We cater for multiple division leagues where divsions are same size or different sizes playing home and away fixtures at set times and days where most of the teams have constraints on their usage of grounds
Constraints include sharing grounds, access to grounds limited on some dates, and the need for specific fixture patterms
We have templates which will help you generate the fixtures and take the process one step further by automating the placement of the teams to match the constraints
There are many solutions out there usually based on grid of fixtures were pair of teams in the grid have opposite fixtures (when A is at Home, B is Away). there are then in an n team division n/2 pairs which can share grounds
Here is how we draw it mainly so the patterns of fixtures are easy to visualise
This is a 10 team division; team 6 is opposite to team 1, team 2 to team 7 etc.; no team has more than 2 home matches consectuively or more than 3 in any 5 weeks. It can be reversed and repeated to give home and away second half
It is nicely balanaced and works very well for a single division. It is the basis for solutions for multiple divisions but that is where the black art of the fixture secretary comes into play
For multiple divisions we use the same template for each division and team A sharing with Team B in another division occupies the paired slot. The problem is when there are loads of sharing teams and these are spread across multiple division you invariably reach a point where team A needs to be in slot one, the team thay share with then needs to be in slot six but that slot has already been used
If there is one division; or no teams share grounds then as long as you have a template which works there are no issues but..
What if
So why the Sudoku image ?
In Sudoku you are fitting numbers into a grid with an increasing number of contraints; there are 9 numbers which go into 9 spaces and as soon as a number is placed then the next number might not fit. This is similar to our multidivisional fixture problem. Solving Sudoku puzzles has become an academic exercise for computer studies students so there are many techniques to do this and we adapted one such method which can automate all that trial and error.
All we need do now is write the solution
Next; Solution
So during a 2020 lockdown we took one of those Sudoku solutions and adapted it. It places a team into a slot in a grid which then also places the sharing team and moves forward to the next team
If it hits the situation were there are no slots a team will fit, it stops and backtracks a move
After several (sometimes million) trials and errors the grid is completed; it can try 10 million moves less then a second
What else does it do
We have a description of the practical challenges and methods used in fixture generation
If you want an exist template we are happy to share them for free from out resources page
Resources Page