Round robin schedule
21 team round robin schedule
Who plays whom in every round. Print it as it is.
- 21rounds
- 210games
- 10per round
Set the start date in the settings and every round gets its date.
- 21 is an odd number, so one team has the week off each round: there is nobody to pair it with. It rotates, so that across the season everyone sits out one round.
The schedule
In every game, the first team is at home.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
A printed schedule is right until the first match is played. After that it is someone writing 6-3 in the margin, and a photo of that sheet going round the group chat. This page has an address of its own: give out the link instead and the results go in from a phone, so what sits on your club's website is never the schedule from week one. If it is one afternoon on one court, print it and forget about us.
How this schedule is built
Everyone against everyone, exactly once
With an odd number there are 21 rounds, not 20: one team sits out each round.
Read the explanation
By the circle method: one team stays fixed and the rest rotate around it. On each turn every team meets a different one, and in 21 rounds everyone has met everyone exactly once. It is not an approximation: it is the exact solution, so there is nothing to optimise and no draw that can come out wrong.
The arithmetic of a 21-team league follows on its own and does not depend on the draw. Every pair of teams meets once, so that is 210 games for a single round robin (21 × 20 ÷ 2), which is 20 games each. They run over 21 rounds of 10 games. Watch that figure: the rule usually quoted is “21 − 1”, and with an odd number it is wrong. It is 21, because there is one extra round in which each team sits out.
With an odd number a dummy team is added: whoever is drawn against it has the week off. It is the standard trick, it avoids having to handle the odd case separately, and it is exactly why there are 21 rounds and not 20.
When it is played
No dates yet
With no start date the rounds come out without dates, which is also fine: some clubs hand out the schedule and let each pair arrange their own game.
Questions
How many games in a 21 team round robin?
210 games. Every pair of teams meets once, which is 21 × 20 ÷ 2. That is 20 games each, spread over 21 rounds of 10 games, with one team sitting out each round.
How many rounds does a 21 team league have?
21 rounds, which is 21 and not 20. With an odd number of teams a dummy team is added, and whoever "plays" it has the round off, so across the season everyone sits out once.
How many courts or pitches do you need?
10 to play a whole round at once (the team sitting out needs none). With fewer, the round splits into shifts: on a single court it is 10 shifts back to back.
Can I change the draw of a league?
Yes. There is a draw number in the settings: change it and you get different pairings. The same link always gives the same schedule, so you can hand it round without it reshuffling.
Can the league be played home and away?
Yes. The rounds double and every pair meets twice, once at each ground. The second half mirrors the first, which is what football does and what people expect.
Do I need an account to get the schedule?
No. The full schedule comes out without an account and can be printed. An account is only needed for teams to sign themselves up and for the table to update itself with the results.
Settings
Home and away, dates, draw and names
The draw number changes the pairings: if you do not like who somebody starts against, try another. The address carries everything inside and can be shared.
Other sizes
More teams, or fewer?
- 4 teams3 rounds
- 5 teams5 rounds · 1 sits out
- 6 teams5 rounds
- 7 teams7 rounds · 1 sits out
- 8 teams7 rounds
- 9 teams9 rounds · 1 sits out
- 10 teams9 rounds
- 12 teams11 rounds
- 14 teams13 rounds
- 16 teams15 rounds
- 18 teams17 rounds
- 20 teams19 rounds
Were you after an americano? That is a different format: pairs that change every round and individual standings.
Running it on Peldia, and the table keeps itself
Each team signs itself up from a link without registering, results go in from a phone and the table updates itself with the right tie-breakers.
And it does not end when the league does: every entrant keeps their record and their level, and the next season starts with all of it already there. If you run a club or an academy, you see who is improving, who has stalled and who has not turned up in weeks.
Creating your own needs an account, and those screens are in English too.