Import Matches Tool - Football Leagues Docs

Import Matches is a batch import tool for quickly adding multiple matches to a competition. Instead of creating matches one at a time, enter entire matchdays, tournament rounds, or historical seasons in minutes using a spreadsheet-like interface.

Key Features

• Enter match data in a familiar spreadsheet grid
• Copy/paste directly from Excel or Google Sheets
• Real-time validation catches errors before import
• Support for both fixtures (upcoming) and results (completed)
• Works with round-robin and knockout competitions

Getting Started

Step 1: Access the Tool

Go to Settings & Tools → Import Matches

Step 2: Select Competition

1. Choose a Competition from the dropdown (all round-robin and knockout competitions)
2. Select the Group (for round-robin) or Round (for knockout)

After selection, you’ll see:

• Available Clubs – All teams in the selected group/round
• Data Entry Table – Spreadsheet grid for entering matches

Step 3: Enter Match Data

You have several ways to enter data:

Option A: Manual Entry

1. Click a cell to start typing
2. Use Tab to move between cells
3. Use Enter to confirm and move down
4. Club columns show autocomplete with team names

Option B: Excel Paste

1. Prepare data in Excel/Google Sheets with columns in this order: Club Home | Club Away | Goals H | Goals A | Kickoff
2. Copy the rows (without headers)
3. Click the first cell in the import table
4. Press Ctrl+V to paste

The table auto-expands if your paste has more rows than available.

Option C: Use External Fixture Generator

For round-robin leagues, you can use online fixture generators to automatically create all matchday pairings:

1. Search for “round robin fixture generator” or “league schedule generator”
2. Enter your team names
3. Generate the fixture list
4. Copy the Club Home and Club Away columns
5. Paste into the import table
6. Add kickoff dates and matchweek numbers

Option D: Smart Kickoff Entry

The Kickoff field has smart formatting:

• Type digits only: 202501151430
• Auto-formats to: 2025-01-15 14:30
• Date-only (8 digits): 20250115 becomes 2025-01-15

Step 4: Review Validation

The table highlights data issues with colored backgrounds:

Color	Meaning
Orange	Invalid club name (not in group)
Orange	Invalid date format or impossible date
Red	Same team selected as both home and away
Green	Successfully imported

Step 5: Import

1. Review the row count shown in the header (“X rows with data”)
2. Click Import X Matches
3. Watch the progress bar
4. After import, each row shows: success with edit link, or error with error message

Column Reference

Required Columns (Always Visible)

Column	Description
Club Home	Home team (autocomplete from group’s teams)
Club Away	Away team (autocomplete from group’s teams)
Goals H	Home team score. Leave empty for fixtures
Goals A	Away team score. Leave empty for fixtures
Kickoff	Date/time: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM

Optional Columns

Click the Columns dropdown to show/hide additional fields:

Column	When to Use
Season	Multi-season competitions (auto-shows if 2+ seasons)
MatchWeek	Round-robin: matchday/gameweek number
HT Goals H/A	Half-time scores
Aggregate	Knockout: aggregate score text (e.g., “3-2 agg.”)
Stadium	Stadium ID or exact name (default: home club’s stadium)
Duration	Full-time minutes if not 90
Extra	Extra-time minutes if not 30

Your column preferences are saved automatically.

Tips & Best Practices

Preparing Your Data

1. Match column order – Ensure your spreadsheet columns match the tool’s order
2. No headers – Don’t include column header row when pasting
3. Date format – Always use YYYY-MM-DD (ISO format)
4. Club names – Must exactly match names in your group

Excel Date Formatting

If dates appear incorrectly when pasting from Excel:

1. Select the date column in Excel
2. Right-click → Format Cells
3. Choose Custom format
4. Enter: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM or YYYY-MM-DD
5. Copy and paste into the import table

Importing Fixtures vs Results

Goal	What to Enter
Fixture (upcoming match)	Leave Goals H and Goals A empty
Result (played match)	Enter both goal values

After Import

• Use Clear Success to remove imported rows, keep errors for retry
• Use Clear All to start fresh
• Changing competition or group resets the table

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
Tab	Move to next cell
Shift+Tab	Move to previous cell
Enter	Confirm edit, move down
Escape	Cancel edit
Ctrl+V	Paste from clipboard
Arrow keys	Navigate (when not editing)

Examples

Example 1: Import League Matchday

Scenario: Import all 10 matches for Premier League Matchday 20

Spreadsheet data:

Arsenal       Chelsea      2  1  2025-01-15 15:00
Liverpool     Man United   3  0  2025-01-15 15:00
Man City      Tottenham    1  1  2025-01-15 17:30

Steps:

1. Select “Premier League 2024/25” competition
2. Select “Group A” (or main group)
3. Click Columns → check “MatchWeek”
4. Paste from Excel
5. Enter “20” in MatchWeek column for all rows
6. Click Import 10 Matches

Example 2: Import Knockout Round Fixtures

Scenario: Set up Round of 16 fixtures without scores

Spreadsheet data:

Real Madrid   PSG          2025-02-10 21:00
Bayern Munich Arsenal      2025-02-11 21:00

Steps:

1. Select competition
2. Select “Round of 16”
3. Paste data (Goals columns left empty)
4. Click Import 8 Matches

Result: 8 fixtures created, ready for live updates or later results entry.

Troubleshooting

Club name highlighted orange

Problem: Entered club name doesn’t match any team in the group.

Solution:

• Check spelling exactly matches the club name in WordPress
• Ensure the club is assigned to this group/round
• Use autocomplete to select valid club names

Both clubs highlighted red

Problem: Home and away teams are the same.

Solution: Change one of the club names. A team cannot play itself.

No valid rows to import

Problem: Import button shows 0 matches.

Solution: Each row needs both Club Home AND Club Away to be valid. Check that required columns have data.

Import button disabled after import

Problem: Cannot import more matches.

Solution: This is intentional to prevent duplicates. Click Clear Success or Clear All to reset, or change competition/group.

Standings not updated after import

Problem: Matches imported but standings show old data.

Solution: For round-robin competitions, standings auto-recalculate after import. If not updated:

1. Go to the Competition → Standing tab
2. Click “Recalculate”