Vault 19 Tournament Strength: Where Were the Toughest Venues? The Final Rankings

 

Quest for Q School | End-of-series review

Another Vault series has come to an end, and that means it's time to look back at where the strongest tournaments were played.

Throughout Vault 19, I've been following the Tournament Strength figures across the ADC competitions, alongside WADC Vault 3.0. Rather than simply looking at which tournaments attracted the most players, the aim is to identify where the strongest competitive fields appeared.

Now that the series has finished, we can take a wider look. Which venues came out on top? Which regions produced the toughest tournaments? And where did the women's competitions stand out?

There are some familiar names at the top, but also a few surprises.

How the rankings work

For these rankings, I've taken each venue's highest Tournament Strength score during the series.

A venue might have hosted several tournaments, but it only appears once in each ranking. Where competitions have been listed under slightly different names at the same physical venue, I've combined them.

The regional tables use the geographical boundaries of the ADC Vault regions, presented here as Q4QS Regions.

It's worth stressing that these are rankings of the strongest individual tournament fields at each venue, rather than a measure of which venue was consistently strongest every week. That's a slightly different question, and one I'll return to.

ADC Vault 19: The Overall Top 10

Rank	Venue	Tournament Strength
1	Pinches Cue Club, Norwich	1.350
2	Faringdon Football Club, Faringdon	1.329
3	Clive Arms, Cardiff	1.325
4	Cressex Social Club, High Wycombe	1.317
5	Hethersett Social Club, Hethersett	1.298
6	Tipton Sports Academy, Tipton	1.297
7	Flight Night, Burnley	1.293
8=	Royal Sports Lounge, Farnworth	1.292
8=	Bostin Darts 180 Bar, Blackheath	1.292
8=	Coppenhall WMC, Crewe	1.292

Pinches finishes where it spent much of the series — on top

Pinches Cue Club in Norwich has been one of the outstanding venues throughout Vault 19.

Its highest Tournament Strength of 1.350 was enough to finish ahead of every other venue, but perhaps more impressive was the way it repeatedly produced strong figures.

Earlier in the series, Pinches recorded a succession of scores above 1.300, including another 1.350 in October. That suggests its leading position wasn't simply the result of one particularly strong evening.

Faringdon Football Club finishes second at 1.329, while Clive Arms in Cardiff takes third with 1.325.

Cressex Social Club is another venue worth mentioning. Earlier figures were considerably lower, but its 1.317 performance was strong enough to move it into fourth place overall.

And look how close things become further down the table. Just six thousandths separate Hethersett in fifth from the three venues tied for eighth.

It shows how competitive the leading end of Vault 19 has been.

Where were the strongest tournaments? The regional picture

The overall rankings tell us which venues recorded the biggest scores, but the regional tables provide a different perspective.

They also highlight venues that might otherwise be overlooked because they operate in areas with fewer nationally prominent tournaments.

East of England

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Pinches Cue Club, Norwich	1.350
2	Hethersett Social Club, Hethersett	1.298
3	Gardeners Arms, Ipswich	1.270
4	Clacton Sports Bar, Clacton-on-Sea	1.256
5	Sadies, Whittlesey	1.228

The East of England has the overall winner in Pinches, but the region is certainly not a one-venue story.

Hethersett finished fifth nationally, while Gardeners Arms and Clacton Sports Bar also recorded strong figures.

It's interesting that the leading two venues are both in the Norwich area. That part of the country clearly produced some very competitive fields during Vault 19.

South East & London

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Faringdon Football Club, Faringdon	1.329
2	Cressex Social Club, High Wycombe	1.317
3	Fareham Social Club, Portsmouth	1.286
4	Bradmoor Farm, Aylesbury	1.274
5	Royal British Legion, Sunbury-on-Thames	1.259

Faringdon and Cressex both feature in the national Top 4, making this one of the strongest regions at the very top.

Fareham Social Club also deserves attention with 1.286, while Bradmoor Farm and Sunbury-on-Thames complete a competitive five.

One thing I find interesting here is the geographical spread. The strongest tournaments weren't concentrated in London itself, with venues across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Surrey all featuring.

Wales

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Clive Arms, Cardiff	1.325
2	Lindsay Con Club, Cefn Hengoed	1.286
3	Bedlinog Rugby Club, Bedlinog	1.285
4	Splott Albion Pavilion, Cardiff	1.280
5	The Monty Club, Newtown	1.256

Wales has been particularly impressive.

Clive Arms finishes third overall, while Lindsay Con Club, Bedlinog Rugby Club and Splott Albion Pavilion are separated by just 0.006.

That's an exceptionally close group of venues, and it demonstrates the strength of competition across several Welsh locations.

The Monty Club in Newtown completes the five, giving us another strong performance away from the Cardiff area.

Midlands

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Tipton Sports Academy, Tipton	1.297
2	Bostin Darts 180 Bar, Blackheath	1.292
3	The Bagley Sports & Social Club, Shrewsbury	1.280
4	The Brookside, Syston	1.278
5	Rewind Sports Bar, Sleaford	1.265

There's very little separating the Midlands leaders.

Tipton Sports Academy takes first place, but Bostin Darts 180 Bar is just 0.005 behind.

Bagley and The Brookside are similarly close, and Rewind Sports Bar completes the five with 1.265.

It's a region where the strength appears to be spread across several venues rather than dominated by one.

North West

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Flight Night, Burnley	1.293
2=	Coppenhall WMC, Crewe	1.292
2=	Royal Sports Lounge, Farnworth	1.292
4	Pendlebury Social Club, Manchester	1.278
5	JJ's Pool Hall, Liverpool	1.253

If there was an award for the closest regional battle, the North West would have a very good claim.

Flight Night finishes first with 1.293, but Coppenhall WMC and Royal Sports Lounge are both just 0.001 behind.

Pendlebury Social Club also produced a strong 1.278, while JJ's Pool Hall in Liverpool completes the five.

The North West certainly didn't lack competitive venues.

South West

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Wiltshire Darts House, Swindon	1.269
2	Sartan Club, Bishopsworth	1.265
3	North Star Club, Calne	1.252
4	Dorchester Trinity Club, Dorchester	1.248
5	Barnstaple Football Club, Barnstaple	1.243

The South West is another region with a very closely matched leading group.

Wiltshire Darts House finishes first, just 0.004 ahead of Sartan Club.

North Star Club in Calne follows, with Dorchester Trinity Club and Barnstaple Football Club completing the five.

Only 0.026 separates first from fifth, which suggests that several venues in the region were capable of attracting similarly strong fields.

Yorkshire & Humber

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Barnsley WMC, Barnsley	1.274
2	The Wheatsheaf, Doncaster	1.240
3	Darfield Cons Club, Barnsley	1.188
4	Staincross Club, Barnsley	1.186
5	The Hopetown, Normanton	1.168

We have less extensive coverage in this region than in some of the others, so it's worth keeping that in mind when comparing regional depth.

Nevertheless, Barnsley WMC recorded an excellent 1.274, which would have been competitive in several other regional Top 5s.

The Wheatsheaf in Doncaster follows on 1.240, with three further venues completing the list.

The Barnsley area is particularly well represented here.

WADC Vault 3.0: The Overall Rankings

The women's competitions provide another interesting set of figures, and the geographical picture is particularly striking.

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Briton Ferry Workies, Briton Ferry	1.151
2	Penybanc RFC, Ammanford	1.077
3	Copa, Caernarfon	1.009
4	The 9 Darter, Port Talbot	0.997
5	Arrows Darts Venue, Resolven	0.986
6	Dereham Cricket Club, Dereham	0.980
7	Derby Arms, Birkenhead	0.971
8	MK Cocktail Lounge & Sports Bar, Bodmin	0.947
9	Castle Arms, Denbigh	0.944
10	Walton WMC, Walton-on-Thames	0.941

Numbered competitions at Copa, Penybanc and Arrows have been combined by physical venue, using the highest recorded score.

Briton Ferry leads the way

Briton Ferry Workies finishes with the outstanding WADC score of 1.151, comfortably ahead of Penybanc RFC at 1.077.

That's a substantial margin at the top, and one of the standout Tournament Strength performances across the women's series.

Penybanc also recorded another strong score of 1.049, suggesting that its leading position wasn't dependent on a single event.

Copa in Caernarfon finishes third after its 1.009 performance, while The 9 Darter and Arrows Darts Venue complete the leading five.

What immediately stands out is that all five of those venues are in Wales.

England's leading venue, Dereham Cricket Club, finishes sixth overall with 0.980.

WADC: England versus Wales

Rather than simply leave things at the overall rankings, it's worth looking at the two countries separately.

Wales Top 5

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Briton Ferry Workies, Briton Ferry	1.151
2	Penybanc RFC, Ammanford	1.077
3	Copa, Caernarfon	1.009
4	The 9 Darter, Port Talbot	0.997
5	Arrows Darts Venue, Resolven	0.986

England Top 5

Rank	Venue	Strength
1	Dereham Cricket Club, Dereham	0.980
2	Derby Arms, Birkenhead	0.971
3	MK Cocktail Lounge & Sports Bar, Bodmin	0.947
4	Walton WMC, Walton-on-Thames	0.941
5=	Fordham RBL, Fordham	0.933
5=	London GAA, Ruislip	0.933

The contrast is quite clear.

Wales has produced the five strongest WADC venue performances of the series, with Briton Ferry particularly far ahead.

England's leading two venues, Dereham and Derby Arms, were not far behind the lower end of the Welsh Top 5, but the Welsh performances were stronger at the very top.

That doesn't necessarily mean women's darts is stronger in Wales overall. Tournament Strength measures the competitive field at particular events, and differences in participation, venue coverage and the number of competitions can all affect the picture.

What we can say is that the strongest recorded WADC tournament fields in Vault 3.0 were overwhelmingly Welsh.

One outstanding tournament or a consistently strong venue?

There's an important distinction worth making before drawing too many conclusions.

These tables are based on the highest Tournament Strength achieved by each venue.

That's useful because it tells us where the toughest individual fields appeared. But a venue recording 1.300 once and 1.100 on several other occasions is a different proposition from one repeatedly recording figures close to 1.300.

Pinches is a good example of why this matters. Its repeated high scores suggest a particularly consistent standard, not merely an isolated peak.

The same question is worth asking about other venues: which attracted strong fields week after week, and which produced one exceptional event?

I think that deserves a separate look, using average Tournament Strength across the series and a minimum number of events.

What does Vault 19 tell us?

For me, three things stand out.

Firstly, Pinches Cue Club has earned its place at the top. Its leading score was impressive, but the repeated strong performances make the achievement more convincing.

Secondly, the geographical spread is encouraging. The national Top 10 includes venues from the East of England, South East, Wales, Midlands and North West. Strong grassroots competition is clearly not confined to one part of the country.

And thirdly, WADC Vault 3.0 has given us a particularly interesting Welsh story. Briton Ferry leads by a considerable margin, while Penybanc, Copa, The 9 Darter and Arrows all produced figures strong enough to keep England's leading venues outside the overall Top 5.

Tournament Strength isn't intended to tell us everything about a competition, and it certainly doesn't replace looking at individual players and results.

But it does give us another way of recognising the venues and organisers providing competitive opportunities across the grassroots game.

And after a full Vault series, that's a story worth telling.

More Vault 19 stories coming soon

This is just the first part of my end-of-series review.

Over the coming days, I'll be looking more closely at the players themselves: who won the most tournaments, who reached the most finals, which players produced the highest averages, and who consistently performed well across the series.

I'll also be looking for some of the less obvious stories. Players who regularly went deep without winning, those who improved as the series progressed, and perhaps a few names who performed better than their results initially suggest.

There should be plenty more to discover once we get into the individual match statistics.