Search for football darts and you will find two completely different games sharing the name. One is a giant inflatable dartboard that you kick footballs at, a fixture of fetes and stag weekends. The other is a trivia game that borrows the scoring from darts: start on 501 and count down by naming footballers, with each player worth a number from their real career. That second game, usually called Football 501, is the one that has taken over group chats and pub tables, and it is the one most people are looking for.
This guide sets out the rules for both, the variants worth trying, how to settle the inevitable arguments about a player's numbers, and how to play the countdown game online against your mates.
The basic game needs nothing but two people and a way to look up statistics. Both players start on 501. On your turn you name a footballer, and that player's number - career goals is the classic, though any stat works - is subtracted from your score. Turns alternate. The first player to reach zero wins, exactly as in darts, and the bust rules are what make it a game rather than a list-reading contest.
The rules most groups play by:
Every argument in football darts is really an argument about which number counts. Settle it before the first name: career goals in all competitions, league goals only, goals for one club, or international goals are all different games. Appearances make a slower, higher-scoring game because most careers run to several hundred. Assists and clean sheets suit groups who want to reward knowing the midfielders and goalkeepers.
Agree the source as well as the stat. Numbers differ between websites, especially for players from before the 1990s and for competitions that were not always counted. Pick one reference and stick with it, and give the benefit of the doubt to whoever named the player when two sources disagree by a goal or two. The online game removes this problem entirely by scoring every name against the same database.
Open big and finish small. In the early turns you want players in the 100 to 180 range - prolific strikers with long careers - because every turn spent on a 40 is a turn your opponent spends on a 150. As the score drops the game turns into arithmetic: you need players whose numbers land you exactly in the finishing zone, and those tend to be defenders, goalkeepers and the strikers whose careers were shorter than their reputations. Knowing a dozen players in the 5 to 20 range wins more games than knowing every top scorer in history. There is a full strategy guide on this site for the online version.
Once the basic game is familiar, groups tend to add rules:
The physical game is a huge inflatable dartboard, typically three to five metres across, with a velcro face, and footballs covered in the matching hook material. Players kick the balls at the board from a set distance and score where they stick, using the same rings and sectors as a dartboard. It is hired for fetes, fun days, stag and hen weekends and corporate events, and most hire companies supply the board, the balls and a blower.
The rules are whatever the group agrees, but the usual formats are straight highest-score-in-three-kicks, a countdown from 301 or 501 with a finish on any number, or round-the-clock hitting each sector in turn. Kicking from a longer distance, or with the weaker foot, is the standard handicap. It is a game of accuracy rather than power: a gently struck ball sticks, a blasted one bounces off.
The online version on this site scores every name against a database of real players and their career stats, so there are no disputes about numbers and no need for a referee. The daily challenge is free with no account: everyone gets the same starting position and filters, and you can compare checkouts with your mates. Custom games let you pick the competition, the club, the nationality and the stat; pass-and-play puts up to six players on one phone, taking turns; and a free account adds streaks, a saved history and the solo and weekly leaderboards. The busts, the 180 cap and the impossible checkouts are all enforced automatically.
In the countdown version, both players start on 501 and take turns naming footballers; each player's real career stat (usually goals) is subtracted from your score, no name can be used twice, a player worth more than 180 or a score that goes past the finishing zone is a bust, and the first to check out wins. The inflatable version is a giant velcro dartboard that you kick footballs at, scored like darts.
Groups playing in person often play exact zero, like darts. The online game on this site uses a finishing zone of 0 to -10, which keeps the endgame playable without a calculator while still making the last few names matter.
Career goals is the classic. Appearances make a longer, higher-scoring game; assists and clean sheets suit groups who want to reward knowing midfielders and keepers. Agree the stat and the reference source before the first name, or play online where every name is scored against the same database.
Because 180 is the highest score from a single visit in darts. The game borrows darts' scoring, so a footballer worth more than 180 is treated as an impossible throw and the turn is a bust. The impossible darts checkouts (163, 166, 169, 172, 173, 175, 176, 178 and 179) are busts for the same reason.
Yes. In person, turns simply rotate around the group. Online, pass-and-play on this site takes up to six players on one phone, each with their own countdown.