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🗓️ Scheduling matches

26 June 2026 · Bijgewerkt op 2 September 2026

Scheduling matches

On the Schema (schedule) tab you manage the planning of all matches, in two views: List (column per field) and Timeline.

Automatic planning

Click Generate / recalculate to distribute all matches automatically across the fields and time slots. The generator takes into account the start time, match duration, the break in between and the break windows — all adjustable in the settings card. The minimum rest does not drive the generator: it is checked afterwards, see Guarding rest time below.

What do you want to (re)calculate?

When you click Generate / recalculate, uwtornooi first asks what may be planned again. So you do not have to upend the whole schedule just to rearrange a single pool.

  • For which category? This defaults to the category you picked at the top of the page, or all categories. With a single category the question disappears.
  • For which pools? Every pool of that category gets a tick box, with a heading per phase. If you tick only some of them, the matches of the other pools stay in place and the new ones follow after them on each field. If you tick everything, the generator starts from the kick-off time again — except on a field that already holds matches of another category; there it follows after them. Untick all pools and the pool matches stay untouched — you then only schedule the knockout you tick below.
  • Schedule the knockout too? If the category has a knockout stage, every phase gets a tick box here. Ticked = that phase is scheduled again, always after the pool stage of its category. Unticked = it stays where it is. The box follows Keep the existing schedule: untick that one and the knockout moves along with the pools by itself.
  • On which fields? Here you pick which fields that category plays on — e.g. the U7 only on fields 1 and 2, and the U9 on 3 and 4. By default everything is ticked and the generator spreads the category over all fields. This question appears as soon as you have two or more fields.
  • Start The start time from the settings card is already filled in here. Change it and this generation starts at that time — handy when e.g. the U9 only play in the afternoon. Your saved setting does not change. If a field already holds matches outside your selection, the new ones still follow after them. Pick a time for a single category and we remember it as that category's start time: the schedule will never place it earlier — not even when you remove a break block or click ⇥ Close gaps. If it does need to play earlier, generate it again with an earlier time.

The field choice is remembered per category: the knock-out and the placement matches of that category then stay on those same fields. If you pick all categories, the field choice only applies to that one generation — so you do not accidentally wipe what you set per category.

  • If you tick all fields, no restriction is stored, so a field you add later is automatically included.
  • Two categories may use the same field: their matches then simply follow each other on that field, never on top of each other.
  • If the chosen category has no pools, the pool question disappears and the button builds the bracket straight from the teams.

Multi-day tournament: which day?

If your tournament runs over more than one day, the dialog asks one more question: On which day? The selected matches are then placed on that day, starting from the kick-off time. The question is pre-filled with the day you picked at the top of the schedule under Show one day.

Only what is already scheduled on that day pushes the new matches back. So if you generate the U10 on day 2 while day 1 is already full, they do not follow on from day 1 but simply start on day 2 — and day 1 stays untouched. That way you plan your tournament day by day, category by category.

Want a day to spill over into the next one automatically? Then fill in End per day in the settings at the top of the schedule. If a match no longer fits entirely before that time, the generator moves it to the next tournament day, again from the kick-off time; on the last day nothing is carried over. In a multi-day tournament every match card also gets a date field, so you can move a match to another day yourself.

Keeping the existing schedule

If a schedule already exists, the dialog shows the Keep the existing schedule tick box at the bottom. It is on by default, and that is usually what you want:

  • On — everything already scheduled stays where it is, including the cards you dragged to another time or field yourself. Only matches that do not exist yet are added, and anything without a field (the Not assigned strip) is scheduled at the end. So adding a team, a consolation bracket or an extra bracket later on does not cost you a single move.
  • Off — the matches in your selection are recalculated from scratch. Handy if you want the order rearranged, but your manual moves are then lost.

A match that is in progress or already played stays put in both cases, with its result. Regenerating therefore never deletes a played match, and the generator does not schedule anything on top of it either.

Recalculating one category leaves the rest alone

If you pick a single category in the dialog, the generator only touches that one. Say the U8 schedule is ready and you then build the U7 one — with its own fields or different times — then the U8 matches stay exactly where they are: their pools, their knock-out and their placement matches, with the same time, field and duration.

  • The new matches follow, field by field, after whatever is already there, so two categories never end up on the same field at the same time. A field that was still empty simply starts at the kick-off time — a category with its own fields therefore stays early in the day.
  • Only the knock-out of the category you generate can move along, and only if you tick it in the dialog. It then stays behind its own pools.
  • A match that is already in progress or played never moves again. It keeps its time and its field, and the generator schedules nothing on top of it.
  • If you pick all categories, the whole tournament is recalculated from the kick-off time, as before.

The match duration and the break in between in the settings card apply to the whole tournament, but you can deviate per category in the Time settings per category block — see below. The start time can differ too: you fill it in in the generate dialog, and your saved setting stays unchanged.

Scheduling the knockout along

You create or delete a knockout on the Indeling (layout) tab, with 🏆 Add knockout and 🗑 Delete knockout. On the Schedule tab you only schedule it: the generate dialog has a Schedule the knockout too? block with a tick box per knockout stage of the selected category. Whatever you tick is scheduled again — always after the pool stage of that category, never in between.

The box follows Keep the existing schedule. Untick that one (recalculate everything) and the final stage moves along behind the new pool matches by itself. Leave it ticked and the knockout stays put until you tick it yourself — handy when you rework a single pool and just want the final stage to follow on.

If the bracket card is there but still empty — the phase exists, without matches — the tick box first builds it from its own recipe (the pool positions or the losers it is meant for) and then schedules it. So ticking always does what you expect: the matches appear and land on the calendar straight away.

The time under Start applies to the knockout as well. Enter 14:00 and the final stage starts at 14:00 on that category's fields — even when another category plays on later that day. Earlier than its own pools is not possible: it then shifts to just after them, and on a field that is already busy at that time it simply follows on.

What do you want to (re)calculate?

When you click Generate / recalculate, uwtornooi first asks what may be planned again. So you do not have to upend the whole schedule just to rearrange a single pool.

  • For which category? This defaults to the category you picked at the top of the page, or all categories. With a single category the question disappears.
  • For which pools? Every pool of that category gets a tick box, with a heading per phase. If you tick only some of them, the matches of the other pools stay in place and the new ones follow after them on each field. If you tick everything, the generator starts from the kick-off time again — except on a field that already holds matches of another category; there it follows after them. Untick all pools and the pool matches stay untouched — you then only schedule the knockout you tick below.
  • Schedule the knockout too? If the category has a knockout stage, every phase gets a tick box here. Ticked = that phase is scheduled again, always after the pool stage of its category. Unticked = it stays where it is. The box follows Keep the existing schedule: untick that one and the knockout moves along with the pools by itself.
  • On which fields? Here you pick which fields that category plays on — e.g. the U7 only on fields 1 and 2, and the U9 on 3 and 4. By default everything is ticked and the generator spreads the category over all fields. This question appears as soon as you have two or more fields.
  • Start The start time from the settings card is already filled in here. Change it and this generation starts at that time — handy when e.g. the U9 only play in the afternoon. Your saved setting does not change. If a field already holds matches outside your selection, the new ones still follow after them. Pick a time for a single category and we remember it as that category's start time: the schedule will never place it earlier — not even when you remove a break block or click ⇥ Close gaps. If it does need to play earlier, generate it again with an earlier time.

The field choice is remembered per category: the knock-out and the placement matches of that category then stay on those same fields. If you pick all categories, the field choice only applies to that one generation — so you do not accidentally wipe what you set per category.

  • If you tick all fields, no restriction is stored, so a field you add later is automatically included.
  • Two categories may use the same field: their matches then simply follow each other on that field, never on top of each other.
  • If the chosen category has no pools, the pool question disappears and the button builds the bracket straight from the teams.

Multi-day tournament: which day?

If your tournament runs over more than one day, the dialog asks one more question: On which day? The selected matches are then placed on that day, starting from the kick-off time. The question is pre-filled with the day you picked at the top of the schedule under Show one day.

Only what is already scheduled on that day pushes the new matches back. So if you generate the U10 on day 2 while day 1 is already full, they do not follow on from day 1 but simply start on day 2 — and day 1 stays untouched. That way you plan your tournament day by day, category by category.

Want a day to spill over into the next one automatically? Then fill in End per day in the settings at the top of the schedule. If a match no longer fits entirely before that time, the generator moves it to the next tournament day, again from the kick-off time; on the last day nothing is carried over. In a multi-day tournament every match card also gets a date field, so you can move a match to another day yourself.

Keeping the existing schedule

If a schedule already exists, the dialog shows the Keep the existing schedule tick box at the bottom. It is on by default, and that is usually what you want:

  • On — everything already scheduled stays where it is, including the cards you dragged to another time or field yourself. Only matches that do not exist yet are added, and anything without a field (the Not assigned strip) is scheduled at the end. So adding a team, a consolation bracket or an extra bracket later on does not cost you a single move.
  • Off — the matches in your selection are recalculated from scratch. Handy if you want the order rearranged, but your manual moves are then lost.

A match that is in progress or already played stays put in both cases, with its result. Regenerating therefore never deletes a played match, and the generator does not schedule anything on top of it either.

Recalculating one category leaves the rest alone

If you pick a single category in the dialog, the generator only touches that one. Say the U8 schedule is ready and you then build the U7 one — with its own fields or different times — then the U8 matches stay exactly where they are: their pools, their knock-out and their placement matches, with the same time, field and duration.

  • The new matches follow, field by field, after whatever is already there, so two categories never end up on the same field at the same time. A field that was still empty simply starts at the kick-off time — a category with its own fields therefore stays early in the day.
  • Only the knock-out of the category you generate can move along, and only if you tick it in the dialog. It then stays behind its own pools.
  • A match that is already in progress or played never moves again. It keeps its time and its field, and the generator schedules nothing on top of it.
  • If you pick all categories, the whole tournament is recalculated from the kick-off time, as before.

The match duration and the break in between in the settings card apply to the whole tournament, but you can deviate per category in the Time settings per category block — see below. The start time can differ too: you fill it in in the generate dialog, and your saved setting stays unchanged.

Scheduling the knockout along

You create or delete a knockout on the Indeling (layout) tab, with 🏆 Add knockout and 🗑 Delete knockout. On the Schedule tab you only schedule it: the generate dialog has a Schedule the knockout too? block with a tick box per knockout stage of the selected category. Whatever you tick is scheduled again — always after the pool stage of that category, never in between.

The box follows Keep the existing schedule. Untick that one (recalculate everything) and the final stage moves along behind the new pool matches by itself. Leave it ticked and the knockout stays put until you tick it yourself — handy when you rework a single pool and just want the final stage to follow on.

If the bracket card is there but still empty — the phase exists, without matches — the tick box first builds it from its own recipe (the pool positions or the losers it is meant for) and then schedules it. So ticking always does what you expect: the matches appear and land on the calendar straight away.

The time under Start applies to the knockout as well. Enter 14:00 and the final stage starts at 14:00 on that category's fields — even when another category plays on later that day. Earlier than its own pools is not possible: it then shifts to just after them, and on a field that is already busy at that time it simply follows on.

Time settings per category

Do your youngest age groups play shorter matches? Open the Time settings per category block in the settings card. Every category gets its own duration, break, minimum rest and number of matches in the pool phase — e.g. the U7 1×10 minutes with a 5-minute break in between, the U8 1×15 minutes.

Not sure what a field does? Every column heading carries an button: hover over it or tap it for a short explanation of what that setting does and when it applies.

  • With more than one category those four fields live in this block only, so you never see the same setting in two places. With a single category they simply stay at the top of the card.
  • Every field shows the value that currently applies. Clear it and that category follows the general value again — shown grey in the field.
  • Duration and break apply from the next Generate / recalculate: matches that are already scheduled keep their duration until you regenerate that category.
  • The knock-out, the placement matches and the third-place match of that category take over its duration as well.
  • If two categories share a field, their matches still follow one another neatly: every match occupies the field for its own duration plus its own break.
  • Nothing to save: every change in the settings card is stored right away.

Fewer or more matches in the pool phase

Number of matches in the pool phase decides how many matches every team plays in its pool. Empty or 0 = full round-robin: everyone plays everyone once.

  • Fewer — don't want everyone to play everyone (e.g. with one big pool)? Then fill in a smaller number. Fewer matches are scheduled and every team ends up on exactly that number, even in a pool with an odd number of teams.
  • More — fill in a number higher than a full round-robin and return matches are added, with home and away swapped. In a pool of 4, 3 is everyone against everyone; with 6 they play home and away, so alongside A-D the schedule also holds D-A, and every team meets every opponent once at home and once away.

With several categories this field sits in the Time settings per category block, so one category can play fewer matches than another.

A worked example — 8 teams in 2 pools of 4 that each play 2 matches, followed by cross-pool finals — is in the article Not everyone plays everyone in the pool, under Indeling (layout).

Adjusting manually

  • Change the time on each match card (or use the and + buttons for 5-minute steps) and pick a field.
  • On a PC you can simply drag cards to another field or time — both in the list and on the timeline. See the article Schedule board and timeline.
  • Deleting a match is only possible from the Not assigned strip: drag the card there (or clear the field dropdown on the card) and click the bin icon. On a scheduled card that icon is greyed out.

Guarding rest time

Set Min. rest between matches (min) to make sure teams get enough recovery. Matches with too little rest turn orange, real conflicts red.

0 or empty switches that check off. The setting never moves a match by itself: it flags afterwards which teams have to play again too soon — for example Red Devils only has 5 min rest before the match at 11:20. You then drag those two cards further apart yourself, or regenerate that category with a longer break.

With more than one category the minimum rest sits in the Time settings per category block, so the U7 can be stricter than the U15. The rest belongs to the category of the team that has just played.

Play first what you depend on

A match that waits for a result cannot start before that result. If a knockout match sits before the pool it draws its teams from, or a final before its semi-final, the schedule flags it at the top and the card turns red — for example The match at 10:30 waits for Poule A, and that pool only finishes at 12:15.

Generating puts the final stage after the pools by itself, so you will mostly see this after moving a card or changing a time yourself. Drag it back to a later slot, or regenerate that category with the knockout ticked.

Closing the gaps

⇥ Close gaps takes the holes out of your schedule: per field the matches — in their current order — are packed back-to-back from the start time, respecting the break between matches and any scheduled break windows. Handy after you dragged cards around yourself or a match was removed.

If you have more than one field, uwtornooi first asks which fields should be packed. Everything is ticked by default (= the whole schedule, including the Not assigned strip); tick just one or two and the other columns stay exactly where they are. That way you close the gap on one field without moving the rest of your planning.

Below that you choose between which hours the packing should happen. The default is The whole day — exactly as before. Pick Only between and fill in a start and end time, and only the matches that start inside that window are packed: everything before and after it stays exactly where it is. That way a morning you deliberately planned roomy stays intact, and only the afternoon closes up.

One of the two times may stay empty: the window then runs to the beginning or to the end of the day. If a match still runs over your start time, the window neatly packs behind it instead of landing on top of it. In a multi-day tournament the window applies to every playing day.

A category with its own start time never starts earlier than that time, and in a multi-day tournament every day is packed within itself — day 2 is never pulled back into day 1.

Clearing the schedule

With ✕ Clear schedule you throw the planning away and start with a clean slate. The button only shows while there are matches. If you have several categories, uwtornooi first asks which one:

  • All categories deletes every match of the tournament.
  • If you pick a single category, only its matches disappear — pools, knock-out and placement matches. The schedule of the other categories stays untouched, so you can rebuild the U7 without losing the U8.

A confirmation question follows, with the name of the category in it. Deleted matches cannot be recovered: the scores and statistics attached to them go as well. If you only want the times and fields recalculated, use ↻ Generate / recalculate — that keeps your pool layout intact. To remove a single match, see Manual adjustments above.

Locking the schedule

Done planning? Lock the schedule with the padlock icon, so nothing shifts by accident during the tournament.

Exporting the schedule

Export the full schedule to PDF, Excel or CSV via the buttons at the top of the schedule page, or print the referee cards.

The PDF also lists the breaks and moments at their own time between the matches — including the ones you did not make public, marked "not public". That way the printed schedule doubles as the organisation's working sheet.

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