5-a-side team picker: fair teams by skill

How five-a-side teams usually get picked

Most weekly games pick teams in one of three ways. Two captains pick in turn in the car park, which takes ten minutes and leaves the last two picked feeling it. The organiser splits the names from memory and gets accused of stacking their own side. Or you keep last week's teams until one side has won six weeks running and half the group stops turning up.

Five-a-side punishes a bad split quickly. Each player is a fifth of the side, the pitch is small, and the booking ends on the hour, so there's no time to scrap the teams at half-time and start again. This picker is the team generator for all sports, set up for five-a-side football: two teams, with the sport set to Soccer / futsal.

Rating your regulars in a few minutes

The picker uses football's seven skills: Pace, Shooting, Passing, Dribbling, Defending, Physical and Goal Keeping. For a weekly game you don't need all of them. Go down the list and give each regular one Overall rating from 1 to 10. Leave anyone new on Not rated; they count as the group's average on every skill until you've seen them play.

Then switch to By skill for the few players one number can't describe: the one who never passes, or the quick one who runs out of legs after twenty minutes. In a cage with boards, Passing and Defending tend to decide games, and Physical counts for more when nobody comes off. Those profiles are what the picker uses to stop one side getting all the runners.

One keeper each, or rush goalie

Groups sort out goal in one of three ways:

• A keeper on each side. Under In goal, set both to Always. They go to opposite sides, and the outfield is balanced around them.
• Only one keeper turns up. Set them to Always. The other side shares goal, and the picker gives the keeper's side a slightly weaker outfield to make up for it.
• Rush goalie. Whoever is nearest drops back. Leave everyone on Never, or set Sometimes for the players who end up in goal most. Nobody is fixed, so neither side is built around a keeper.

Goal Keeping only appears once a player goes in goal, so set In goal first. A keeper rated Overall then gets two sliders, one for their play outfield and one for Goal Keeping, which lets a brilliant keeper who is average outfield count as both. The guide to splitting goalkeepers covers three keepers for two sides and other awkward weeks.

Odd numbers and a sub on the bench

Eleven turn up for a five-a-side booking. The picker makes one side of six and one of five. Team strength is an average, so the six aren't rated stronger for having an extra body, though on the pitch they do get a rolling sub. Groups handle that in two ways: the side of five gets a slightly stronger player, or the spare swaps sides at half-time. To do the first, tap a player on the Teams tab, choose Move to Team 2, move someone back the other way, and watch the grade as you go. Auto Balance takes you back to the most even split if you change your mind.

Twelve is simpler: six a side, one sub each. If someone drops out an hour before kick-off, untick them and the teams balance again.

An example: ten players on a Tuesday

Ten are in for Tuesday at eight. Dan goes in goal every week and nobody else wants to. You paste the names, give everyone an Overall between 3 and 8, and set Dan to Always. Two mates, Jamie and Sean, end up arguing whenever they're on the same side, so after the first split you pin Jamie to his team, move Sean to the other side and pin him there. The picker balances the other seven around them.

With ten players there are only 126 ways to make two fives, so the picker checks every split that respects your pins. Dan's side will usually show a slightly lower outfield number in the Balance Breakdown; that's the price of having the keeper. Set Team 1 to Orange for the bibs and Team 2 to Black, press Copy teams and paste them into the group chat. Each side is listed with its colour, Dan is marked GK, and the last line gives the balance grade.

Tips for the weekly game

• Rate them as five-a-side players. Someone who shines at eleven-a-side on a full pitch can be lost in a cage, and the other way round.
• Save the list for next week. Copy my list writes every player with their rating and in-goal setting. Paste it back next time.
• Same side winning every week? Open the Balance Breakdown. The widest skill gap is highlighted, which tells you whether to move a defender or a runner.
• Six- or seven-a-side. The same page works for bigger bookings. For a full pitch, try the team generator for bigger games; for an indoor court, the futsal team generator.

For what the score means and how the picker weighs strength against style, read how Rostara's team balancer works.