The Kenny Tong League is named after the man who did so much to help establish the Stretford and District Darts League throughout the 1980s, 90s, and early 2000s. The league is made up of two divisions of eight teams, playing each other home and away over the course of 14 fixtures each season.
The team winning Division 1 gain automatic promotion to the SMD League, along with the team finishing in second place. Teams occupying the bottom two places in the league are relegated to Division 2. The teams finishing in first and second place in the Division 2 league table are promoted to Division 1, taking the place of the relegated teams.
Playing Format
At the start of each fixture, the team captains select seven players from their respective squads to play the best of three legs of 501. After selecting their players, the team captains then do a blind draw to determine who will play against each other and in what order.
A ‘Gallon’ game is played prior to each match, which involves three legs of 501 played between a pair of players from each team. Similar to the SMD league, these players may or may not be involved in the main draw, with the gallon match often used to give more players from each team the chance to be involved in a competitive game of darts on the night.
League Points
Players selected in the main draw earn a league point for their team if they win their best-of-3 game. The team with the most players winning on the night (the first team to win four or more games) is awarded an additional two points. When all fixtures are completed, teams are ranked by the number of points gained throughout the season. Where teams finish level on points, the order is determined first by the total number of matches won by the team’s players throughout the season. If that is also level, then the head-to-head record between the two teams is taken into account.
The winners of the gallon match earn their team two points in the Gallon league table, which is compiled separately from the main league, with legs won and lost determining the league order in the event of teams finishing the season on equal points.