Plenty of pool leagues run on a spreadsheet, and for a small league it can work well. But as a league grows, the spreadsheet usually becomes one person's job, one person's laptop and one person's Sunday night. Here's an honest comparison to help you decide.
Where a spreadsheet works
A spreadsheet is a reasonable choice when:
- The league is small, with one division and a handful of teams
- You only need a league table, not player averages or cup draws
- One person is happy to enter every result
- Players are happy to see the table as a printed sheet on the pub wall or a photo in a group chat
It's free, and it's flexible: you can lay it out however you like.
Where it starts to hurt
Fixtures
Generating a fair round robin by hand is fiddly, and it gets harder with shared venues, byes, several divisions and weeks off. One mistake, such as two teams from the same pub at home on the same night, can mean redoing the whole list.
Results
Every result has to reach the one person with the spreadsheet. That means chasing captains, reading photos of scoresheets and re-typing every frame, with plenty of chances for typing errors on the way.
Tables and stats
League tables are manageable. Player averages across singles and doubles, minimum-frame qualification, dish counts and cup draws are where the formulas get fragile, and one pasted row can break the lot.
Sharing it
Players want to check the table on their phone, not open an email attachment. Sharing a spreadsheet link often means it's hard to read on a phone, or someone edits it by accident.
Handing over
When the secretary steps down, the new one inherits a spreadsheet only its author fully understands, and previous seasons often end up in different files, or lost altogether.
Side by side
| Spreadsheet | League app | |
|---|---|---|
| Fixtures | Built by hand or with a template | Generated for you, including shared venues |
| Entering results | The secretary, from scoresheets | Captains, from their phones on match night |
| League tables | Formulas you maintain | Update when each result is saved |
| Player stats | Extra sheets and formulas | Built in, including doubles and dishes |
| Cups | A separate draw sheet | Winners go through automatically |
| Where players look | Attachments, photos, group chats | The league's own website |
| History | One file per season, if kept | Every season kept together |
| Cost | Free | Varies. Interleague is free for singles leagues, and for a team league's first season |
What changes when captains enter results
The biggest difference isn't the table. It's who does the work. When captains enter their own results, the secretary no longer has to collect and re-type anything. Results appear as matches finish, and the table is right by the time everyone gets home.
With Interleague, captains can score their match frame by frame as it's played, so players at other venues can follow the scores live. The secretary's job moves from data entry to running the league.
Making the switch
The best time to move is between seasons, so you start with a clean fixture list. You'll need your teams, venues, players and dates, which you'll have anyway for the new season. Keep your old spreadsheets for the record, and from then on every result is kept in one place.
Interleague is free for singles leagues, and a team league's first season is free, with no credit card needed. After that it's £10 per team per year. You can try it on a real season before paying anything. See pricing, or look around the demo league first.