Where Are the Toughest Places to Play Darts South of Birmingham? Q4QS Venue Rankings 2026

 

Over the past few weeks, I've been using the Q4QS Tournament Strength database to look at darts from a slightly different perspective.

I've compared the major tours.

I've looked at the toughest individual tournaments.

I've compared ADC Vaults with recognised international circuits.

Now I'm bringing things much closer to home.

Where are the toughest venues to regularly play darts south of Birmingham?

Not which venue has produced one spectacular tournament.

Not which has the biggest names or the largest prize fund.

But if you repeatedly turned up and entered tournaments at the same venue, where would you statistically be most likely to encounter a strong field?

This is the first version of the Q4QS venue rankings. My current database coverage is strongest across the southern half of Britain, so rather than pretend it represents every part of the country equally, this opening edition concentrates on venues south of Birmingham.

I'll be expanding the geographical coverage in the very near future as more tournaments and venues are added to the database.

First – What Does Tournament Strength Mean?

As always with this series, an important explanation comes first.

Tournament Strength is NOT a tournament average.

A venue with a Tournament Strength figure of 65 does not mean its players average 65.

The Q4QS Tournament Strength Score is a calculated field-strength measure incorporating factors such as player ratings, recorded performances and the overall quality of the players taking part.

In simple terms:

Tournament average tells us how players performed.

Tournament Strength attempts to tell us how difficult the field was.

For this particular analysis, I've taken that one stage further.

Rather than ranking a venue by the strongest tournament it has ever staged, I've looked at its results across multiple events.

A venue needed at least six qualifying tournament records in the database to make the main table.

That gives us a much better indication of where strong fields appear consistently.

Q4QS Toughest Darts Venues South of Birmingham – 2026 So Far

Rank	Venue	Events	Typical Strength	Peak
1	Lindsay Constitutional Club, Cefn Hengoed	17	65.20	73.44
2	The Sartan Club, Bishopsworth	23	64.89	69.26
3	North Star Club, Calne	25	64.77	67.86
4	Bridley Moor & Batchley Social Club, Redditch	14	64.54	68.31
5	Brynmawr Social Club, Brynmawr	28	64.35	67.85
6	Dorchester Trinity Club, Dorchester	20	64.05	68.51
7	Faringdon Football Club, Faringdon	37	63.74	68.59
8	The Academy, Basingstoke	7	63.60	66.37
9	Windmill Hill Golf Centre, Milton Keynes	21	63.53	66.43
10	The Banckers Draft, Minehead	12	63.51	67.55
11	Bradmoor Farm, Aylesbury	42	63.51	68.72
12	Frimley Green Working Men's Club	6	63.39	65.21
13	County Conservative Club, Cardiff	16	63.28	69.35
14	Woodbridge Hill Working Men's Club, Guildford	7	63.28	65.05
15	Bagley Sports & Social Club, Shrewsbury	20	63.25	66.96
16	Topsham Football Club	13	63.04	66.58
17	St Johns Club, Banbury	23	62.94	66.08
18	The Cue Corner, Worcester	7	62.94	66.55
19	Chalvey WMC, Slough	19	62.93	66.96
20	Phoenix Pub, Portsmouth	12	62.79	67.34

Typical Strength is the mean Q4QS Tournament Strength of the qualifying events currently recorded for that venue. This opening ranking focuses on venues south of Birmingham where the current Q4QS database has sufficient coverage. Figures are for 2026 so far and will change as further tournaments and regions are added.

Cefn Hengoed Takes Number One

Perhaps the first surprise is that the current number one isn't one of the venues that immediately springs to mind when talking about English grassroots darts.

It's in Wales.

Lindsay Constitutional Club in Cefn Hengoed leads the rankings with a typical Tournament Strength of 65.20 across 17 recorded events.

And this isn't simply the result of one huge night.

Its median Tournament Strength is also above 64, while its strongest recorded event reaches 73.44.

That's exactly what I wanted this ranking to identify.

Not somewhere that happened to attract one exceptional field.

Somewhere that repeatedly does it.

Sartan Confirms Its Reputation

Second place probably won't surprise many people who follow the South West darts scene.

The Sartan Club in Bishopsworth scores 64.89 across 23 tournaments.

What's particularly impressive is the consistency.

Its median score is almost identical to its overall figure, and its peak reaches 69.26.

That tells us Sartan isn't being pushed towards the top by one or two exceptional competitions.

Strong fields are simply normal there.

For players around Bristol, that's probably confirmation of something many already suspected.

If you turn up at Sartan, expect a difficult draw.

Calne Might Be the Most Impressive of All

Third-placed North Star Club in Calne is particularly interesting.

Its overall figure is 64.77, but its median is actually slightly higher at 65.22 across 25 tournaments.

That's significant.

It means the typical North Star event is consistently landing around the very top of this entire venue dataset.

Its peak of 67.86 isn't the highest in the rankings.

It doesn't need to be.

North Star's strength is consistency.

There appear to be very few easy nights.

Redditch and Brynmawr Complete the Top Five

Bridley Moor & Batchley Social Club in Redditch sits fourth at 64.54, followed by another Welsh venue, Brynmawr Social Club, at 64.35.

Brynmawr is particularly convincing because that figure comes from 28 recorded tournaments.

That's a sizeable sample.

Once a venue maintains a figure above 64 across that many competitions, it becomes increasingly difficult to dismiss it as a temporary spike.

Then Comes an Interesting Group

Dorchester, Faringdon, Basingstoke, Milton Keynes and Minehead complete the Top 10.

And there's something worth noticing here.

These aren't all venues concentrated in one recognised darts hotbed.

We're seeing strong tournament environments spread across Wales, the South West, the Midlands, the South Coast and the Home Counties.

That's one of the things I've enjoyed most about building this database.

Strong grassroots darts isn't confined to the places that receive the most publicity.

Faringdon and Bradmoor Deserve Special Mention

Sample size matters.

Faringdon Football Club ranks seventh with 37 recorded events.

Bradmoor Farm in Aylesbury ranks 11th with 42.

Those are two of the largest samples anywhere near the top of the ranking.

Maintaining Tournament Strength figures of 63.74 and 63.51 respectively across that many tournaments is arguably more impressive than reaching a slightly higher figure from six or seven events.

It suggests players attending those venues aren't occasionally encountering strong fields.

They're encountering them over and over again.

And What About Paignton?

This is where comparing peak strength with regular strength becomes fascinating.

In the previous ADC analysis, 8 Ball Bar & Sports in Paignton produced the strongest ordinary Vault event I'd found:

75.08.

That's still an exceptional result.

But across its 12 qualifying events in this analysis, Paignton's typical Tournament Strength is 62.64.

That puts it just outside this Top 20.

There is no contradiction.

It simply answers two different questions.

How strong can Paignton get?

Extremely strong.

Is every Paignton tournament played at that level?

No.

And that's precisely why looking at venues over a longer period gives us a different picture.

Peak Strength Still Matters

It would be wrong to completely ignore those exceptional nights.

Some venues outside the Top 10 have demonstrated how strong they can become when the right field assembles.

Among the notable peaks are:

Paignton – 75.08

Cefn Hengoed – 73.44

Cardiff – 69.35

Sartan Club – 69.26

Bradmoor Farm – 68.72

Faringdon – 68.59

Dorchester – 68.51

Those peaks tell us something different from the main ranking.

A venue's regular score tells us what you're likely to encounter.

Its peak tells us how difficult the room can become.

Both are useful.

Wales Is Producing Some Serious Fields

One of the clearest geographical stories in the rankings is Wales.

Cefn Hengoed is number one.

Brynmawr is fifth.

Cardiff is 13th.

That's three Welsh venues inside the Top 13.

Given how much attention English grassroots darts receives, that's worth highlighting.

The data suggests there are some extremely competitive regular tournament environments on the other side of the Severn.

The South West Is Very Much in the Picture

From my usual South West perspective, there is plenty here too.

Sartan is second.

Calne is third.

Minehead is tenth.

Topsham is 16th.

And immediately below the Top 20 are venues including Paignton, Yeovil and Gloucester.

So while Wales currently supplies the number-one venue, the South West has a very strong presence throughout the rankings.

And the numbers reinforce something I've seen repeatedly while covering darts in this region:

There is an enormous amount of quality operating well below the level that receives national attention.

Does This Mean Cefn Hengoed Is the Hardest Venue to Win At?

Not necessarily.

And that's an important distinction.

Tournament Strength measures the quality of the field.

It doesn't account for everything involved in actually winning a tournament.

A 16-player tournament and a 128-player tournament can have identical field-strength ratings but present very different challenges.

Format matters.

Number of entrants matters.

Match length matters.

Seeding matters.

The draw matters.

So this isn't intended to answer:

"Where is it mathematically hardest to lift a trophy?"

It's answering:

"Which regular venues are attracting the strongest fields?"

That's a subtly different – and I think equally interesting – question.

This Is Only the Beginning

There's another important caveat to these rankings.

This isn't yet intended as a definitive ranking of every darts venue in Britain.

The Q4QS database is growing all the time, and its geographical coverage isn't yet equal everywhere.

That's why I've deliberately started with venues south of Birmingham, where I have enough data to make meaningful comparisons.

I'll be expanding the coverage in the very near future.

As more regions and tournaments are added, we'll start to see whether these venues can hold their positions when they come up against the strongest rooms elsewhere.

And that should make the ranking even more interesting.

And What About My Own Regular Venues?

I was obviously curious to see how some of the venues I regularly cover and play at compared.

Hangar 61 in Patchway comes out particularly well. Across 42 recorded events, it has a typical Tournament Strength of 61.65, with its strongest tournament reaching an impressive 70.03. That leaves Hangar just outside the current Top 20, and there have been several particularly strong fields there recently.

DartAsylum HQ produces a very different number, averaging 53.22 across an enormous 132 recorded events, but that figure needs some context.

DartAsylum runs a huge variety of competitions, including Under-55, Sub-70, junior and other restricted events, so its overall venue figure is naturally pulled down by the type of tournaments it stages. When the stronger fields assemble, the numbers can be very different – DartAsylum's peak Tournament Strength this year is an excellent 73.33.

For me, it's a useful example of why the numbers need a little interpretation. These rankings measure the strength of the tournaments being staged at each venue, rather than rating the venue itself.

Final Thoughts

Looking only at the strongest individual tournament tells us where an exceptional field has assembled.

Looking across repeated tournaments tells us something more useful.

Where is strong darts normal?

Right now, among the venues south of Birmingham sufficiently represented in the Q4QS database, the answer is Cefn Hengoed.

But Sartan and North Star are extremely close.

Redditch, Brynmawr and Dorchester aren't far behind.

And venues such as Faringdon and Bradmoor Farm are producing strong numbers across dozens of competitions.

Perhaps most importantly, the difference between many of these venues is tiny.

A player looking for tough competitive darts doesn't need to enter a PDC event.

Across the southern half of Britain, there are plenty of clubs where strong fields are turning up week after week.

And as the Q4QS database expands, we'll find out just how those venues compare with the rest of the country.

Yesterday’s Darts Results: Rixon Rules Bridgwater as Bank Holiday Monday Delivers 28 Events (31st August 2026)

Bank Holiday Monday produced another substantial day of grassroots darts, with 28 tournaments from 31 August added to the Q4QS database.

There was plenty happening across the South and South West, from a huge tournament at the 49 Club to Bank Holiday competitions in Bridgwater and Wiltshire, while several players pushed averages towards – and beyond – the 100 mark.

For me, Warren Rixon’s performance at Bridgwater Darts Academy deserves to be right near the top of the local stories. Rixon didn’t just win the tournament; he dominated the event statistically too.

Rixon dominates at Bridgwater

The BDA Bank Holiday Madness Academy tournament produced 93 recorded matches, with Warren Rixon emerging as champion.

Rixon beat Tommy Climo in the final and finished the day with ten victories, comfortably one of the strongest tournament records across Monday’s results.

He also occupied all five of the leading-average positions at the event, headed by an 81.24, followed by 75.15, 66.80, 65.35 and 61.35.

That combination of the title, ten wins and complete control of the event’s leading averages makes this one of Monday’s most convincing individual performances.

Holley comes through huge Wiltshire field

There was another sizeable Bank Holiday competition at Wiltshire Darts House, where 113 matches were recorded.

Sean Holley eventually took the title, defeating Johnny Haines in the final and accumulating an impressive ten wins.

Haines may have finished runner-up, but he produced the best recorded average of the event at 98.02. Holley and Wayne Barrett both reached 96.97, with Haines also producing two separate 93.94 performances.

It looks like one of the strongest fields of the day, and Holley had to put together a serious run to come through it.

Freddie Miles wins massive 49 Club Under-55

One result that didn’t make the featured six on the graphic but certainly deserves mentioning came from the 49 Club.

The Wobbly’s Under-55 Bank Holiday Monday competition generated a huge 151 recorded matches.

Freddie Miles emerged with the title after reaching eight wins, with Ellie Harwood finishing runner-up after another strong seven-win run.

Jason White produced the best recorded average at 73.32, while Josh Rose hit 71.57 and Harwood reached 68.05.

The sheer size of the event makes Miles’ victory particularly notable.

Dutton combines title with 96.97

Stuart Dutton enjoyed an excellent night at the Riverside Club in the Vault In-Betweener 3.

Dutton finished with eight victories and defeated Tom Baughan in the final.

He also recorded the tournament’s best average at 96.97, adding another 88.41 against Baughan later in the event. Baughan himself reached 93.94 and 89.38 during an impressive run to the final.

That was another result where the eventual champion was also right at the top of the statistical performances.

Ryan Davies impresses at Wattsville

At Wattsville National Club, Ryan Davies was another player who combined the title with consistently strong numbers.

Davies won Vault Break Week 3 and recorded two separate 93.94 averages, as well as an 88.41.

He finished with eight victories, with David Skinner among those chasing him after recording six wins.

Sam Jackson delivers emphatic charity win

The Hollybush Charity Competition, raising money for the Mel Evans MND Foundation, also produced one of Monday’s strongest individual tournament performances.

Sam Jackson came through the event and produced averages of 95.94, 93.94 and 91.09 during his run.

He eventually beat Ike Richman in the final, with both players having accumulated eight victories during the competition.

Jackson’s combination of strong averages and the tournament victory made him another of the day’s standout performers.

Steed hits 96.97 as Cleave takes Monday Flyer

There was more strong South West form at the Monday Flyer at 8 Ball Bar & Sports.

Andy Steed produced the best average of the tournament at 96.97, but the title went to Finlay Cleave, who defeated Harry Madge in the final.

Cleave recorded seven victories, while Oliver Wells and Madge both collected five.

Tom Crocker tops Monday’s averages

The biggest average recorded across Monday’s entire Q4QS export came in the Summer Bank Holiday Round Robin.

Tom Crocker hit 103.66, putting him at the top of the day’s individual-average list.

The tournament itself was enormous, with 227 recorded matches, and eventually went to David Moule, who accumulated 12 victories. Crocker finished with 11 wins.

That is an extraordinary amount of darts in one competition and another reminder of just how big some of these Bank Holiday events can become.

Manley breaks the ton

Edward Manley also joined the 100 club in Clive Arms Vault Break 3.

Manley fired in a 100.20 average, although the tournament title went to Joshua Russell, with both players recording seven wins during the event.

Elsewhere, Mike Huntley reached 98.02, while Lloyd Sterio, Dean Leaver, Owen Smith, Sean Holley, Wayne Barrett and Andy Steed all recorded 96.97 averages.

More Bank Holiday winners

There was no shortage of other winners across Monday’s programme.

Glenn Pearce came through the Bank Holiday Fun Day Round Robin, where Steve Boundy accumulated eight wins and Owen Smith produced a 96.97 average.

Carl High won the large Under-65 Bank Holiday competition in Minehead, which featured 112 matches, while Luke Messer came through a 125-match Bank Holiday Round Robin elsewhere on the circuit.

There were also wins for Darryl Pilgrim, Gavin Sterio, Mark McGeeney, Mick Rodgers, Cody Sheppard and Trev Brennan among another deep collection of grassroots tournaments.

A strong finish to August

With 28 tournaments added from the final day of August, the month finished with another substantial batch of results for the Q4QS database.

Rixon’s Bridgwater domination, Holley’s success in a strong Wiltshire field, Miles coming through the huge 49 Club event and Dutton and Davies combining titles with big averages all provide strong South West stories.

And further afield, Crocker’s 103.66 and Manley’s 100.20 ensured there was no shortage of quality to close out the month.