. If a team withdraws from the League in the second half of the season, only the points played for in the first half of the season will count.

27…     Should two or more teams tie at the end of the season, the team with the lowest number of defeats is to be declared the winner. Should there still be a tie the results of the matches between the 2 teams will be used to decide the winner. If there is still a tie then the teams will be joint winners of the league.

RESULT CARDS

28…     The home team shall be responsible for ensuring the Fixtures Secretary receives the correct score and match card. Fixture Secretary must receive results of matches within 24 hours of the match and match card must be sent via message or posted on our Facebook group page. Any 180s or High finishes not on the match card will not be added to the league tables. All players must print (LEGIBLY) in FULL [NO INITIALS] on the match cards before their game starts. No players signatures are needed on match cards. Only players in the venue shall be added to the card. Teams found guilty of adding players that are not available will be disciplined. An authorized representative of each team must check and sign the result card after the match.

KNOCK OUT COMPETITION RULES

29…     Some of the Knockouts will be played on various Thursdays throughout the season. The Fixture secretary will decide which ones and the dates they will be played.

30…     For League competitions played during the season - All registered players may enter League competitions that are played during the season as long as that player has signed for a team in the league. For competitions played at the end of season [PAIRS KO, SINGLES KO, LADIES SINGLES KO] - Any player found to have signed less than 50% league match cards is not eligible to compete in these knockout competitions at the end of season.

31…     Players entering knockout competitions must make sure they are available for all nights of the competition whatever the dates they are scheduled to take place [if players can't make all weeks then please do not enter]. Knockout schedule will be available with season’s league fixtures at the start of season.

32…     Players must sign in themselves before 8.15pm latest.

33…     Losers of matches will chalk the next game.

34…     Any loser not chalking the next game will incur a ban from all Knockout’s in the season’s competitions, and also be banned from entering all KO competitions the following season. [this will be Enforced]. If you can’t chalk then it is your responsibility to find someone to do it for you.

35…     In all Knockout matches all games will be best of 3 or 5 legs depending on Entries and time permitted.

36…     Callers for the first games in the 1st round will be chosen from the bottom of the draw as to eliminate the need for volunteer callers.

37…     Play will be decided by bull up, winner will start the match.

38…     The Knockouts shall consist of SINGLES, LADIES SINGLES, PAIRS, BLIND PAIRS, 3-2-1, FOURS, CAPTAIN & SECRETARY SINGLES/PAIRS, HIGH FLYERS, TEAM KNOCKOUT and BULLSEYE KO.

39…     All Knockouts will be played to a finish if possible on the night except PAIRS, SINGLES, TEAM KO]. PAIRS – will be played over 2 weeks, SINGLES – will be played over 2 weeks, LADIES singles over 1 week, LADIES will not be allowed to enter the MENS singles Knockouts as they have their own LADIES SINGLES KO, TEAM KNOCKOUT – will be played throughout the season as a round robin.

40…     Fours Knockouts - Now allows up to 3 reserves. These can be used in any team or at any time, But Players who have been changed and the Reserve used may not play for any other Four. Teams may be changed from round to round (not during).

TEAM KNOCKOUT

41…     The Team KO will be a round robin. Division 1 will be split into 2 groups, the same for Division 2 - done by a random draw. Each team will play each team in their group once. 2 teams from each group qualify for semi-finals. Div.1 Group 1 winner vs Div.1 group 2 runner up, Div.1 Group 1 runner up vs Div.1 Group 2 winner, the same goes for Div.2 with the semi-final winners play the Final. Format - 2x4 (801) - 4 x Pairs (601) - 8 x singles (501) = 14 matches (play all matches), all games are single leg matches. Points for a win [3], points for a draw [1], legs count will be used if teams are tied at end of group stage. In event of a tie at end of group stage, 1. team with most wins will go through, if still tied 2. Teams with most legs won. 3. The outcome from the group games of the teams that are tied. 4. Most 4's won, then Most Pairs won, Then Most Singles won. Away team throws first in the first match then alternate, Home team to mark and call.

Any players signed on after the 1st round may not play in any other round of the TEAM KO competition.

42…     The Captains Knockout competitions will be open to those persons elected as Captain by their respective teams and named on the sign on sheet, or vice-captain if captain is unavailable.

43…     The Secretary’s Knockout competitions will be open to those persons elected as Secretary by their respective teams and named on sign on sheet, The Vice Captain will not be allowed to replace the secretary in the competition. The Committee are deemed to be Secretaries and may only play in the secretary competition, they may not play in the Captain/secretary pairs together, they will be allowed to make a pair for any teams that their secretary can’t make it.

COMMITTEE

44…     The Committee will be made up of a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and Results/Fixtures Secretary. who must be members of a current league team.

45…     The Committee will be elected at the AGM from those persons who are members of current teams.

46…     Should any team withdraw from the League, if their representative is an elected Committee member then that person will forfeit their position on the Committee. A replacement shall be elected.

47…     Any breach of the rules shall be subject to disciplinary action by the Committee.

48…     The League Committee shall be allowed to override rules in unforeseen circumstances, where strict adhesion to the rules could be considered to be detriment of the majority of team members.

49…     The Committee reserves the right to refuse to accept new players registration or refuse Venues that they think are unsuitable. No reason is required to be given.

50…     Bad sportsmanship or abuse will not be tolerated. Sanctions will be brought against the players/teams/venues involved. Sanctions may go as far as banning guilty parties from the League. Sanctions will be decided by a disciplinary committee which will be convened as and when necessary.