The simple calculation
Start with a match slot, not just the playing time. A 12-minute game with three minutes to get teams off and on the pitch is a 15-minute slot.
Example: 240 minutes ÷ 15-minute slots = 16 matches per pitch.
Then calculate how many matches your competition format creates. For a single round-robin group, the formula is teams × (teams − 1) ÷ 2.
| Teams in one group | Round-robin matches |
|---|---|
| 4 | 6 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 15 |
| 7 | 21 |
| 8 | 28 |
Worked examples
These examples use a four-hour group-stage window and a 15-minute match slot purely to show the maths. They are planning examples, not FA-set match durations.
| Teams | Example group setup | Group matches | Maths-only pitch minimum* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 4 groups of 4 | 24 | 2 |
| 24 | 4 groups of 6 | 60 | 4 |
| 32 | 8 groups of 4 | 48 | 3 |
*Based on 16 match slots per pitch. This is capacity only. It does not guarantee sensible rest gaps or include knockout matches.
Why team count alone can mislead you
A 24-team tournament can need more pitch time than a 32-team tournament if the 24 teams are placed into larger round-robin groups. Four groups of six create 60 group games; eight groups of four create 48. That is why the format should be decided before the pitch count is treated as final.
The same applies to knockouts. If eight teams progress to quarter-finals, that adds seven matches for quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. A third-place game adds another one.
Age group and game format change the physical space
For the 2026/27 season, The FA's youth format changes introduce 3v3 at U7, with U8–U9 playing 5v5, U10–U11 7v7, U12–U13 9v9 and 11v11 beginning at U14. The FA's own guidance also notes that a 3v3 pitch is 10m × 15m and that four 3v3 games can fit into the footprint of a 5v5-sized pitch.
That means “how many pitches?” is partly a scheduling question and partly a venue-layout question. Four marked 3v3 areas are not the same operational challenge as four 9v9 pitches, even if both are counted as four playing areas.
Leave a buffer instead of designing to 100% capacity
If the spreadsheet says your format uses every single available match slot, you have no room for an injury delay, a late team, penalties, a referee problem or simply getting the next teams onto the pitch.
A useful planning approach is to calculate the absolute capacity first, then deliberately leave some unused slots. The amount of buffer is an organiser decision: it depends on the venue, age groups, staffing and how tightly you want to run the day.
Check the timetable, not just the total capacity
Enough total slots does not automatically produce a good timetable. One team might finish on Pitch 1 and be scheduled again immediately on Pitch 3 while another team waits an hour.
Once you have a likely pitch count, build the actual fixture sequence and check rest gaps team by team. If the schedule repeatedly creates back-to-back games, adding a pitch is only one possible fix — changing the group format, match slot, start time or qualification structure can be better.
Where Zokko fits
Zokko is built around exactly this problem. You set the teams, pitches, match lengths and competition format, then build the timetable rather than trying to keep the whole calculation in separate spreadsheets. If the structure needs changing, you can adjust the tournament setup and regenerate the working day.
Open Zokko — free while in beta →