How to run a five-a-side tournament

Last updated 10 October 2026

Turn your teams into a night of fixtures, live scores and a table. How to choose a format, enter scores and keep everyone up to date.

Before you start

You need your teams first. Make them the way you normally would, with fair teams or a captains’ pick. Then play between those teams in the same draft. Nobody types the teams in again, and everyone uses the same link.

Playing is optional. A draft with no tournament ends at the teams, exactly as before.

Choose how you will play

Open Play in Setup, or choose “Play with these teams” on the Results screen. Draftastic asks one question, “How will you play?”, and shows four cards. Each says how many matches it makes and about how long the night will take.

  • League: every team plays every other team. Best for six teams or fewer.
  • Groups, then knockout: small groups, then the best teams go through to a knockout. Usually the best fit for 8 to 16 teams.
  • Knockout only: win and you go on, lose and you’re out. The quickest night, but some teams play only once.
  • Scoreboard: every team scores in every round, which suits a quiz or a sports day more than a match.

One card is marked Suggested, based on how many teams you have. Inside a card you can choose a shorter league (a few rounds, not everyone), a knockout at the end of a league, a plate for the teams that don’t go through, or a second chance, where you are out only when you lose twice. The rest, such as pitches, match length and start time, sits under More options. You can leave it as it is. Call them pitches, courts or lanes in More options, under “What do you call them?”.

Not sure how a way of playing works? Each card has a “How it works” button in Setup. Here they are in the same words.

League

  1. Step 1: Everyone plays everyone

    Each team plays every other team once.

  2. Step 2: Win 3, level 1, loss 0

    After each match, the points go in a table.

  3. Step 3: Most points wins

    The team at the top of the table wins.

Level: Both teams scored the same.

Shorter league

  1. Step 1: A few rounds

    Every team plays the same few rounds, not everyone.

  2. Step 2: Similar teams meet

    Each round, you play a team on about the same points.

  3. Step 3: Most points wins

    After the last round, the top of the table wins.

Round: One set of matches. Every team plays once.

Straight through: You skip this round without playing. You still get the win.

Groups, then knockout

  1. Step 1: Small groups

    Teams play the others in their group.

  2. Step 2: The best go through

    The top teams in each group play on.

  3. Step 3: Then a knockout

    Win and you go on. One champion at the end.

  4. Step 4: A plate for the rest

    Teams that don’t go through play a plate instead.

Knockout

  1. Step 1: 16 teams

    Everyone starts in the first round.

  2. Step 2: Win and you go on

    Lose and you are out.

  3. Step 3: One champion

    The last team left wins.

Second chance

  1. Step 1: Everyone starts in one knockout

    Win and you go on.

  2. Step 2: Lose once and you play on

    You move down to the second chance.

  3. Step 3: Lose twice and you are out

    The two winners meet in the grand final.

Scoreboard

  1. Step 1: Every team plays every round

    All the teams take part each time.

  2. Step 2: Each round, every team scores

    The points go on the board.

  3. Step 3: Add it up

    The team with the most points wins.

Round: One set of matches. Every team plays once.

Make the matches

Choose the button that names the matches, such as “Make 15 matches”. Draftastic makes the matches and builds a timetable from your pitches, match length and start time. It never puts a team in two places at once. The times are a guide: you can play matches in any order, and the timetable follows.

On the night

  1. On the Stage, choose “Start the groups” (or the league, knockout or rounds).
  2. When a match ends, choose “Enter score”, type the two numbers and save. That is the only job you have. Tables, the bracket (a map of who plays who) and the order of play update themselves.
  3. Got it wrong? Undo it straight away, or change the score later. Draftastic tells you what that would change before you confirm.
  4. If two teams are level and nothing separates them, you are asked to decide. Nothing is chosen for you in secret.
  5. When a section is done, choose “Start the knockout”, and later “Start the final”.
  6. When it’s over, choose “Share the results”.

Only organisers can enter scores. Captains and players can’t change a result.

What players see

  • On their phones: a Scores tab that shows when and where they play next, then a short table with their own team marked and their team’s own route through the night: the matches played, the next one and where a win leads. Their phone buzzes when they’re on.
  • On the big screen: the newest result first, then the tables, what’s on now on each pitch and the bracket. The champions get a moment at the end.
  • Anyone with the link: live, read-only scores, with no sign-in. Share it with parents and friends who aren’t playing.

If someone drops out

Choose “Withdraw a team” under More. Matches they haven’t played are awarded to their opponents, and you are shown exactly what changes before you confirm. If the team comes back, bring it back the same way.

Doing it with Draftastic

  1. Start a draft and make your teams.
  2. Open Play and answer “How will you play?”.
  3. Put the Stage on a laptop and add a TV if you have one.
  4. Send the link to the group before kick-off.
  5. Enter each score as the match ends.

Try it

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

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