Double round robin schedule
In a double round robin every pair meets twice, once with each team at home. It is the standard league format for a season. It also suits small groups of 3 or 4 teams that want more than a handful of games.
How it is built
Make a single round robin, then play it again with home and away swapped. The generator keeps the second half in the same order as the first, so any two meetings of a pair are half a season apart. Each team ends with exactly as many home games as away games.
Example: 4 teams, home and away
| Round | Games (home v away) | Bye |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 v 4, 3 v 2 | – |
| 2 | 3 v 1, 4 v 2 | – |
| 3 | 2 v 1, 4 v 3 | – |
| 4 | 2 v 3, 4 v 1 | – |
| 5 | 2 v 4, 1 v 3 | – |
| 6 | 3 v 4, 1 v 2 | – |
12 games over 6 rounds. Each team plays 3 home and 3 away games, and the second meeting of every pair comes three rounds after the first.
Numbers to plan with
| Teams | Games | Rounds | Games per team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | 20 | 10 | 8 |
| 6 | 30 | 10 | 10 |
| 7 | 42 | 14 | 12 |
| 8 | 56 | 14 | 14 |
| 10 | 90 | 18 | 18 |
| 12 | 132 | 22 | 22 |
A weekly league with 8 teams playing one round per week needs 14 weeks for a double round robin. Playing two rounds per evening cuts that to 7 weeks. In the generator, set "Rounds per date" to 2 and "Days between dates" to 7.
When "home" has no venue
In many rec leagues everyone plays at the same gym. Home and away still help: use them for who brings the ball, who keeps score, which bench to use, which colour to wear, or who serves first. In chess and other board games, home usually means white or first player. A double round robin gives every player each side once against every opponent.
Three or four meetings
Small groups sometimes play a triple or quadruple round robin. Three meetings cannot be perfectly balanced: one team in each pair gets two home games. Four meetings are just two double round robins in a row. The Pro pack supports up to four meetings per pair.