Home night, and the band is setting up
Your pub hosts two darts teams, a pool team and a crib team, each in a different local league. Fixtures come as a printed list, a PDF from the league secretary or a post in a Facebook group. The captain tells you which nights are home games, usually. The notebook behind the bar has some of them.
On Thursday the away team arrives for darts, and so does the band you booked, who want to set up across the oche. Another week the team food is forgotten because nobody told the kitchen it was a home night. The pool team's cup match is moved at short notice and the table is covered by a function.
Why league nights clash
League fixtures are set by leagues, not by the pub, and they arrive in different formats at different times of the year. Cup games and rearranged matches are added later. Captains know their own fixtures but not the pub's other events, and the manager books events without seeing the league calendar.
League nights also have their own needs: the board or table kept free, sandwiches or chips for both teams, a few extra staff because two teams and their supporters are in, and space kept for players. None of that happens unless someone connects the fixture to the rest of the pub.
Some leagues still send fixtures on paper at the annual meeting, some post them online weeks into the season, and cup draws are made as the season goes. A pub hosting several teams can have four fixture lists, all changing, with no one holding the complete picture.
What forgotten fixtures cost
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Fixtures missing from the pub diary | Home nights clash with other events |
| Team food forgotten | Awkward nights and unhappy captains |
| Rota not adjusted | Short-staffed on a busy league night |
| Rearranged matches missed | Board or table unavailable |
| No record of league trade | No idea what league nights are worth to the pub |
League teams are some of your most regular customers, and league nights often fill a quiet weekday. Teams that feel their home pub does not look after them move to one that does.
The visiting team notices too. A league night where the board is blocked or there is no food for the away side reflects on your pub across the whole league, and those are exactly the players who might otherwise come back on a normal night.
A league calendar tied to the pub
- Each team and league is set up, with a captain as a contact.
- Fixtures are added from the league's list, by importing a file or calendar where the league provides one, reading a PDF, or entering them quickly, and captains can add rearranged or cup matches from their phones.
- Home fixtures appear on the pub's events calendar, and clashes with gigs, quizzes or functions are flagged when either is added.
- Each home night has a checklist: board or table kept free, team food for how many, and any extra staff, which feeds the kitchen list and the rota guide.
- Captains get a reminder a few days before home nights to confirm numbers for food.
- Trade on league nights is pulled from your EPOS, so you can see what each team brings in over a season.
League rules and results stay with the leagues. We only need their fixture dates.
A season with the league calendar
At the start of the season the captains add their fixtures. When you try to book a band for a Thursday, the calendar shows a darts home night. The kitchen sees team food on its list for Monday. The pool cup match rearranged by the league secretary is added by the captain, and the function room booking is moved to the other side of the pub.
- Every team's fixtures in one calendar
- Clashes with other events flagged early
- Team food and staffing planned for each home night
- A picture of what league nights bring in
Is this how league nights go at your pub?
- You host teams from several different leagues.
- Fixtures are kept in a notebook or on the captain's phone.
- A home night has clashed with a band, quiz or function.
- Team food has been forgotten.
- You do not know what league nights are worth over a season.