11 min• 03.11.2026
Round robin fixtures for 6, 8, 10 and 12 teams: ready-made fixture lists
By Dawid Pątko
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The FA's grassroots strategy for 2024–28 projects a further 220,000 new players across 15,000 new teams by 2028, according to the FA's announcement of the strategy. Every one of those new teams ends up in a league, and every league needs someone to sort out the fixtures before the first kick-off. In a Tuesday night 6-a-side league or a Sunday league that someone is usually a volunteer with a spreadsheet. What they are after is a set of round robin fixtures: a list of rounds in which every team plays every other team once.
Writing them out by hand looks easy until round five, when you spot two teams meeting for a second time while another pair hasn't met at all. This article skips the theory and gives you finished round robin fixtures for 6, 8, 10 and 12 teams, checked match by match, along with the fix for an odd number of teams.
Draw the numbers, copy the fixture list for your number of teams, and only then add dates, kick-off times and pitches. That way round robin fixtures get built once and reused every season.
First come the sums (matches, rounds, weeks), then the four fixture lists, then byes, and finally how to turn a list into a real calendar, by hand or with FLM System.
Round robin fixtures: matches, rounds and weeks
Before copying anything, work out two numbers. They tell you whether the season fits the pitch hire you've already paid for.
How many matches and rounds?
With an even number of teams (n), a single round robin has n × (n − 1) ÷ 2 matches over n − 1 rounds. A double round robin, home and away, doubles both. For the four league sizes covered here:
Teams | Matches (single) | Rounds | Matches per round | Home and away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
6 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 30 matches, 10 rounds |
8 | 28 | 7 | 4 | 56 matches, 14 rounds |
10 | 45 | 9 | 5 | 90 matches, 18 rounds |
12 | 66 | 11 | 6 | 132 matches, 22 rounds |
Matches and rounds in round robin fixtures by number of teams
One round a week turns rounds into weeks. Ten teams playing home and away is 18 weeks before a single postponement, so a winter league that starts in October is still going in February. Our guide to planning a league season works it backwards, from your pitch hours to the number of teams you can take.
Reading the fixture lists
The numbers 1 to 12 are slots. Draw one for each team when you meet the captains and write the team name next to it. In every pairing the first team is at home, the second away.
The lists are built so that no team is at home or away more than twice running, and home matches split almost evenly: in the 8 team round robin, half the teams get four home matches and half get three. If the whole league plays at one venue, home and away mean little and you can ignore that part.
How the lists are generated (the circle method, and why an even number of teams always needs n − 1 rounds) is explained in round robin scheduling explained. Here you get the finished output.
6 and 8 team round robin fixtures
Six or eight teams is the usual size for a new 6-a-side or 7-a-side league, or a works league. A single round robin takes five or seven weeks, so home and away still fits comfortably into one season.
6 team round robin
Five rounds of three matches. Each team plays five times and meets every opponent once.
Round | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 v 6 | 2 v 5 | 4 v 3 |
2 | 6 v 2 | 3 v 1 | 5 v 4 |
3 | 3 v 6 | 4 v 2 | 1 v 5 |
4 | 6 v 4 | 5 v 3 | 2 v 1 |
5 | 5 v 6 | 1 v 4 | 3 v 2 |
6 team round robin fixtures, single round (home team first)
Small leagues with a long season often play the 6 team round robin three times: copy the list, swap home and away for the second pass, and use the original again for the third.
8 team round robin
Seven rounds of four matches, 28 in total. With eight teams it gets easy to repeat a pairing by hand without noticing, so a checked list saves you more here than at any other size.
Round | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Match 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 v 8 | 2 v 7 | 6 v 3 | 4 v 5 |
2 | 8 v 2 | 3 v 1 | 7 v 4 | 5 v 6 |
3 | 3 v 8 | 4 v 2 | 1 v 5 | 6 v 7 |
4 | 8 v 4 | 5 v 3 | 2 v 6 | 7 v 1 |
5 | 5 v 8 | 6 v 4 | 3 v 7 | 1 v 2 |
6 | 8 v 6 | 7 v 5 | 4 v 1 | 2 v 3 |
7 | 7 v 8 | 1 v 6 | 5 v 2 | 3 v 4 |
8 team round robin fixtures, single round (home team first)
10 and 12 team round robin fixtures
With 10 or 12 teams, round robin fixtures make up a whole season: 9 and 11 rounds single, double that home and away. A slip in round three only comes to light when two teams turn up for a match they've already played.
10 team round robin
Nine rounds of five matches, 45 in a single round robin and 90 home and away. Draw the numbers, copy the pairings, give each round a date.
Round | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Match 4 | Match 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 v 10 | 2 v 9 | 8 v 3 | 4 v 7 | 6 v 5 |
2 | 10 v 2 | 3 v 1 | 9 v 4 | 5 v 8 | 7 v 6 |
3 | 3 v 10 | 4 v 2 | 1 v 5 | 6 v 9 | 8 v 7 |
4 | 10 v 4 | 5 v 3 | 2 v 6 | 7 v 1 | 9 v 8 |
5 | 5 v 10 | 6 v 4 | 3 v 7 | 8 v 2 | 1 v 9 |
6 | 10 v 6 | 7 v 5 | 4 v 8 | 9 v 3 | 2 v 1 |
7 | 7 v 10 | 8 v 6 | 5 v 9 | 1 v 4 | 3 v 2 |
8 | 10 v 8 | 9 v 7 | 6 v 1 | 2 v 5 | 4 v 3 |
9 | 9 v 10 | 1 v 8 | 7 v 2 | 3 v 6 | 5 v 4 |
10 team round robin fixtures, single round (home team first)
12 team round robin
Eleven rounds of six matches. Twelve teams needs two pitches or a long block on one: six 7-a-side matches in 40-minute slots is four hours of pitch time every round.
Round | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Match 4 | Match 5 | Match 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 v 12 | 2 v 11 | 10 v 3 | 4 v 9 | 8 v 5 | 6 v 7 |
2 | 12 v 2 | 3 v 1 | 11 v 4 | 5 v 10 | 9 v 6 | 7 v 8 |
3 | 3 v 12 | 4 v 2 | 1 v 5 | 6 v 11 | 10 v 7 | 8 v 9 |
4 | 12 v 4 | 5 v 3 | 2 v 6 | 7 v 1 | 11 v 8 | 9 v 10 |
5 | 5 v 12 | 6 v 4 | 3 v 7 | 8 v 2 | 1 v 9 | 10 v 11 |
6 | 12 v 6 | 7 v 5 | 4 v 8 | 9 v 3 | 2 v 10 | 11 v 1 |
7 | 7 v 12 | 8 v 6 | 5 v 9 | 10 v 4 | 3 v 11 | 1 v 2 |
8 | 12 v 8 | 9 v 7 | 6 v 10 | 11 v 5 | 4 v 1 | 2 v 3 |
9 | 9 v 12 | 10 v 8 | 7 v 11 | 1 v 6 | 5 v 2 | 3 v 4 |
10 | 12 v 10 | 11 v 9 | 8 v 1 | 2 v 7 | 6 v 3 | 4 v 5 |
11 | 11 v 12 | 1 v 10 | 9 v 2 | 3 v 8 | 7 v 4 | 5 v 6 |
12 team round robin fixtures, single round (home team first)
For the second half of a home-and-away season you don't need new fixtures. Play the same rounds in the same order with home and away swapped, so 1 v 12 becomes 12 v 1.
Round robin fixtures with an odd number of teams
Leagues rarely finish on a tidy even number. A side folds a week before the start, or 11 enter and nobody fancies turning one away. There's no need for a separate list.
The next even list for 5, 7, 9 or 11 teams
With 7 teams use the 8 team list; with 9, the 10; with 11, the 12; with 5, the 6. Leave the highest number empty and treat it as the bye. In every round, whichever team is drawn against that number in Match 1 sits the week out.
Seven teams then play 7 rounds of three matches, 21 in total. Every team gets exactly one bye per round robin, which heads off the usual complaint from the captains.
The bye week in your league rules
A bye week is a handy slot for a postponed match, provided the opponents are free too, or for a friendly against a side that wants to join next season. Put it in your league rules that a bye earns no points, so the league table isn't up for debate by November.
From round robin fixtures to dates, kick-off times and pitches
The list tells you who plays whom. The part that eats a league secretary's evenings is the rest: which night, what time, which pitch, and what happens when a round is rained off.
The draw and a few adjustments
You can draw the numbers in front of everyone at the captains' meeting, but set the special cases aside first. If two teams share players or a sponsor, give them numbers that don't meet in round one. If you want the local derby on the final night, find a pairing in the last round (11 v 12 in the 12 team list, for example) and assign those two numbers before drawing the rest.
Dates, kick-off times and pitches by hand
With the round robin fixtures settled, give each round a date and each match a slot: one pitch from 6pm to 10pm in 40-minute slots holds six matches, exactly a round for 12 teams. Share out the awkward slots (the first Sunday kick-off, the last weeknight game) evenly across the season, because the team that always plays at 9.20pm is the first one not to re-enter.
Leave two or three spare weeks for weather and bank holidays. Amateur players rarely have the legs for two matches in a week, so build the buffer in before you publish the first date.
FLM System's fixture generator for leagues with more pitches
Up to eight teams on one pitch, a list and a spreadsheet will do. Add a second pitch, referees who can only make certain nights or teams that can't play on Sundays, and every change sends you back through the whole fixture list.
In FLM System you add your teams, choose a single round, home and away or more, and the system builds the round robin pairings for the whole season. You then choose how many rounds to schedule ahead, and the fixture generator gives every match a date, kick-off time, pitch and referee based on each pitch's hours and the days teams have blocked out. A match with no clash-free slot stays undated and goes onto a short list for you to place by hand. A rained-off week moves with one button.
If you already use Claude, you can connect it to your league through the AI assistant and ask it in plain English for round robin fixtures starting on a given date at 7pm and 8pm. The new fixture list arrives unpublished until you've checked it. FLM System costs $1 per team per month, with 14 days free and no card needed.
Round robin fixtures FAQ
What are round robin fixtures?
Round robin fixtures are a list of rounds in which every team in a league plays every other team once, with the home side marked for each match. A double round robin repeats them with home and away reversed. The league table is built from every result of the season, so a single bad night can't decide it.
How do you set up an 8 team round robin?
Draw a number from 1 to 8 for each team and copy the seven-round list above. For home and away, repeat those seven rounds with the venues swapped: 14 rounds, 56 matches, and seven home and seven away matches for every team.
How many matches are in a 10 team round robin?
A single 10 team round robin has 45 matches over 9 rounds, five a round. Home and away it's 90 matches over 18 rounds, which with two or three spare weeks is about 21 weeks, close to five months of Sunday mornings.
What's the best format for a 10 team tournament?
It depends on how much time you have:
- A season over several weeks – a single round robin (9 rounds), then play-offs for the top eight or top four if you want a finish with something at stake.
- A short tournament – two groups of five playing a round robin, then semi-finals and a final.
- One day – groups of five with short matches; on two pitches it fits into a long morning.
Formats for every team count, with match totals and pitch time, are in our guide to football tournament format by number of teams.
Can I make a fixture list in Excel?
Yes. Copy the lists from this article into Excel or Google Sheets and add columns for date, kick-off time and pitch. The trouble comes later:
- every postponed match means checking pitch clashes by hand;
- results and the league table live in a separate sheet;
- captains message you because the file doesn't update itself.
For six teams on one pitch, a spreadsheet is enough. With more teams or pitches, a fixture list generator gives you those evenings back.