League Rules

Cherwell Valley Invitation Dart League

Official League Rules – October 2023

1)   That the league be known as the Cherwell Invitation Dart League, consisting of teams invited at the start of each season by the league committee.

2)   All fixtures will be played as per fixture list on Wednesday evening’s starting at 8.30pm prompt.

3)   All players must be registered with the league fixture secretary to be eligible to play.  NEW PLAYERS MAY ONLY BE REGISTERED THROUGH THE FIXTURE SECRETARY. The playing of unregistered players is not permitted. Any unregistered player competing in the league will have any points won by them awarded to their opponents.

4)   By registering with the league, the player agrees to abide by all of the league rules.

5)   No new players may be registered with any team for the final two games of the season.

6)   A club or pub may enter more than one team but a player can only play for one of those teams having been registered with that team prior to playing. The cost of entry to the league will be £30 per team + £2.50 per player.

7)   Teams will be placed into sections at the beginning of the season at the committee’s discretion. Factors that will be taken into account will include players registered and teams final league position during the previous season.

8)   Any players with previous Premier / Division One experience signing on after the closing date, cannot play for a team in a section below Division One without prior committee approval.

9)   No Match is to be played unless a result can be obtained (i.e – a minimum of four players per side is required before a match can commence).

10)  All games will be played on a good condition bristle board.

11)  The oche must be set for a throw of 7ft 9.25″ with the board hung at 5ft 8″ from the centre of the bullseye to the floor.

12)  The home team shall provide a scorer and chalker for each game. The away team to supply a check scorer.

13) All electronic score boards must show the previous 5 scores from each team

14)  A team shall consist of six players, to play in a singles match followed by a doubles match. Any twelve players may play in one match. The six players used in the singles match may be substituted and a further six players used in the doubles match.

15)  The singles match result will be added to the doubles match result to give one overall points total.

16)  At 8.30pm both captains will give the cards of the 6 players selected by them for the singles match to the opposition’s captain. The opposition’s captain will then draw the cards out in the order that they are to play in the singles match. Following the singles match, the same will then be done for the order of play in the doubles match. 6 different players may be used in the doubles pairs than those which played in the singles match. 

17)  All singles games to be 3 legs of 401. Each leg to start and finish on a double. No Bust Bullseye counts as a double. The home player will throw first for the bullseye in each leg to determine who throws first in each leg. All three legs must be played as each leg scores a point. Maximum score of 18 points per team.

18)  In the Pairs match all games to be the best of three legs of 501. Each leg to start and finish with a double. If one pair wins the first two legs, the third leg does not need to be played as the game is won. The winners of the best of three legs will be awarded one point. Maximum score of 3 points per team.

19)  All result cards must be completed correctly by the home team captain and at the completion of the match they must obtain the signature of the away team captain to verify the result.

20)  All result cards must reach the fixture secretary by no later than one week after the completion of the match.  IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNING TEAM TO RETURN THE RESULT CARD. Failure to do so will result in the winning team forfeiting their points in that match.

21)  Any team who want to postpone a match (Within 24 hours of the match) will receive a 10 point penalty. Failure to notify the fixture secretary of a postponement will also result in a further 5 point deduction for the cancelling team.

Within 7 days of the cancelled fixture the NON-CANCELLING will then give the CANCELLING team 3 dates when the fixture can be re-arranged.  These dates must be ON OR BEFORE the free week on the fixture list at the end of that half of the season. IE: a team cancelling a match in the first half of the season cannot wait until the free week at the end of the season to play their re-arranged match.

Should these dates not be given by the non-cancelling team, the fixture will then be re-arranged on a date decided by the committee.

Once a date has been set by the committee, should EITHER team then fail to fulfil the fixture, average points will be awarded to the team who were available to play on the re-arranged fixture date with the non-showing team receiving no points.

22)  Should a team be involved in more than one postponed match during the same half of the season and a date for the re-arranged fixture not be agreed upon before the free week for that half of the season then the committee will decide upon a date when the match is to be re-arranged.

23)  Should any team withdraw from the league during the season, all games played by them will be classed as void and points deducted accordingly.

24)  At the withdrawal of any team from the league during the season, if that team wishes to enter a team the following season then this will result in a deposit of £25 being paid which will be refunded upon completion of fixtures at the end of the following season

25)  In order for any player to play in any Cherwell Valley Dart League competitions, he / she must have played in at least 1 league game (singles or pairs) prior to that competition taking place, the exception being the 7-a-side KO where players will have to have played 1 league game (Singles or Pairs) to play in the semi-final or final but do not need to have played in the league for the earlier rounds of the competition.

26)  For all competitions, the player drawn first (not as printed in order on the given sheets) will be classed as the home team and shall throw first for the bullseye in all legs required.

27)  Substitutions can be made for the first round of all of a competition as long as the player coming in has not previously played in that competition, is registered with that team and has played in at least one game for that team during the present season (Singles or Pairs). Substitutions can be made for the Semi Finals of any competitions, under extenuating circumstances and must be agreed by the committee prior to the competition taking place. This does not include the 7-a-side KO Cup / Plate Preliminary and first rounds where all signed on players are eligible to play. However, to play in the 7-a-side KO Cup Semi Final or Final or the 7-a-side Plate Semi Final or Final, all players must have played 1 league game (singles or pairs) for the team that they are registered for. The 7-a-side KO and Supplementary Cup will be played on a best of 21 legs (First team to 11 legs) match basis with each team consisting of 7 players each playing 3 legs.

Any team postponing any cup match (KO or Plate) with automatically forfeit the match regardless of the round of competition. However, very exceptional circumstances with be considered and re-arrangement permitted at the discretion of the committee who will decide upon a date when the match is to be replayed. Any team failing to play on the date set by the committee will forfeit the match.

28)  The competition draws will be made at 8.30pm. Any player not present at that time will not be included in the draw. The decision of the presiding official is final.

29)  All competition draws will consist of a one-draw basis, i.e no re-draw after the first round.

30) All competition results must be telephoned or text through to the Competition Secretary within 72 hours of the result.  Failure to do so will result in that qualifier being automatically eliminated from the following round of that competition.

31)  Trophies will be awarded to the winners of each league and competitions at the discretion of the committee. When presented with a trophy on Finals Night, it is that individual’s or winning team’s responsibility to retain that trophy for the following year until requested to be returned by the committee. In the event that the trophy is lost, misplaced, stolen or not returned when requested then those winning individuals will pay a fine of £80 to replace that trophy or will be banned from playing in the league with immediate effect.

32)  The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held at the end of every summer league to enable any rule amendments to be enforced before the commencement of the winter league. It is expected that ALL teams send at least one representative to the AGM. Failure to send a representative to the AGM (not necessarily the captain) will result in that team starting the new season with a 10 point penalty)

33)  The League Committee’s decision is final in all matters arising.  Any persons wishing to appeal any decision made by the committee must do so in writing submitted to the League Secretary within 21 days of the incident occurring.

34) Any team found to be rearranging a game on the date of a charity night must pay a £50 penalty to the nominated charity

** In order for everyone to enjoy the league in the manner which is intended we ask all players to treat each other with the respect they deserve and to play the game in the sportsman like way that is expected. This includes standing behind your opponent (not to the side) during his / her throw and all food and drink you may wish to have during your game to be consumed behind your opponent. Any player failing to adhere to these conditions may result in that player being suspended from playing in the league.