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Troubleshooting

The scheduler cannot find a schedule​

Almost always over-constrained rather than broken. Work through it in this order:

  1. Check capacity. Pitches × available hours ÷ (playing time + break between matches) is the ceiling. If the matches do not fit, no arrangement fits.
  2. Lower the rest requirement and try again. Rest is the most expensive constraint by a wide margin.
  3. Check pitch availability per day. Windows set for the first day and never adjusted for the second are the classic case.
  4. Remove your most recent rule and re-solve. If it now works, that rule is the one to soften — usually by giving it a weight rather than making it absolute.

See automatic scheduling.

A team's matches disappeared​

Moving a team to a different group deletes its matches, because a fixture belongs to a group. FairGame asks for confirmation first.

Regenerate the fixtures for that category once you have finished moving teams. Move everything first, regenerate once — not after each move.

Standings are empty or wrong​

  • Empty: the group has no teams in it. A team placed in a group — by applying a tournament system, or by hand — is listed in its table at zero before any result is recorded, so an empty table means missing teams, not missing results.
  • Wrong team on top: check the tiebreakers you expect against what the standings show. Points, then goal difference, then goals scored is the usual order.
  • A team is missing: it is probably not assigned to the group. Check the category's Organize groups board, under Manage → Categories.

Some teams got no announcement​

They have no contact email. The recipient list is shown before sending — the count is the check. Fix it in the team's details, or collect contacts at registration next time.

A club's teams are all playing at once​

The teams are not linked to the same club record, so the scheduler has no way to know they are related. Link them in Manage → Clubs, add the Same-club teams not at the same time rule, and re-solve.

A referee is double-booked​

Auto-assignment does not double-book. Check whether the assignment was made by hand, or whether the schedule was re-solved after the referees were assigned — moving matches can move them into a referee's other match. Re-check coverage after every schedule change.

The knockout will not advance past a level game​

Under the penalty-shootout policy, a knockout match that finished level is not a finished match — the fixture reads Level — record the shootout, and the next round has nothing to advance. Enter the shootout tally and it resolves.

If the tournament should not need shootouts at all, change Level games on the category's bracket to Draw stands or Group record decides. See knockout brackets.

Knockout matches have no pitch or kickoff​

The bracket was generated but never laid out, which is always about availability:

  • there is no pitch availability window on the bracket's day — add it on Venues;
  • the day's availability is too short for the whole bracket — extend the window or add a pitch;
  • the tournament has no knockout day at all — add one under Settings → Schedule & format → Tournament days.

Then run auto-schedule for that day from the Schedule board.

A score is refused as a draw​

The sport's full format always produces a winner, so FairGame will not complete a level match. If you are running a short recreational format that genuinely draws, turn on Allow drawn group matches under Settings → Schedule & format. Knockout matches still need a winner either way. See standings and tiebreakers.

A rule I set is being ignored​

Some scheduling rules only exist for the advanced scheduler, and the standard one skips them — they are marked Requires the advanced scheduler. Check which engine is marked In use under Settings → Schedule & format, and which advanced rules are switched on. See tournament settings.

The public site does not show my change​

Results and standings reach the public site as soon as they are saved. Schedule changes do not: once a schedule has been published, a moved, newly placed or removed match stays in your draft until you press Publish changes on the Schedule board — the badge beside it reads Unpublished changes while anything is waiting. See reviewing and publishing.

If a change still does not show:

  • the tournament may still be a draft — turn on Published tournament under Settings → General;
  • you may be looking at a different tournament, if you cloned one and edited the copy.

A printed match card no longer works​

It should. Match cards are built to survive fixture regeneration, so a re-solve during the tournament does not invalidate printed cards. If a card genuinely does not open its match, the match was deleted rather than moved — most likely because its team changed group.

I need to undo a schedule change​

Open History on the Schedule board. FairGame saves a revision every time you publish, every time auto-schedule places matches, and before you clear a day — and Save checkpoint adds one of your own before a risky edit. Pick the revision you want, check What restoring will change, then Restore into draft. Restoring changes only your draft; publish again to put it back on the public site. See changing a published schedule.