The England Darts Organisation was formed in 2007. Previously England Darts was administered by the British Darts Organisation ; however with the withdrawal of tobacco sponsorship the BDO withdrew its support for England. In November 2006 the 43 member English counties of the BDO formed a steering committee to look at the feasibility of forming an independent England. The steering committee consisted of Peter Melton from Cambridgeshire the then existing England Team Manager, Vic Sexton the current England Youth Manager within the BDO Board of Directors, Ian Tilley from Lincolnshire and Colin Saunders from the Isle of Wight. Tommy Thompson of Lancashire, who had 10 years earlier attempted to form an independent England, was approached to be part of the committee but had to decline due to an imminent terminal family illness. In April 2007 the first England AGM took place at Canley Club in Coventry, where Tommy Thompson was elected Chairman, Peter Melton International Director, Vic Sexton Tournament & Youth Director, Colin Saunders – Commercial Director, and John Peoples from ClevelandCommunications Director. Sam Hawkins was elected Honorary President and Bobby George was elected Public Relations Executive. In 2009 Jean Thomas from Yorkshire replaced Colin Saunders on the Board of Directors and Bernie Crouch also joined the board as an executive member dealing with Technology. The England Board of Directors was increased to six people on 22 May 2011 at the England AGM, Bernie Crouch was elected to join the existing Board Members as Director of I.T.
Membership
The 43 England Counties compete in The British Inter-Counties Darts Championships each year between Sept- May.
Aims of the Organisation
The England Darts Organisation was formed to raise finance that enables The England National teams to compete at International darts events around the World.
Events England Compete in
England competes in The British Internationals each year, with a separate Mens & Ladies Championships the Mens Championship consist of 12 players and Ladies 6 players, and takes place each April. The event is held by each of the three countries on a rotation basis. The event in 2011 was England’s first opportunity at staging the championships and was held on 9 & 10 April 2011 at The Marine Hall & Waterfront Venue Fleetwood in Lancashire. England Mens & Ladies both Won their respective Championships. The Six Nation Championships take place each February with England taking their place alongside Wales, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands, the matches are of a Round Robin Basis with separate events for Mens & Ladies and 4 players in the Mens event 2 in The Ladies. The event in 2011 was held at Erskine Bridge Glasgow Scotland, England men won the title and Wales ladies just took the Ladies Title from England The Europe Cup is bi-annual and features Mens, Ladies Championships The World Cup is bi-annual and features Mens, Ladies, Boys, & Girls Championships. The World Cup in 2011 was held in the Republic of Ireland, with Scott Waites, Tony O'Shea, Martin Atkins and Martin Adams and captain Represented the Men's Team, Trina Gulliver & Deta Hedman Represented the Ladies team, with Fallon Sherrock and Jake Jones the youth team. England created history by being the first team to win all the three categories, Scott Waites also won the World Cup Mens Singles Title, with Trina Gulliver taking the Ladies Title and Fallon Sherrock the Girls Title. Martin Adams and Tony O'Shea won the World Cup Pairs Mens Title with Trina Gulliver & Deta Hedman the Ladies and Jake Jones and Fallon Sherrock the Youth team event. The event was attended by 39 countries including Iran, South Africa, USA, Canada as well as a host of European Countries.
Events
England organise several events, The England Open now run at The Bunn Leisure Holiday Centre, Selsey in Sussex during June is the biggest open competition in the World for a comparable entry fee, and has been awarded a Category A status. The England Classic also takes place at Selsey in September each year; The England Masters and The England National Singles have enjoyed many venues, originally hosted at the Cheshire Conference Centre moving in 2011 to the Norbreck Castle in Blackpool and in 2012 to an Olympic venue The Ricoh Arena Coventry. England also organise the England qualifiers into the Winmau World Masters Championships. England have also set up a unique collaboration with The Welsh Darts Organisation to present the Anglo-Celtic-County-Cup, which is held in June for Inter-County Teams. England Darts is now solely responsible for all aspects of The England International Teams, where many of the stars of The World Championships can be seen each year on BBC TV, none more famous than Martin Adams & Trina Gulliver current champions of the World and respective England National Team Captains.
