Tournaments fall apart in the group chat, not on the pitch. Teams drop out two days before kick-off, the pitch is booked for two hours instead of three, nobody remembers last game's score, and the table lives in one person's phone notes. Here is the order of operations that closes those gaps before they open.
Step 1. How many teams, and in what format
The first decision is not the competition format. It is the number of entrants. Everything else follows from it: how many hours of pitch time you need, how many rounds there will be and how much money you have to collect.
For a weekend amateur tournament the sweet spot is six to ten teams. Below six, everyone has played everyone twice by lunch and the day feels like a long training session. Above twelve, a single day no longer fits and you need groups or several weekends.
| Teams | Format | Matches | Playing time | With breaks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Single round robin | 15 | 7 h 30 min | about 9 h |
| 8 | Two groups + knockout | 16 | 8 h | about 9 h 30 min |
| 8 | Single round robin | 28 | 14 h | two days |
| 10 | Two groups + knockout | 24 | 12 h | two days |
| 12 | Three groups + knockout | 25 | 12 h 30 min | two days |
Count rented hours, not matches. Pitches are sold in one-hour blocks, and fifteen half-hour matches is not seven and a half hours but eight or nine, once you add changeovers, latecomers and arguments about a handball.
The playing format is decided by the size of the pitch, not by preference. A 40×20 pitch takes five-a-side and six-a-side; 60×40 takes eight-a-side. Choose eight-a-side and the list of available venues immediately shrinks by two thirds while the price goes up.
Step 2. Where to play and what it costs
Book the pitch first, before you invite anyone. Doing it the other way round is the single biggest cause of cancelled tournaments: you gather eight squads and discover that nothing indoors is free on a Saturday for the next month.
- Call three to four weeks ahead. Friday evenings and Saturday daytime go first.
- Ask for one continuous block rather than separate hours. Two thirty-minute gaps kill the rhythm of the day.
- Check whether changing rooms, balls, bibs and a referee are included. Usually they are not.
- Ask about the deposit and the cancellation terms. Deposits are normally non-refundable.
- Weekday mornings cost about half of an evening slot. If your teams will play at ten on a Saturday morning, the budget drops noticeably.
In Saint Petersburg prices run from around 1,400 ₽ an hour for a sports hall with a synthetic floor to 7,000 ₽ for a full-size pitch with certified turf. An indoor 40×20 arena averages 3,000 to 4,500 ₽ an hour.
We keep a directory of venues with addresses, formats, surfaces and a price guide.
Where to play in Saint PetersburgStep 3. Choose the competition format
There are three formats that actually work, and choosing between them is a choice between fairness and time.
- Round robin: everyone plays everyone. The fairest option, but the number of matches grows with the square of the number of teams. Best for a league that runs over several weeks.
- Straight knockout: fast and dramatic, but half the teams go home after one game. Acceptable for a one-day event with eight teams, miserable for a friendly gathering.
- Groups plus knockout: the compromise that works almost every time. Every team is guaranteed three group matches before anyone goes out.
The rule at amateur level: people came to play, not to watch. A format where a team can drive across town and go home after one match will cost you entrants next time.
Step 4. Build the schedule
A round-robin schedule is not improvised. It is produced by a method more than a century old: line the teams up in two rows, fix one in place and rotate the rest by one position each round. With an odd number of entrants you add a phantom team, and whoever draws it sits out.
Two rules that people only remember once they are at the venue: no team plays two matches back to back, and no team waits three rounds in a row. The first is about legs, the second is about people going home.
Ready-made grids for four, six, eight, ten and twelve teams are in a separate piece.
Tournament scheduleStep 5. Write the rules before the first match
Rules are not there to look official. They are there so that a dispute is not settled by a show of hands among tired people. One page sent to the group chat before kick-off is enough.
- Match and half length.
- Points for a win, a draw and a defeat.
- Tie-breaking order, which is the most common source of arguments.
- How many players may be registered, and whether anyone can play for two teams.
- What counts as a forfeit: no-show, late arrival, not enough players.
- Discipline: what earns a sending-off and how many matches it costs.
A full template with wording you can copy is in its own article.
Tournament rulesStep 6. Work out the budget
Organisers almost always lose money on their first tournament for one reason: they count the pitch and forget everything else. Here is an honest budget for a one-day event with eight teams.
| Item | Cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pitch hire, 9 hours | 30,000 ₽ | Indoor 40×20 arena |
| Referee | 6,000 ₽ | 300–500 ₽ per match |
| Balls and bibs | 3,000 ₽ | If not included in the hire |
| Water | 2,000 ₽ | A crate per team |
| Medals or a trophy | 4,000 ₽ | Without it, it is not a tournament |
| Total | 45,000 ₽ | About 5,600 ₽ per team |
Collect entry fees before the tournament, not after. Not because anyone would cheat you, but because a team that has not paid finds it much easier not to turn up. The payment is the confirmation.
Budget for one team more than you need. Someone always drops out.
Step 7. Keep the table where everyone can see it
A table in the organiser's notes app is a table that does not exist. Half the messages in a tournament chat are some version of "how many points do we have" and "are we through". Each one costs you ten minutes.
What players should be able to open from a single link: the standings, the next round's fixtures, the results so far and the scorers. That last one is underrated. Personal stats keep people in a tournament more reliably than their team's position.
Set your tournament up on fellasport: the table works itself out, the schedule is generated, and the link opens without signing up.
Create a tournament freeChecklist for the week before
- Pitch booked, deposit paid, and you have the manager's phone number.
- Squads confirmed by name, not by a promise to turn up.
- Entry fees collected.
- Rules posted in the group chat.
- Schedule published, every team knows its first kick-off time.
- Referee has confirmed.
- Balls, bibs, first aid kit and water checked physically, not in a chat.
- Link to the table sent out.