FOCAL

FOCAL is the voluntary organisation responsible for organising the vast majority of unofficial Countdown tournaments since 2016. The organisation's name is an acronym for Finals Of the Co-event Annual League. Perhaps coincidentally, "focal" also means "word" in the Irish language.

Players play in events across the British Isles throughout the year, with the top 8 highest ranked players at the end of the year receiving free entry into the finals event in Birmingham, held alongside a normal tournament that is open to everyone. 2016's FOCAL Champion was Series 66 champion Jack Worsley, 2017's champion was Rob Foster, 2018 Jonathan Wynn and 2019 Callum Todd.

Rated events in 2019 were hosted in Lincoln, Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, London, Cambridge, Halifax, Waterford, Milton Keynes, Dublin, Blackpool, Braintree and Wolverhampton. All events are hosted on a Saturday, with the exception of the 'hangover' event, held on the Sunday in Lincoln as secondary events.

New events in 2019 were in Edinburgh, York, Halifax, Liverpool and Braintree, and more new events in 2020, which include Manchester, however due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, only one event took place over a 18-month period.

The organisation was the brainchild of Series 78 champion and former .co.mk organiser Zarte Siempre in mid-2015. The incumbent FOCAL chairman is Series 69 champion Callum Todd. The previous chairmen were Siempre in early 2016 and 2017, Mark Murray in late 2016 and Jeff Clayton from 2016 to 2021.

Full standings for the year, details about events, a FAQs section for newcomers, and pictures from previous tournaments can be found at the FOCAL website with events list in the calendar.

Winners

Season	Events	Points leader	Winner	Runner-up	Finals
2016	12	Jack Worsley	Jack Worsley	Giles Hutchings	2016 FOCAL finals
2017	12	Stephen Read	Rob Foster	Jen Steadman	2017 FOCAL finals
2018	13	James Robinson	Jonathan Wynn	Tom Cappleman	2018 FOCAL finals
2019	14	Callum Todd	Callum Todd	Bradley Horrocks	2019 FOCAL finals
2020–22	11	Edward Byrne