League fixture maker
Make a league (round robin) fixture by the cyclic or staircase method — every team plays every other team once.
Knockout tournament instead? Knockout fixture & bye calculator
Enter 2 to 64 teams
DrawMyFixture · drawmyfixture.com
League fixture (cyclic method) — 6 teams · 15 matches · 5 rounds
TournamentVenueDate
- Total matches
- 15
- n(n − 1) ÷ 2
- Total rounds
- 5
- n − 1, for an even number of teams
Add team names
Names fill serial numbers 1 to 6 in order. Without names, the fixture shows Team 1, Team 2…
Shuffle gives the names random serial numbers.
Names stay in this browser only. Nothing is saved or sent.
Rounds (cyclic method)
Team 1 stays fixed and the other teams rotate clockwise each round.
Round 1
- M1Team 1 vs Team 6
- M2Team 2 vs Team 5
- M3Team 3 vs Team 4
Round 2
- M4Team 1 vs Team 5
- M5Team 6 vs Team 4
- M6Team 2 vs Team 3
Round 3
- M7Team 1 vs Team 4
- M8Team 5 vs Team 3
- M9Team 6 vs Team 2
Round 4
- M10Team 1 vs Team 3
- M11Team 4 vs Team 2
- M12Team 5 vs Team 6
Round 5
- M13Team 1 vs Team 2
- M14Team 3 vs Team 6
- M15Team 4 vs Team 5
Match list
| Match no. | Round | Match | Date | Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Round 1 | Team 1 vs Team 6 | |||
| 2 | Round 1 | Team 2 vs Team 5 | |||
| 3 | Round 1 | Team 3 vs Team 4 | |||
| 4 | Round 2 | Team 1 vs Team 5 | |||
| 5 | Round 2 | Team 6 vs Team 4 | |||
| 6 | Round 2 | Team 2 vs Team 3 | |||
| 7 | Round 3 | Team 1 vs Team 4 | |||
| 8 | Round 3 | Team 5 vs Team 3 | |||
| 9 | Round 3 | Team 6 vs Team 2 | |||
| 10 | Round 4 | Team 1 vs Team 3 | |||
| 11 | Round 4 | Team 4 vs Team 2 | |||
| 12 | Round 4 | Team 5 vs Team 6 | |||
| 13 | Round 5 | Team 1 vs Team 2 | |||
| 14 | Round 5 | Team 3 vs Team 6 | |||
| 15 | Round 5 | Team 4 vs Team 5 |
Total matches = 15.
How this was calculated
Total number of matches = n(n − 1) ÷ 2
Total number of matches = 6 × (6 − 1) ÷ 2
= 15
Rounds = n − 1 (even number of teams)
Rounds = 6 − 1
= 5
SourceCBSE Physical Education Class XII, Unit 1 (PDF)
Cyclic vs staircase — which to use?
Both methods give the same number of matches: n(n − 1) ÷ 2. They differ in how the matches are arranged.
- Cyclic arranges the matches in rounds: n − 1 rounds for an even number of teams, n rounds for an odd number. With an odd number of teams, one team gets a bye in each round.
- Staircase lists the pairings step by step: the top team plays every other team, the next team plays the remaining teams, and so on down the steps.
If you need the matches grouped into rounds, use the cyclic method. If you only need the list of pairings, the staircase shows every one of them at a glance.
Questions
How many matches are there in a league tournament?
Total number of matches = n(n − 1) ÷ 2, where n is the number of teams. For 6 teams: 6 × 5 ÷ 2 = 15 matches. For 7 teams: 7 × 6 ÷ 2 = 21 matches. The total is the same for the cyclic and the staircase method.
How many rounds are there in the cyclic method?
If the number of teams is even, rounds = n − 1 (6 teams → 5 rounds). If it is odd, rounds = n (7 teams → 7 rounds).
What happens when the number of teams is odd?
In the cyclic method, one team gets a bye in each round, and a different team each round. On this site a BYE is placed at the top and all teams rotate; the team paired with the BYE rests that round. For 7 teams, Round 1 is BYE–7, 1–6, 2–5, 3–4, so team 7 rests.
How does the staircase method work?
The top team plays every other team, the next team plays the remaining teams, and so on down the steps. For 7 teams: 1 vs 2; 1 vs 3, 2 vs 3; 1 vs 4, 2 vs 4, 3 vs 4; … ending with 6 vs 7.
Which team stays fixed in the cyclic method?
With an even number of teams, team 1 stays fixed and the other teams rotate clockwise each round. With an odd number of teams, the BYE stays fixed at the top and all the teams rotate clockwise.