How to make a round-robin schedule
Updated 15 September 2026 · 3 min read
In a round robin every team plays every other team. It is the fairest league format there is, and the fixtures follow a pattern simple enough to work out on paper — once you know the formula.
Single or double
In a single round robin each pair of teams meets once. In a double round robin they meet twice — usually once at each team’s home venue, or once in each half of the season. A double round robin is fairer when home advantage matters, and it doubles the number of games.
How many games and rounds you need
For a single round robin with n teams, the number of games is n × (n − 1) ÷ 2. With an even number of teams that takes n − 1 rounds, with every team playing in every round. With an odd number it takes n rounds, and one team sits out each round.
| Teams | Games | Rounds | Games per round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | 10 | 5 | 2, plus a bye |
| 6 | 15 | 5 | 3 |
| 7 | 21 | 7 | 3, plus a bye |
| 8 | 28 | 7 | 4 |
| 10 | 45 | 9 | 5 |
| 12 | 66 | 11 | 6 |
Work this out before you invite teams. If you only have ten dates available, a double round robin can hold at most six teams (ten rounds), and even that leaves no spare dates for postponements.
An odd number of teams
Add an imaginary team called "bye" to make the number even, then schedule as normal. Whoever is drawn against the bye rests that round. Every team gets exactly one bye in a single round robin, so nobody is disadvantaged.
The circle method, step by step
- Number the teams 1 to n. If n is odd, add a bye as the last number.
- Keep team 1 fixed. Write the rest in two rows: the first half along the top, left to right, and the second half along the bottom, right to left.
- Each column is a game: the team on top plays the team below it. That is round one.
- Keep team 1 where it is and move every other team one place around the circle — along the top row towards the right and back along the bottom row.
- Read the columns again for the next round. Repeat until every team has played every other team once.
| Round | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 v 6 | 2 v 5 | 3 v 4 |
| 2 | 1 v 5 | 6 v 4 | 2 v 3 |
| 3 | 1 v 4 | 5 v 3 | 6 v 2 |
| 4 | 1 v 3 | 4 v 2 | 5 v 6 |
| 5 | 1 v 2 | 3 v 6 | 4 v 5 |
Fifteen games, five rounds, and every pair appears exactly once. For a double round robin, repeat all five rounds with the home and away teams swapped.
Balancing home and away
The circle method puts team 1 at home every round if you always read the top team as the host. Alternate it: in odd rounds the top team hosts, in even rounds the bottom team does. Aim for no team having more than two home or two away games in a row.
Leave room for real life
- Keep one spare date for every five rounds. Weather, venue problems and clashes will use them.
- Decide in advance what happens when a team cannot fulfil a fixture: a rearranged date, a walkover or a forfeit.
- Publish the whole schedule at once, so teams can plan and nobody claims they did not know.
Round robins on Spard
Choose a league played once or home and away, and the fixtures are generated from the format. Results move the standings as they are confirmed, tie-breakers apply in the order you choose, and everything appears on the competition’s public page.