How to pick fair teams for five-a-side

Last updated 9 October 2026

Fair teams make a better game for everyone. Here is how to split a group evenly, whether you have five minutes or fifty players.

Why it matters

A one-sided game is no fun for either team. The side that is losing stops trying, the side that is winning gets bored, and next week fewer people turn up. Fair teams keep a regular game going.

“Fair” doesn’t mean equal in every way. It means each team has a real chance, and nobody is stuck with all the newcomers or all the goalkeepers.

The quick way: two lines

If you have a few minutes and everyone knows each other, line up roughly by ability and count off “one, two, one, two”. Then swap the last pair if it looks uneven. It is not perfect, but it beats friends picking friends.

The fairer way: decide what matters first

Before you split anyone, agree the two or three things that decide a close game. For most five-a-side groups that is:

  • How good someone is. A rough rating from 1 to 5 is plenty. Ask people to rate themselves and nudge it if you need to.
  • Who goes in goal. One keeper each, or a rota, so no team is left without one.
  • Fitness, if your games are long. Optional, but it helps for an hour or more.

Then split so each team’s average rating is close, and each team gets one keeper. That is all “balanced” really means.

Things that quietly unbalance a game

  • Pairs who always play together. Two friends who know each other’s game are worth more than their ratings. Split them, or keep them together and balance around them.
  • Uneven numbers. With 11 players, the team of five needs the stronger player. Or rotate a sub.
  • The same teams every week. Even fair teams get stale. Mix it up so people play with everyone over a month.

Doing it with Draftastic

  1. Start a draft and choose how many teams you want.
  2. Add two questions: a number question for the rating, and a choice question for position, with “Goalkeeper” as one option.
  3. Share the code. People join on their phones and answer the questions themselves.
  4. On the Stage, choose Deal. Draftastic balances the ratings and spreads the keepers across the teams, and shows how fair the result is.
  5. Need two friends kept apart? Add a “Keep apart” rule, or just say so in words, for example “keep Sam and Alex on different teams”.

The teams appear on the big screen and on everyone’s phone, so nobody has to shout names across the car park.

Try it

Draftastic is free. You can start a draft without an account, and people join on their phones with a code.

Start a draft