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Our online darts league came to an end last night. It was a thrilling finale with our two most decorated players battling it out in the final. It was Kevin Reid who won it, beating Sam Van Der Reijden 8-7 in the final.
In this blog we look back at all the action over the last 15 months, including records and statistics.
Our online darts league was something positive that came out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the world went into lockdown in March 2020, and as a result, all our sports leagues ground to a halt. So where did the idea come from?
I run a weekly darts tournament in Verbier at Pub Mont Fort, and an idea came from a few people that we should continue running the tournament every Monday, but online. So that's what I did. This ran for 5 weeks, and during that time I thought what a great idea it could be to run an online darts league for everyone. I did some research and came up with a time frame and scoring format, and the first league started on 1st April 2020 featuring players from our Clapham, Medway & Verbier leagues all competing against each other for the first time. I decided to run this for free. I really wanted to give something of value back to all those who have shown support towards EJMSL, I appreciate you all so much, and anything I can do to help you, I will.
25 people played in the first 2 week league, but slowly the league became more popular, I started to let anyone join, and by round 3 we had a record high 35 players. I received some thoughtful messages, especially from some people who said the league was helping their mental health, which was lovely to hear.
Our favourite sports returned by June/July and after a great run, I was ready to finish the online darts league and focus on all our other sports. However, I was taken back by how much people were enjoying the online darts, and was asked by many to continue the league but with entry fees. So that's what I did, I took a percentage for EJMSL and the majority went into prize money. Our first paid league was round 7 and it started on 14th July, with 23 people playing. We ran 5 of these rounds, and then the UK plunged into another lockdown, so I decided to run the league for free again. Our free 12th round ran from 9th November to 2nd December, featured 27 players and a 3rd knockout cup competition. Rounds 13-19 were all money leagues and then finally in the UK we could play all sports by 17th May 2021. So I made the decision to finish the online darts league, and concentrate on all our other sports leagues. I wanted to finish on a high though, and ran one more free competition (round 20) which featured 23 players, started on 16th May and finished last night (23rd June). It was very fitting to see our two most successful players in the final. Well done Kevin Reid for being our final winner.
Below are all our featured records & stats from all 20 seasons of our online darts league. Enjoy;
Most season appearances
1st: Carlos Becks, Mario Carrilho, Sam Van Der Reijden - 17
4th: Owen Brierley - 15
5th: Elliot Jones, Ian Jolly - 14
7th: Ian Greaves, Jake McHale, Josh Graham - 11
10th: Matt Cunningham - 10
Most titles won (leagues & cups)
1st: Kevin Reid & Sam Van Der Reijden - 5
3rd: Ian Greaves - 4
4th: Nathan Cook - 3
5th: 7 Players - 2
Most 180s
1st: Sam Van Der Reijden - 85
2nd: Ian Greaves - 50
3rd: Kevin Reid - 43
4th: Mark Baxter - 37
5th: Owen Brierley - 28
6th: Andrew Meloy, Jake McHale - 23
8th: Gary Adams, John McCrea - 21
10th: Shane Friedlander - 19
Most 180s per season
1st: Mark Baxter - 9.25
2nd: Jonathan Hewitt - 9
3rd: Andrew Meloy - 7.67
170 Checkouts (No one hit a 167)
Ian Greaves, Ian Jolly, Jonathan Hewitt & Mark Baxter
Best Leg
1st: Derek Murray, Kevin Reid & Mark Baxter - 11
4th: Adam Hancock, Andrew Meloy, Gary Adams, Ian Greaves, Jeff Mallion, Jonathan Hewitt, Owen Brierley, Sam Van Der Reijden - 12
Worst Legs (70+)
1st: Clare Dudfield - 115
2nd: Mathieu Emmen - 109
3rd: Sam Jarrold - 92
4th: Jack Manuel - 88
5th: Graham Walkley - 86
6th: Graham Walkley - 82
7th: Jack Manuel - 76
8th: Clare Dudfield, Graham Walkley, Lee Skillett - 75
11th: Graham Walkley, Matt Cunningham - 74
13th: Will Jarrold - 72
14th: Graham Walkley - 70
Best Match Averages (90+)
1st: Danny Donovan - 99.29
2nd: Jonathan Hewitt - 99.1
3rd: Jonathan Hewitt - 94.93
4th: Kevin Reid - 92.97
5th: Ian Greaves - 91.34
6th: Jonathan Hewitt - 91.11
Worst Match Averages (-30)
1st: Clare Dudfield - 24.13
2nd: Nathan Cook - 24:22
3rd: Graham Walkley - 26.65
4th: Ben Stockley - 28.24
5th: Graham Walkley - 28.58
6th: Mathieu Emmen - 28.69
7th: Guillaume Burrus - 28.9
8th: Graham Walkley - 29.13
9th: Graham Walkley - 29.18
10th: Mathieu Emmen - 29.31
11th: Sam Jarrold - 29.7
12th: Graham Walkley - 29.83
13th: Nathan Cook - 29.9
Other facts & records:
Most PL titles: Ian Greaves, Kevin Reid (4)
Most knockout cups won: Sam Van Der Reijden (2)
Only player to reach every knockout cup final: Sam Van Der Reijden (4)
Only player to win division 1 twice: Jack McHale
Only player to win division 2 twice: Nathan Cook
Players to win back to back titles & promotions: Billy Mcphail (D2 & D1), Nathan Cook (D3 & D2)
Most promotions: Nathan Cook, Ian Jolly (3)
Most relegations: Carlos Becks (5)
Most times bottom place: Graham Walkley (5)
Players to have played in divisions 1, 2 & 3: Graham Walkley, Nathan Cook
Players to have played in the PL and divisions 1 & 2: Carlos Becks, Danny Kennedy Ian Wilby, Mario Carrilho, Nico Visinand, Owen Brierley, Sean McGrath, Tom Divers.
Most 100% winning seasons: Kevin Reid (3)
Most unbeaten seasons: Kevin Reid (6)
Most winless seasons: Carlos Becks, Elliot Jones (5)
Most pointless seasons: Elliot Jones (4)
There you have it! Thanks to all 95 players that took part. 61 of which hit at least one 180. We had 20 seasons, 9 different premier league winners, four 170 checkouts, 3 cup winners, 2 back to back promotions and unfortunately 1 cheater caught red handed on camera.
I hope you enjoyed this blog, and if you played in any of our online competitions I hope you enjoyed those. Do you live near Southwest London or Medway, Kent? If so, check out our awesome face to face darts league, if not, watch out for us, we will be expanding our leagues very soon! As always, thanks so much for your support.
Elliot.
A collage of our player's home darts setups.