Automated Fixtures Generation

by **Mark Ransom** Fri Sep 23, 2016 2:07 pm

This topic was raised at the last AGM as something we should think about implementing. The goal is to ease the chaos of fixtures evenings or perhaps even to completely replace them (in the long run)

If we end up using a Professional League Management Software tool then this may provide a built in solution

Failing that, I have been working on my own solution to this challenge (in excel)

My solution includes a number of adjustable variables & rules...

Global:
Season start & end dates
Date ranges to avoid
Minimum days rest per team between matches (currently set to 7)
Relationships between teams to avoid clashes (e.g. M2 players might also play for M1, M3, X2, X3)

Per Club:
Day of week specification for match nights
Additional Match Night (can be the same day of the week to cater for clubs which are able to run 2 matches concurrently)

The system attempts to provide an even number of home & away fixtures for each team
(this is not possible for large clubs with a single match night if there is no possibility to "double up")

FYI - As a test I have run it for the 2016-2017 leagues & all fixtures we calculated without clashes.

Send me a mail you are interested in what dates this system would have proposed for your club.